Coulthard denies rift with Dennis

Dennis accused the Scot of "brain fade" after he stalled on the formation lap and Coulthard fired back the same words, saying Dennis had not checked his facts. The McLaren team boss later apologised when engineers discovered the car had stalled because of a glitch in the software.

On his arrival for the Austrian Grand Prix Coulthard said there was no need for the two to discuss the issue again.

"There really is no reason to kiss and make-up because there was no break up," said Coulthard. "The whole issue was sorted out within 10 minutes of the race being over because we had all the information. I was aware of journalists trying to make the story run through last week, but it is just because there was nothing really to talk about in Formula 1."

Coulthard also said he is confident that their Barcelona misunderstanding won't have a negative affect on his championship chances, and that the gremlin in the launch control system has now been fixed.

"I don't think there is any difference in my status in the team because the team has a common goal, which is to get 16 points from every grand prix," said Coulthard. "There was a software problem than switched the engine off when I tried to initiate the system to select first gear. It's been re-written so it won't happen again. That's the only time we have a problem with the software. It was just something we had not prepared for and it will never happen again."

The Scot is aiming to improve on his run of four second places finishes in Austria - a circuit where neither he not points leader Michael Schumacher has won.

"I have got a pretty consistent record here," quipped Coulthard.