Coulthard Determined to be Back Next Year

David Coulthard believes he can secure his future in Formula One despite McLaren's worst start to a season in decades.

"There's possibilities for me and it's just a question of getting those finalised and announced," the Scot told a British Grand Prix news conference on Thursday.

"But yes, I think that any doubt over whether I have the ability is based on last year's qualifying performance rather than this year."

Coulthard struggled with the newly-introduced single lap qualifying format last season and McLaren announced then that Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya will be joining them next season alongside Finland's Kimi Raikkonen.

However, this year the Scot is ninth in the Championship, ahead of Raikkonen whom he also outqualified in France last weekend when McLaren showed signs of perking up with a revised car introduced at Magny-Cours.

The Mercedes-powered team picked up barely a handful of points from the early races.

Williams, the team that Coulthard started out with in 1994, have two vacancies but the Scot is not top of their list, while Toyota could still have a space despite signing Ralf Schumacher.

Another alternative could be Jaguar, who are expected to lose Australian Mark Webber to Williams or Toyota.

Coulthard, who has won 13 races in his career - more than twice as many as Ralf and more than any other current driver other than Ferrari's Michael Schumacher - sidestepped a question about staying at McLaren as a test driver.

"I'm firmly focused on racing next year," he said.

The Scot has won the British Grand Prix twice and, with BAR's Jenson Button, is one of two home hopes in Sunday's race.