Coulthard disappointed after Montoya clash

"I'm seriously disappointed about what happened because the car felt really good," said the Scot. "We were obviously a lot quicker than both the Williams-BMW cars so things were looking positive. Montoya was a lot slower than me in the corners, but he was fast in a straight line so the one opportunity I had to overtake him would be to get in his slipstream as we approached the first corner.

"He pushed me to the outside, but I gave him room on the inside so we could do the corner together. My plan was that I would then be on the inside for the next corner."

Unfortunately for both, Montoya clipped the inside curb and was pitched into a spin, collecting the luckless Coulthard's front right wheel and suspension, putting both out on the spot.

"It wouldn't have happened if I had not been on the outside but if I hadn't been there I wouldn't have been able to overtake and there was plenty of room," said Coulthard. "Montoya apologised and these sort of incidents are part of racing but it's a shame as none of us gained anything."

Team-mate Kimi Raikkonen, who was running just behind the pair when the incident occurred, claimed an impressive third place.

"We had the right strategy today," he said of his one-stop pit strategy. "While we were not as quick as the Ferraris we were definitely faster than Williams-BMW which is good news."