Coulthard Hopes to Celebrate 100th Race in Style

Briton David Coulthard hopes to maintain his championship momentum following his French Grand Prix victory when he competes in his 100th Formula One race on Sunday in Austria.

"The French result swung the pendulum right back into McLaren's court," said Coulthard. "Now we have got the advantage over Ferrari. I think we have a little advantage on pace and I'm in the best form of my career."

The 29-year-old lies 12 points behind championship leader Michael Schumacher of Ferrari before the race at the A-1 Ring.

Coulthard showed in France he is now not afraid to take the fight to Schumacher, muscling his way past the German to take the lead. But he will be keen to avoid a repeat of last year's Austrian race when he collided with team mate Mika Hakkinen at the second corner.

World champion Hakkinen has been overshadowed by his team mate in the recent races but the Finn is not ready to concede defeat as he fights for a third consecutive world title.

"At the moment, Coulthard has more points, so he's the main challenger, but people will be asking a different question in three races if Hakkinen is in front," said Schumacher.

"Neither of them is out of the fight for the championship and there is not a big points difference between any of us."

The German is chasing a 41st victory that would leave him joint second with Ayrton Senna on the all-time winners' list.

Hakkinen is just six points behind Coulthard and won convincingly in Austria in 1998. His McLaren team have also showed impressive reliability over recent races, getting both cars to the finish in the last six events.

Behind the battle between Ferrari and McLaren, the fight for third place in the constructors' championship is hotting up between Benetton and Williams.

Benetton hold a one-point advantage and will be looking to repeat past successes at the A1-Ring. Italian Giancarlo Fisichella secured his maiden pole position at the track in 1998, while the event is the home race of Alexander Wurz.

The Austrian has had a disappointing season so far, having failed to score a championship point, and he is under pressure to keep his seat for next year.

Another driver looking for a points finish will be last year's Austrian Grand Prix winner Briton Eddie Irvine.

The Jaguar driver has finished in the points just once this year, a fourth place at Monaco, as his team continue to struggle with reliability.

"It's always good to go back to a track where you had a good result the previous year," said Irvine.

"The weather can be very changeable here so I hope the storms keep away. We had a good test at Silverstone last week, so I hope we can give the spectators something worth seeing from a Jaguar point of view."