Coulthard laments tyre problems

Coulthard was 11th fastest at the end of the second qualifying session and going for a fast lap but cold tyres and traffic meant he could not improve.

With his 10-place penalty for having an engine change, it means he will start near the back.

"The car was a good improvement over what we had in the morning session and each of my runs were pretty consistent," he said. "We had a problem with the left rear tyre before the last run so I sat for a long time without the tyre blankets on.

"The car didn't feel as good on that set and was moving around a little more. Unfortunately I was behind Christian and in front of one of the Williams so I couldn't get any clear space to heat the tyres up.

"I made a little mistake and dropped the two tenths that I gained in the first sector and that was it, game over.  Of course you want to go as fast as you can, but all things considered I'm not disappointed. I'll be pretty much at the back of the grid anyway tomorrow due to the penalty."

Teammate Christian Klien managed to get into the top 10 shoot-out, but eventually opted to spend most of the session in the pits to save his tyres for the race. He qualified ninth but will start eighth because of Michael Schumacher's engine penalty.

"The first session went well, I did a good lap and was P7, but then the second session was really close," said the Austrian. "I was on my first set of tyres and thought my lap was okay, but then I saw the others were quicker and I had to go out once more on another set of tyres, which we were saving for tomorrow.

"Then I could go quicker and that was enough to get to the last session. The final part was a bit frustrating. We stopped in the box early as it was so hot, and amended our race strategy for tomorrow."