Coulthard: McLaren Form Not a Surprise

David Coulthard on Saturday said it is not all doom and gloom at McLaren-Mercedes despite a disappointing performance for the team in the season-opening qualifying session at Albert Park.

Scot Coulthard will start Sunday's Australian Grand Prix from 12th on the grid with his teammate Kimi Raikkonen, last year's championship runner-up, only managing 10th position. McLaren looked strong in early pre-season testing but their form has tailed off since their rivals Williams-BMW and Ferrari introduced new cars in the build-up to the new season.

Coulthard reacted strongly to claims that the opening qualifying session had been

"all doom and gloom", but admitted he was not surprised by McLaren's form.

"No it is not [all doom and gloom]," Coulthard said after qualifying. "I am not going to throw a party, but [it's not as though] we didn't test all winter then come here and got a big surprise.

"We have got a lot of work to do but we knew what to expect. We have to get the car to work here around one lap. We are having trouble getting a first lap performance with the tyres ­ but the championship is not won in one race."

McLaren had been expected to be a strong contender for the title this season but Ferrari came out of the blocks and stunned the field by finishing half a second ahead of their closest rivals. Williams-BMW took up the mantle of challengers when Juan Pablo Montoya claimed the third fastest time behind Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello.