Coulthard relieved after pitlane mix-up
David Coulthard believes only the quick reactions of a mechanic prevented him from running over a Toyota engineer in a pitlane mix-up on Friday
Coulthard was returning to his pit garage in the second free practice session when he was waved through behind one of the Toyota cars - which had swung out into the pitlane so it could be backed up into the garage.
As Coulthard squeezed through the gap, a brake engineer from Toyota's supplier Hitco strayed into his path - and only avoiding action from the Red Bull Racing driver and the help of a Toyota mechanic prevented a collision.
"Occasionally when guys are forward in the pits they may wave you through," Coulthard told autosport.com. "Although it is probably not within the rules it is one of those things that certain teams generally do.
"There is a new guy from their brake company, and apparently it was only his third race. Originally the Toyota guy pushed him away, so he went to go, but as he did so the Toyota guy then pulled him back. I think that helped prevent us colliding.
"But the guy didn't understand the main rule of F1 - which is trust no one in the pitlane but yourself!"
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