Coulthard Rues Mistakes in Qualifying

With teammate Christian Klien continuing to show a leap-forward in pace this year to grab seventh place on the grid, ahead of both McLarens, Coulthard had a scrappy lap that left him languishing in 14th.

And although he knew he could only blame himself for the performance, he did suggest that he had been put off when he saw Rubens Barrichello's Ferrari stranded at the side of the track after his suspected gearbox problems.

"As far as the balance of the car goes, I had a lot more understeer this morning, which is what you would expect with more fuel on board," said Coulthard. "I don't seem to have managed many good laps here, but this was definitely the worst one of the weekend.

"I drove an untidy lap and I just wished I could start all over again. I'm not making excuses, but I also got a bit distracted, seeing the Ferrari parked at the side of the track. Hopefully, things will go better in the race and I am sure Christian has a good chance of scoring points, as he seems to have got well tuned into his car this weekend."

Klien, whose brilliant form may still not be enough to save him from losing his seat to Vitantonio Liuzzi from the San Marino Grand Prix, was obviously overjoyed with his performance.

"This was a fantastic lap for me," said the Austrian. "The car felt good, although of course it was a bit harder to drive than yesterday, because of the heavier fuel load.

"I am very happy with the way it went, as I have been able to make up one position on the grid and from the fourth row, I can expect to have a good race and hopefully score some more points for me and the team."