Coulthard: Stewards Took the Wrong Decision

McLaren driver David Coulthard said on Sunday that the Malaysian Grand Prix race stewards made the "wrong call" in punishing Juan Pablo Montoya for the opening corner collision.

Williams driver Montoya collided with Michael Schumacher as the pair battled for the lead at Sepang, with the World Champion German suffering front wing damage to his Ferrari.

Colombian Montoya was, in effect, blamed for the incident after being given a novel 'drive-through' penalty, but Coulthard claimed that the stewards made the wrong decision.

"They made a wrong call," said Coulthard. "Montoya was closing in because he was ahead and Michael was doing what he wanted which was to try and keep that position by keeping his nose in there.

"It was at best a racing incident which deserved no penalty and if you understand the lines that drivers have to take then Montoya was closing the door but equally Michael would have know that so he was relying on him not to take that position by going on the outside.

"It's happened to me with Michael before and I came off the worse for it too. I think they made a bad call - I can't understand how no-one is penalised in Australia, but Montoya is punished here."

Montoya eventually ended the race second behind his teammate Ralf Schumacher, with Michael recovering from the damage to finish third. But Coulthard, who retired from the race with a blown engine, called for permanent race stewards to be introduced to avoid a repeat.

"That way, at least, we would have consistency whether it is good or bad," he said.