Coulthard thanks Montoya for start chaos

Seven drivers were sidelined by the opening mayhem, including both the McLarens, with Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya shunting the rear of teammate Kimi Raikkonen.

The crash triggered a chain-reaction which also eliminated Honda's Jenson Button and BMW's Nick Heidfeld.

Coulthard benefited from the chaotic start to finish in seventh position, giving his Red Bull team enough points to move ahead of Williams in the constructors' standings.

"Firstly, a special thanks to Montoya for his contribution to my points finish," joked Coulthard. "I was up alongside Christian (Klien) at the start going into Turn one and could see Tonio (Liuzzi) coming up on the outside.

"I didn't like the look of it, so I backed off, kept in the middle of the road and let them all go past.

"I understand that Montoya then created a shunt, so we picked up a lot of places there. There's an incident in Turn one almost every year, so I was mindful of being in a position off the grid and keeping it.

"From there, it was just a battle with Liuzzi and Rosberg. The team's strategist guy Will (Courtenay) did a great job today and again my engineer Mark (Hutcheson) gave me some good advice on the radio, so we were able to get out in front of Nico.

"I'm happy for the whole team. To get these points, especially at this time of year, will help us against Williams."