Coulthard unconcerned at beating Hakkinen

Each time the Finn set fastest time Coulthard was just a sliver quicker and in the end he outqualified the world champion for the third race in succession to start from outside the front row.

But neither was quick enough to match Michael Schumacher who starts from pole for the third time in four races.

While Coulthard sits on the front row, Hakkinen was demoted to fourth as Rubens Barrichello set third quickest time in his Ferrari.

Coulthard is looking to build on his victory at the last round in Monaco, which catapulted him into the championship reckoning, 12 points behind Schumacher and five ahead of Hakkinen.

But Coulthard brushed off talk that he was now McLaren's pacesetter.

"What is important is winning the race. Small talk about grid positions is not important.

"I'm not even looking at how I'm doing compared to Mika. I'm just looking at what is in front of me - and what I want to see is clear track.

Asked if he now had the beating of Hakkinen he said: "I don't look at one driver I look at all of them. Whether its Mika, Michael, Rubens I really don't care. I'm just trying to get the best out of myself."

Coulthard likes the Canadian track and arrived on Thursday saying he intended to collect on a long-standing debut after breaking down twice while leading the race.

"This track owes me one and I aim to collect," he said.