Coulthard welcomes extra running

The Scot is using the same engine he had in the Malaysian Grand Prix, but the power unit completed only six laps of the race after Coulthard retired with a hydraulics problem.

The lack of mileage allowed the Red Bull driver to complete more laps in today's practice and he enjoyed a productive session.

"We had a productive day, as we were able to take advantage of the fact that we'd only done ten laps in Malaysia," said Coulthard, 13th quickest. "As a result, my engine is 50 laps in credit, which means we could do more than normal today and get up to speed in case the weather's wet tomorrow.

"I wasn't evaluating tyres today, as we're saving our allocation for tomorrow. Other than that - not much else to report, until we get into the tyre evaluation tomorrow."

Teammate Christian Klien, running a new engine, was forced to limit his running, although he was still pleased with his day's work after finishing in 21st place.

"I had a new engine for the race weekend, so was limited on distance today," said Klien. "I went out just for one run in the first session. The track was very dirty and there wasn't much grip, you could see a lot of cars spinning off the circuit.

"In the second session, I did two runs on a heavier fuel load to enable us to get a decent set up for Sunday. It's good fun to drive here, as it's almost like a road circuit."