Coulthard's surprise second

Helped by a Safety Car period that neutralised the advantage of the cars ahead of him, Coulthard made the most of his one-stop strategy to move up to third place during the pit stops, which became second following Juan Pablo Montoya's retirement.

"We were confident that we could get a points finish but didn't anticipate how competitive we would be so therefore I'm pleased for the whole team," said the Scot. "In the early stages I was struggling with oversteer and had to be careful allowing me to save the brakes which benefited me later."

In the closing stages, Coulthard had to fend off Rubens Barrichello, who had dropped back to third after making the second of his two tyre stops. Only once did the Ferrari get alongside the McLaren, but Coulthard held his position, although he did have to use the run off at the final chicane to do so.

"We had a bit of a moment when we came to lap Sato," he explained. "I thought Sato would move over at the hairpin but instead he held me up and I lost momentum, which allowed Rubens to get alongside me going into the chicane. I braked as late as possible and missed the chicane and was prepared to move over if Rubens had made it, but Rubens made the same mistake and therefore I didn't gain any advantage."

Kimi Raikkonen added to McLaren's joy by coming home fourth to score his first points since the opening race of the season.

"I'm pleased to finish the race - it's been a long time," he sighed. "I made a good start and had a good battle with Ralf Schumacher in the opening stages and managed to keep him behind me. To finish in the points is a nice way to end the weekend."