Crash ends Coulthard's qualifying hopes

"We'd made some changes, and that meant we weren't even sure of getting on to the front row," said Coulhard. "Although we made it, I am not happy to have dropped the car and done so much damage. But sometimes unless you push hard and go beyond the limit, you don't know where it is. I was just hoping the car would spin down the middle of the track, like it did yesterday, but I didn't quite manage it this time..."

Coulthard looked to be in a much stronger position than the Finn going into qualifying after Hakkinen missed most of the morning practice sessions with mechanical problems. Coulthard himself had to wait while his engine was changed as a precaution after his team-mate's problems, but still got much more running than his Finnish partner.

The Scot fought for pole at first but had no answer when Hakkinen produced a lap 0.3s quicker than anyone else had managed previously. Coulthard then crashed heavily on his final flying lap but afterwards he put on a brave face.

'I don't get frustrated and think 'here we go again' because there are no points for qualifying,' he said.

'I am just looking forward to the race. I am not at all concerned about the race. It will come down to all the usual things, pit stops, reliability and tactics.

'We lost a lot of time in the morning with the engine change and we were not sure we had done enough work to be on the front row.

'Luckily when the action started we discovered we had.'