DC moves into joint championship lead

It is the first time since the opening race of 1997 that Coulthard has been at the top of the world championship rankings. He shares the lead on 26 points with Schumacher after finishing second to Williams driver Ralf Schumacher.

"It would have been nice to win today, but I'll take points any way I can get them," said Coulthard. "I am happy with six points.

"It was a quiet race in comparison to some I've had, but it was also the most difficult to get a balance on the tyres throughout."

The McLaren driver admitted he probably would not have won even if Ralf Schumacher had not got the jump on him off the line.

"Ralf had the quickest combination out there today," he said. "Even with a good start he would have got by, or been pretty close, and the result would not have been much different.

"It's good to be on the podium again. We had good reliability and it keeps me in with a shout of the championship. I pushed Ralf hard, but just couldn't make him crack."

After his brilliant qualifying performance Coulthard's problems started on the grid as the lights went out.

"The car moved a little on the grid and I had to stop it. Then the lights changed. I thought I was going to be swamped by Mika, but he may have had a problem too. After that I was interested to see how quick Ralf was in the race and hoping I would be faster. But congratulations to Ralf and Williams-BMW."

Coulthard now has 26 points, equal with Michael Schumacher, while Rubens Barrichello is third with 14 after finishing third at Imola.