DC: Teams may want to be slow on Friday

With the fastest qualifer in the first session going last in Saturday qualifying, the Scot believes that there could be occasions where teams run deliberately slow on Friday in order to run earlier in the final session.

"On Friday you are going to see a little bit of low fuel running but if you really believe in the weather forecast, there might be scenarios where teams will, in an ideal world, try to qualify one car quickest on Friday and the other slowest," said Coulthard. "That would mean that you've covered the weather window for Saturday qualifying with one car out at the beginning of the session and the other at the end. Of course it's never easy to be fastest but being slowest should be a wee bit easier..."

Thus, if the weather equipment predicts rain at five minutes past two on a Saturday afternoon, teams suddenly want to be first out rather than last, which could lead to a battle to be slowest on Friday

Coulthard doesn't think the idea is that far-fetched. "It will vary weekend to weekend and the weather will be a factor," he said. "There's very accurate forecasting now and it will get like that because you have to maximise the rules that you race within. What they have done has created an opportunity and a need to be a bit more tactical."