DC's low-key McLaren exit

This was Coulthard's 150th race for McLaren, a record for any driver with the same team, and he had hoped for so much more as he aims to convince Williams that he still has what it takes to fill a seat in the higher echelons of Formula 1.

"One hundred and fifty grands prix is a long time with one team," said Coulthard, "but not the best of weekends to go out on.

"I struggled in the race and I took a knock at the first corner and after that I was crabbing. So after that I had no confidence to push and just when it dried it started to rain a little bit again."

Coulthard has been overshadowed by Kimi Raikkonen since the Finn joined the McLaren team and he will be replaced by Juan Pablo Montoya in 2005. The Scot had a two-year option to join Jaguar next year, but following Ford's decision to sell up and the CRB's verdict that Jenson Button must remain at BAR-Honda, Williams is now the only front-running team with an empty berth. But for now Coulthard remains unemployed.

"A big thankyou to everyone at the West McLaren Mercedes team for all their work over the years and let's see what the future holds," he said after the race.