Don't write off Ferrari, says Coulthard

Coulthard, who took full advantage of his rivals making unforced errors in Melbourne, told Scottish newspaper The Herald that he fears a red backlash in Malaysia in a fortnight's time.

"I'm extremely pleased to have started the season with a victory, but people who are writing off Ferrari are making a big, big mistake," he said. "They are going to come out for the next race more fired up than they have been for years and if you thought Sunday was action-packed, I have a feeling Malaysia will be even better.

"I know that I was in a position to take full advantage of the problems guys like Michael, Juan, Kimi and Rubens had during the race, but the point is I was there when it mattered - leading at the end of the race when they weren't."

Coulthard has admitted that victory was far from his mind after making an unscheduled pitstop on lap two to take on dry tyres.

"It had really been pretty uninspiring until I took the lead," he said. "All I had been doing was going as fast as I could, staying out of trouble and hoping that things might happen ahead of me. As it turned out, that's exactly what happened."