'I need a miracle' admits Coulthard

The team's engineers are working to try and solve a mystery set-up problem that is causing his tyres to wear down to their inner carcass after just one lap.

The problem is so bad that the Scot was forced to rule out one of his four runs in qualifying just to have enough tyres for the race. And that means he has qualified sixth, behind title rival Michael Schumacher's Ferrari in fifth and team mate Mika Hakkinen in fourth, in his efforts to narrow the German's 37-point lead.

"I am blistering the tyres," he said. "The left rear was right to the canvas so I couldn't do the last run otherwise I wouldn't have any tyres left for the race.

"There is obviously a fundamental balance problem with the car when it is eating the tyres straight to the canvas after one lap."

The result, he admitted was to pray for a miracle like last year's bizarre happening when the course of the race was changed when a deranged fan walked onto the circuit and the safety car was deployed.

"I need a miracle, but they do happen sometimes. Rubens won from 18th here last year so it's possible - and also look what happened to Michael at Monza [when he crashed].

"It's always better to have your main competition behind you but this day in history we were only good enough for fifth.

"It is still possible to win the championship," he added, "but clearly I am not very quick here. That's not exactly the right ingredient when you go looking for a race victory.

"I'll just have to wait for the start and then take it from there. There is some consolation that Michael is not right at the front of the grid but I am someway short of the pace he and Mika are running so that is disappointing.

"I don't think much will change at the start because it is a short run to the first corner. With these launch control systems not a great deal can happen.

"There is only one line through the corner if you all want to get through it. It will be more down to what happens in the race.

"I'm not depressed about my championship chances," he said. "It has been an ever widening gap. But I'm only part of the team and I feel my performance is as strong as it was earlier in the season, I don't think that has been the only reason why there has been a bigger gap.

"We had our opportunities and we missed them. You pay the price for that. All I can do is my best. I've just got to keep pushing because anything could happen."