Top stars get into a jam in rush hour

McLaren's David Coulthard, who finished second on the timesheets, was the first to put his hand up and admit to blocking. But the Scot said that the unique nature of the circuit made it almost impossible for everyone to have a clear lap all of the time. His team had emailed the FIA during qualifying to clarify the rules on blocking, but DC said he was as much at fault as the rest of the gird.

"There were was a lot of people getting held up and I actually know that I held others up," he conceded "We're all jostling for position and you're trying to listen to your radio and it's impossible to get out of the way of the guys who are on a hot lap. There were a couple of them behind me and I wasn't aware of that."

Coulthard unintentionally slowed Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello on a hot lap, then at the end of the session held up Felipe Massa in the Sauber. The young Brazilian returned the favour a few corners later, ruining his final attempt.

"I think Massa was one of them [who I blocked]," said Coulthard. "He passed me on the last corner and went slow into the first one, that's why I didn't do my last run. So I guess it's fair enough because I screwed his lap, but it's certainly not intentional - you are just trying to do the best job you can."

Polesitter Juan Pablo Montoya spoiled Michael Schumacher's third hot lap on the run down to Loews. Team-mate Barrichello's efforts were stymied by Coulthard and, right at the end, by the sluggish Jaguar of Pedro de la Rosa at Rascasse.