Formula One news

Coulthard storms to four points

David Coulthard stormed to fifth place in the Spanish Grand Prix after starting from ninth on the grid to claim four points for Red Bull Racing. The Scot overcame a gearbox problem in the closing laps to take the spoils. Mark Webber meanwhile retired early on.

"Towards the end of the race, I lost third gear and thought I was going to have to retire the car," Coulthard said. "I managed to drive using only fourth gear and above, which lost me time in the last sector, but I was still able to be quick in the first. We've made more progress than any other team since the beginning of the year and when you're aggressively attacking lap times, sometimes you have to put other areas of the car to one side. That's the growing pains we're going through at Red Bull Racing at present, but I think everyone agrees we'd rather have pace and show we're genuinely quick - and then work on reliability, than have a reliable car that only finishes tenth."

Webber commented, "Unfortunately reliability problems cost me a race finish today. At the moment, I think it's a recurrence of yesterday's hydraulic problem. We had planned to go for a long first stint because of my low grid position, but it doesn't matter what strategy you have if you don't get to the finish. There's not much more to say except for the obvious fact that it's disappointing. But, at least David's great result and finish in the points proves that the car has the pace to do well. It's a great boost for the whole team."

Team boss Christian Horner added, "David was exemplary today. He had good pace, a good start and a good strategy. Despite a problem that gave us all a bit of a scare in the last three laps, he found a way to drive round it by using all his experience. He was able to bring the car home in fifth position and get us onto the scoreboard. I'd like to acknowledge the huge effort made by the whole team. Everyone's been working hard over the last few weeks, but we still need to keep pushing. It's disappointing that we had a repetition of yesterday's transmission failure on Mark's car. He's had miserable luck all weekend, but I'm sure he'll bounce back in Monaco and we can head there optimistic, in full knowledge that we've made a good step forward in pace here this weekend."

more news

• 22 Nov.
  • Red Bull confident Webber will race in Australia
  • Webber breaks leg in road incident
• 21 Nov.
  • "Valentino would have been an excellent F1 driver"
  • Photos: Friday in Mugello
  • Teams to decide new qualifying format?
  • Brundle confirms BBC switch
  • Fisichella not worried about drive
• 20 Nov.
  • Photos: Rossi tests Ferrari F2008
  • Rossi doing well at Mugello in F2008
  • Brawn praises Senna and Di Grassi
  • Vettel happy with early test form
  • Senna happy wih test performance
  • Sato unable to rate his chances
• 19 Nov.
  • Piquet wraps up Renault test
  • Vettel finishes test on top
  • 'STR's driver decision is purely a financial issue'
  • Senna enjoys warm welcome in paddock
  • Di Grassi enjoyed Honda opportunity
  • Photos: Wednesday in Barcelona
• 18 Nov.
  • Renault pushes on with test
  • Vettel fastest on day 2
  • Ecclestone to replace points for medals?
  • 'This is the worst looking F1 car ever!'
  • Hamilton joins side event Race of Champions
  • De la Rosa joins Force India in Barcelona
  • Photos: Tuesday in Barcelona
  • Wurz enjoying return of slicks
  • Renault happy with first day back
• 17 Nov.
  • Senna's dream comes true with first day at Honda
  • Loeb impressed with Barcelona test
  • Sato fastest on first day in Barcelona
  • Force India sees 2009 chassis delayed
  • Canadian Grand Prix officially axed
  • The 2009 season gets under way in Barcelona
  • Photos: Monday in Barcelona
• 16 Nov.
  • Schumacher gets Superbikes offer
  • Rampf hoped for more in second half of season
• 15 Nov.
  • Loeb happy with Silverstone shakedown
  • Williams extends key sponsor deal
• 14 Nov.
  • Van der Garde sitting tight at Renault

Homepage