Coulthard believes he's still well placed
David Coulthard insists his faltering title hopes do not hinge on him roaring to another famous victory in the Monaco Grand Prix on Sunday.
The 32-year-old Scot, who has triumphed in Monte Carlo twice in the last three years, has slipped down the standings in recent races after making a promising start to the season.
Coulthard heads into the 61st running of the world’s most prestigious and glamorous grand prix 17 points adrift of McLaren team-mate Kimi Raikkonen and 15 behind Ferrari’s Michael Schumacher.
But he said: “Every race is important but you cannot say one is more important than another in terms of the championship.
“I am 17 points behind the leader but I know that just a couple of wins would turn that around.
Hopefully I can get one here.
“People say this is a true drivers’ circuit but the reality is that you still need a car to get around, but obviously if you have got a good car then that gives you the confidence to pull a bit more performance out of it.
“But there is no room for error here. It’s not like other circuits where you can drift wide, send up puffs of smoke and get away with it. Do that here and you hit the guard-rails."
Coulthard’s hopes of finally powering to championship glory rests on how competitive the MP4-18, which had its first run-out in the south of France last weekend with reserve driver Alexander Wurz, turns out to be after an inconclusive and troubled initial test.
The car is unlikely to be raced until the European Grand Prix in Germany in three races time, so Coulthard must hope the old car can continue to pick up points.
“You always hope that when a new car proves to be three seconds quicker but that’s never the case,” added Coulthard.
“Last week was about testing systems. It was great to see the first run of the MP4-18 last week at Paul Ricard.
“It is an exciting looking car and Alex felt very positive, I am now looking forward to getting my hands on it in due course.”
