Coulthard hints at Mclaren mistakes

Gary Emmerson

David Coulthard says he will not be under any added pressure in this weekend's British Grand Prix, but fears that McLaren may have handed the Formula One title to Michael Schumacher.

Reliability problems with Coulthard's McLaren-Mercedes Benz have allowed the German Ferrari driver to open a 31-point lead in the standings and the British driver is aware that Sunday's race at Silverstone represents his final chance.

With seven races remaining, Coulthard is chasing a third successive win at Silverstone but he said that on his current form he does not deserve to lift the title.

"You either do a job that is deserving of the title or you don't and at the moment we are not and we know we need to improve," said Coulthard, who has not won since the Austrian Grand Prix in May.

"Naturally it is deflating to see the gap increasing, but because I wasn't looking at the points gap when it was four points, I haven't noticed so much that it has gone up," he told reporters in a recent pre-British Grand Prix briefing.

"You either win or you lose. If I lose the championship it can be by 60 points - it doesn't matter if you've lost by a couple of points because it has still happened."

Coulthard has finished on the podium just once since Austria when he was third in the European Grand Prix at the Nuerburgring in June.

Schumacher, in stark contrast, has taken three victories and a second place to his brother Ralf of Williams in the four races that have followed Coulthard's success in Austria.

ADMITS MISTAKES

The Scottish driver admitted that mistakes have been made by McLaren in their quest to challenge Ferrari this year, but he said that without the gambles they took the gap to Schumacher would have been unassailable.

"The easiest way to win is to have the best car and to be performant," Coulthard said. "But as long as I know that I'm giving 100 percent then I'll take the positives out of (my situation).

"I can't do anything about the car. I can't try and solve it because it is not my speciality. You need to rely on the people around you and then things will get better.

"In our quest to make things better we miss things and make mistakes. We are only human, it is a human driven sport despite all the technology that is involved.

"I'm not any harder on the people who have made mistakes than I need to be because we can all make mistakes. If someone is not prepared to take a risk then you don't arrive at this point of the championship and be one of the teams involved at the top."

Coulthard is confident this year does not present his final assault on the championship and he believes he is still progressing as a driver.

He is in talks with McLaren, but has yet to confirm his plans for next season. And he has denied that there is any pressure on his head to deliver the world championship this year.

"I feel that I'm driving well, but I still know that I can do some more," he said. "I'm driving better but the potential to improve is still there and the results show that.

"I'm gaining more experience with every season in Formula One and I'm more confident and I have more knowledge to get the best out of the car. Clearly I'm the only one in the car so I'm the only one who can know what is happening and that shows in the driving."