Coulthard optimistic for race

Coulthard optimistic for race

Coulthard believes he had a heavier fuel load than Renault

McLaren driver David Coulthard believes he can battle for victory in Sunday's Malaysian Grand Prix, despite qualifying in fourth place behind the Renaults and Michael Schumacher.

The Scot thinks Renault have secured the front row of the grid by opting for a different fuel strategy that will play into McLaren's hands during the race.

"We hope Renault's race strategy will see them pit earlier than us, and I think we can have a good race," Coulthard said.

Renault have insisted that they have not compromised their race performance by running an artificially low fuel load in qualifying.

Renault delight in surprise pole

The Australian Grand Prix winner said he had still not mastered the new one-lap qualifying system.

"It's hard with these one-lap runs to be completely satisfied with your performance, particularly in these hot conditions.

Montoya salvaged some respect for struggling Williams

"I made no big mistakes but I understeered a little at turn nine and the corner onto the back straight, so I was a little bit slower with the acceleration than I expected.

"As a result we could have been quicker but probably not as fast as the Renaults."

Coulthard's views were echoed by Williams star Juan Pablo Montoya.

The Colombian qualified down in eighth place - but even that was much better than team-mate Ralf Schumacher, who had a disastrous session and will line up 17th on the grid, nearly a second slower than Montoya.

Full qualifying line-up

Montoya, who finished second to Coulthard in Australia, said: "I had some balance problems, which were expected with the set-up we need for the race on this track.

"I was worried when I saw Ralf's lap, though, as he was struggling with his balance quite a lot.

"However, I am pretty happy that we are quite close to McLaren and I think we look pretty good for the race thanks to our strategy."

Schumacher, who also qualified well down the field in Australia, said: "I shouldn't be so far from my team-mate - it's clear that I have to get used to this new qualifying system."

McLaren boss Ron Dennis said it was "an interesting qualifying session that has given us grid positions which represent the varying fuel loads. It should be another fascinating race."