Oliver White
After David Coulthard blocked Heikki Kovalainen during the second phase of qualifying, the Scot was ordered to present himself before the stewards to explain his actions. However, it was pretty clear from the footage that Coulthard was in the wrong, and even his manager and ITV commentator, Martin Brundle, spoke out against the driver.
David has now spoken to ITVs Ted Kravitz, and this is what he had to say on the matter.
Obviously I didn’t know Kovalainen was on a timed lap, because it’s quite clear that you have to get out of the way. I communicate with the team so I know what’s going on with the traffic and apparently there was a misunderstanding and I didn’t get the correct info. But what’s quite clear is that I wasn’t trying to screw his lap, I understand the system around here, it was just a lack of communication. David Coulthard.
Over in the Renault camp though, the staff are less diplomatic when it comes to choosing their words.
David’s a very nice guy, but let’s face it, he’s the most experienced driver in Formula 1 and he’s actually the most voluble people about using mirrors and blue flags and things. It was just unbelievable what he did. And it’s such a shame for Heikki, he’s had a hard weekend and he was very wound up to get it through to Q3. It’s a pity.
It’s not a strange decision, it’s a fact of life, that if you suffer as a result of what someone else has done, you can’t get that back. It’s not always fair, but I don’t think there’s much else you can do about it. You can’t imagine that Heikki would have done ‘this’ time and therefore that would have put him in ‘this’ position. Monaco’s a very unique circiut and if you’re starting from 14th or something like that, it’s terribly difficult to get through and get a result out of it. Pat Symonds.
And finally from Heikki Kovalainen.
I came round the first corner on my flying lap and saw Coulthard’s Red Bull coming out of the pits, and thought he would move over after Casino – or into the tunnel at the latest. But he just stayed there all the way round, and ruined the lap. To say the least, I was very surprised to see that from the most experienced driver in the field. Heikki Kovalainen.
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