Team clear Coulthard of blame
Monday, 30 April 2001 07:16McLaren driver David Coulthard has been cleared of all blame for the incident at yesterday's Spanish Grand Prix which cost him the lead in the drivers' championship. Coulthard's car stalled on the dummy grid before the warm-up lap, forcing him to start the race from the very back of the grid despite qualifying in third spot the day before. Despite that setback and a further incident on the opening lap which saw him lose the front nose on his car, Coulthard managed to battle his way back into contention and finish within the points in fifth spot.
Initially, McLaren team boss Ron Dennis blamed Coulthard for the incident. "I am afraid to say that David had a bit of a brain fade on his part," he commented during the race. However, the Scot was far from happy to be put in the firing line and hit back at Dennis. "I think Ron has suffered a brain fade. He has not spoken to me or to my engineers yet. The car just stalled. The boffins are scratching their heads because it should not have happened," he explained.
Afterwards, it was revealed that a the traction control system that Coulthard was using for the first time malfunctioned and Dennis later retracted his comments about his driver, saying that a computer glitch was actually at fault. "Based on an initial analysis we felt that David was responsible for stalling on the dummy grid, but closer scrutiny confirmed that a glitch in the software was at fault," said Dennis. (PA)
Filed by Amanda Fennelly
