Early crash ends tough weekend for Coulthard 09 Sep 2007
Red Bull’s David Coulthard completed just six laps in Saturday’s qualifying session at Monza - but it was five more than he managed in Sunday’s race, after crashing out in the opening stages.
Coulthard went off at speed at the Curva Grande on lap two, plunging into the tyre wall after a front wing failure on his RB3. He emerged unhurt, but it marked the end of a disappointing meeting for the Scot, who had spun out of Q1 on Saturday with gearbox problems.
"I touched the back of Fisichella's car in the middle of the first chicane and broke my front wing,” explained Coulthard. “When I accelerated, the downforce pushed the wing underneath the front of the car and broke the steering. I went straight off the track and into the tyres, that was the end of the weekend."
There was frustration of a different kind for team mate Mark Webber, who finished just outside the points after a battling drive to ninth place. The result means Red Bull have not scored a point since July’s European Grand Prix.
"I had a pretty good start and a good scrap with Jenson Button and Nico Rosberg over the first few laps,” said the Australian. “I tried to be as consistent as possible on the heavy load fuel I was running, and to keep the best rhythm I could, but it wasn't easy as the car wasn't that easy to drive.
“It was one of the most difficult races I've done in terms of inconsistent balance, so we need to improve that and sort out some of the reliability issues that are still affecting us.”
Summing up Red Bull’s Italian Grand Prix, team boss Christian Horner commented: “Mark extracted the most he could from the car, so we need to find more pace going to Spa next weekend."
