David Coulthard believes that his team-mate Mika Hakkinen will secure the championship next weekend. He told the Italian Newspaper 'La Gazetta dello Sport' he doesn't believe Ferrari will have the advantage on the track.

"The really interesting thing about Suzuka on Sunday will be to compare the progress we've made with what Ferrari have managed. I'm curious to see who has done better. But I think Mika is going to be fine. The world title is every driver's ambition, and you win it by making fewer mistakes than all the others. Mika has worked hard, has made few mistakes and has always been top of the standings," Coulthard said.

Coulthard added: "We did very well. The new tyres we chose for Suzuka are really incredible. We've made more progress with them alone than with all the other improvements we've made this season. I don't see how Ferrari could be more competitive than they were a month ago. There's no reason to think they will be faster than us. I just don't see how they could have improved so much in such a short time and think they can put two men in front of us. We've got the best car. We adapted to the new tyres better right from the very first race and since the last grand prix we've been focusing all our technical resources on a car which was already perfect. If Ferrari have closed the gap or overtaken us, then we will found out on Friday. But I would be very surprised."