Saturday June 17th, 2000

David Coulthard drove faster than McLaren team mate Mika Hakkinen in qualifying practice for the third consecutive race on Saturday to prove a point to Michael Schumacher.

Coulthard had taken pole position in May's European Grand Prix at Germany's Nuerburgring and qualified faster than Finnish world champion Hakkinen in Monaco and here in Montreal.

And before Schumacher beat Coulthard to pole position on Saturday the Scot had topped the times in practice for Sunday's Canadian Grand Prix, suggesting his performance in qualifying would be a true reflection of his form.

But Schumacher indicated he would reserve judgment on Coulthard's title ambitions. "I want to see consistent proof that David has become stronger or equal to Mika," he said.

Schumacher's Challenge

The German challenged Coulthard, whom he leads by 12 points in the championship, to prove he was faster than Hakkinen.

Coulthard responded with a majestic performance to force the twice champion to refine his words and acknowledge the Scot as a title rival.

Coulthard and Schumacher exchanged top spot only in the closing moments as they both set their best times on the final lap.

Schumacher was quickest in a thrilling qualifying session to earn his fifth pole of the season.

But he was just 0.098 seconds quicker than Coulthard, who continued the fine form he had shown in practice.

Schumacher acknowledged Coulthard's efforts but still insisted Hakkinen was his main threat this season.

"David is getting stronger and stronger with every race but of course I look to Mika as my main challenger because of the fact that he's won two world titles," Schumacher said.

"David has been slower than Mika in the past couple of years, but he's putting in a big challenge and it is possible that things might turn around."

Mind on the Race

Coulthard was almost half a second quicker than Hakkinen, who could manage only fourth place on the grid alongside Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello.

Despite a solid qualifying performance Coulthard said his mind was focused purely on the race.

"The most important thing is to win the race and from that point of view I'm not too disappointed about (not) gaining pole," he said.

"It would have been nice to have a clear track in front of me when I begin the race but I knew it would be a close session.

"I qualified in front of Mika again but I'm not even looking at that. My goal is to win the race and although the car is tricky to drive on the limit, I'm feeling confident."