David Coulthard missed out on pole position for tomorrow's Monaco Grand Prix by just under four tenths of a second, when Juan Pablo Montoya snatched the top slot as the chequered flag fell. Up until then the Scot had looked almost assured for his second consecutive P1.

"Obviously I'm pleased to be on the front row, but I believe we could have been on pole position. The car and the Michelin tyres seemed to suit the nature of the track and we have been competitive throughout the weekend," he said in a press release.

"During qualifying you are constantly building up, and I could have been quicker on my last run, but as is always the case in Monaco, traffic becomes a problem and I was held up and abandoned the run. I have won the Monaco Grand Prix before and believe we have a chance of a good result tomorrow."

After a difficult to start to his Monaco GP, Kimi Raikkonen secured P6 in Coulthard's T-car following a crash in this morning's practice and technical problems in qualifying.

"A very difficult weekend for me so far and unfortunately things didn't improve today. I went off at St. Devote during this morning's practice and when the marshals removed the car, the rollhoop was damaged which meant I had to use another car for qualifying," he commented.

"As I went out for my first run, I had a small problem with the oil system on the engine and was forced to use David's T-car for the rest of qualifying which is not ideal. Now I have to look forward to tomorrow and I believe things can only get better."

Team boss Ron Dennis added: "An outstanding performance from David. Good teamwork and tyres contributed to his front row position, which with slightly better circumstances could have been his first pole position of the year.

 "Monaco occasionally gives you difficult logistical challenges and nothing could better represent this phenomenon than Kimi qualifying in his fourth car of the weekend. His sixth place is as frustrating for him as it is for us but in the circumstances it's not too bad."