Coulthard

SILVERSTONE, England -- Crossed radio signals helped wreck David Coulthard's hopes of a third win in four years for McLaren in his home British Grand Prix.

The Scot, winner at Silverstone in 1999 and 2000, was the highest finisher of the four home drivers but 10th place -- Coulthard's worst finish in Britain barring his two retirements -- was nothing to shout about.

"It has been a terrible afternoon for the entire team," he said after world champion Michael Schumacher led a Ferrari one-two and ended McLaren's run of three wins in a row at Silverstone.

Finland's Mika Hakkinen won for the team last year.

"At the first stop I went on the radio to say that I was coming in and while the mechanics could hear me, the pitwall had some interference on their radios from the digital TV commentators and could not hear me," said Coulthard.

"When the team then told me to come in, I was already past the pitlane entry.

"Then the information that we had available told us that it might stop raining so I stayed out for another lap, but then it started to rain heavily. We just seemed to be on the wrong tyres at the wrong time."

Coulthard said he also had brake problems before the race, which the team had tried to fix on the grid, and skidded off four times.

"To be honest this is a British Grand Prix I would prefer to forget," he said.

Finnish teammate Kimi Raikkonen failed to finish when his Mercedes engine failed 15 laps from the end.

Arrows drivers rue missed opportunity
Arrows has missed an opportunity at the British Grand Prix to turn a grim weekend into a celebration.

A day after they escaped from Formula One extinction, Germany's Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Brazilian Enrique Bernoldi both ran strongly until an engine problem and driveshaft failure ended their efforts.

On Saturday, team principal Tom Walkinshaw engineered Arrows' continued survival after paying engine suppliers Cosworth himself to enable the cars to qualify.

The team are still not out of danger but, with two weeks before the next race in France, Walkinshaw was confident on Saturday that they would live to fight another day.

Frentzen, who has scored two points this year, was disappointed not to provide some good news on the track.

"That was a real disappointment as it was the most fun we have had this weekend," he said of a race in which he challenged for sixth place.

"We were definitely in for a lot of points today so to have something break at such a key moment is a huge shame for us," he added. "After a weekend like the one we've just had, a points finish would have been fantastic reward."

Fuel problems
Faulty fuel rigs are costing Formula One teams points and need to be improved, according to BMW Motorsport director Mario Theissen.

Theissen, whose company are Williams' engine partners, made his comments in a team release after a refuelling problem cost Ralf Schumacher a likely points finish at the British Grand Prix.

"It was not the first time that there have been problems with the fuel rig," he said on Sunday. "Unfortunately this time it was us.

"In nearly every race, one team or another has problems with refuelling so improvements are really required.

"Ralf lost fourth place because of this today."

The German, Michael Schumacher's younger brother, lost points in Canada last month for a similar reason.