F1: Coulthard remains upbeat

David Coulthard insisted today there was no need to panic despite seeing title rival Michael Schumacher open the campaign in blistering fashion in Melbourne.

The 30-year-old Scot was three seconds off the reigning champion’s pace even though Schumacher was in last year’s Ferrari.

Coulthard finished back in 11th spot in opening practice for McLaren-Mercedes but is confident he will still be battling for victory with the German in Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix.

‘‘I’m not panicking,’’ said Coulthard, also unconcerned at seeing new young team-mate Kimi Raikkonen finish four places ahead of him on the time-sheets.

‘‘There is no way Michael is going to be three seconds faster than me for the rest of the weekend.

‘‘I believe it is still going to be a close battle between ourselves, Ferrari and Williams for the race victory.

‘‘I had a problem with the left rear wheel so I didn’t get a quick run on new tyres right at the end otherwise my lap time would have been much faster.’’

But Schumacher has warned his rivals they should be concerned after surprising even himself as he launched his bid for that record-equalling fifth drivers’ crown.

The 33-year-old finished over half-a-second ahead of team-mate Rubens Barrichello while his next closest challenger younger brother Ralf was a further second adrift in his Williams-BMW.

‘‘They should be worried,’’ said Schumacher who had been playing down his chances of victory in the old car with the 2002 challenger expected to be significantly faster being kept back until Ferrari are confident of their reliability.

‘‘I am a little bit surprised by the gap but I am pleased by the way it has gone and I feel more confident than I was before arriving here. But I am not overconfident because a lot can happen before the race.’’

Although it is last year’s car and Ferrari have been working on its development, it will still be a concern to the other teams if the advantage stays the same over the weekend.

Colombia’s Juan Pablo Montoya posted the fourth best time for Williams, who are expected to be the main challenger to Ferrari’s superiority after ending their three-year victory drought last year with four wins.

But team chief Frank Williams was forced to admit: ‘‘There is always room to learn but what we did learn yet again unfortunately is that Ferrari are in a class of their own.

‘‘Though it is too soon to make a truthful comment because everyone was running different weights throughout the day and conditions were changing.’’

Germany’s Nick Heidfeld confirmed the power of the Ferrari engine as he set the fifth fastest time for Sauber with Brazilian team-mate Felipe Massa, at 20 the youngest man on the grid, an impressive eighth quickest on his grand prix debut.

Fellow debutants Takuma Sato of Jordan and Minardi’s Mark Webber, the first Australian to compete in his home race for eight years, were 13th and 20th respectively.

Former world champion Jacques Villeneuve began the 100th race of his career with the 12th fastest time for British American Racing.

But the Canadian admitted he was still carrying the mental scars of his horror smash last year when a wheel was ripped off his car and punched its way through a gap in the safety fence, killing local volunteer marshal Graham Beveridge.

‘‘It didn’t have an influence on who I was or how I was acting, but it’s not something that was brushed off,’’ said Villeneuve, who suffered with a back problem for several months after the incident, caused when he hit the back of Ralf Schumacher’s Williams.

‘‘It is something that happened and stayed in the memory. Any time there is a fatality in anything it could have been avoided, but you can’t think of everything in avoidance.’’