Coulthard focused on the present

David Coulthard insists he is more concerned about this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix than finding a job for next season.

The Scotsman is expected to leave McLaren at the end of the campaign to make way for Juan Pablo Montoya with Williams, Jaguar and Toyota all mentioned as possible new homes.

McLaren’s dismal season so far has done little to help Coulthard’s cause but the 13-time Grand Prix winner is refusing to panic as Formula One’s traditional ’silly season’ of driver announcements and speculation beckons.

“The first priority is making sure I am on the grid here this weekend and making sure I do the best job I can, so that is where my focus and energy goes,” he said.

“People continue to speculate about all the drivers that are up for contract renewal or potential to move away but that is all it is until there is an official announcement.”

Coulthard feels his track record is in his favour, with only 15 drivers in Formula One history having scored more victories than the Scot.

He will use those wins from his 10 years in the sport to his advantage when it comes to contract negotiations.

He added: “I think that if you don’t have a history, you either have the word potential beside your name or you are not considered someone who will be in Formula One for very long.

“So I have gone through a period in my career where I started with no history and just that word potential.

“Then you turn that word into race results, so I am comfortable to look back on the results I have and use those.”

Another driver looking for a car in 2005 is former world champion Jacques Villeneuve, who has been strongly linked with Williams.

The Grove-based team are likely to see Ralf Schumacher leave along with Montoya and Villeneuve has spoken to them about a return.

He won the 1997 world championship there and Coulthard – who made way for the Canadian in 1996 and is a potential rival for a seat with Williams – would welcome him back.

“As well as him being a friend I think he is a character for Formula One because he expresses his views without always giving full consideration to the consequences of how that may endear him to the team and sponsors and all the rest of it,” he said.

“But it is interesting and entertaining out of the car and in the car he is also entertaining because if you tell him that a corner is almost flat then he is the guy who is going to try to take it flat, even if it means shunting it the other side of it.

“That is an interesting quality that he has so I think it would be interesting for the sport for him to be back if he was able to find a spot.”

Mark Webber is another driver linked to Williams, who took fellow Australian Alan Jones to the world title in 1980.

But the Jaguar driver, in just his third season of Formula One, is keen to calm growing speculation.

“Unless you have got something to say it is not really good to speculate,” he said. “There are a few seats moving around I think but I am very, very happy at Jaguar and that is where I am at the moment.”