Coulthard Wins British GP

April 23, 2000 / 3:29 PM EDT / CBS/AP

David Coulthard climbed out of his McLaren, reached skyward to acknowledge 100,000 fans cheering his victory in the British Grand Prix, and put a cellphone to his ear.

"I was taking a call from a board member at Mercedes-Benz," the 29-year-old Scot said Sunday after winning the race for the second year in a row. "This was very important for Mercedes to get a win after the first three races."

The victory temporarily slowed the momentum of Ferrari, whose Michael Schumacher opened the Formula One season by winning in Australia, Brazil and Italy.

"It couldn't have been any easier," said Coulthard, who got the seventh victory of his career. "The only hiccup was the gearbox problem I had a few times towards the end."

Coulthard covered 60 laps on the 3.194-mile road course in 1 hour, 28 minutes, 50.108 seconds, averaging 129.480 mph. He beat his teammate, two-time defending series champion Mika Hakkinen, by 1.48 seconds.

But Schumacher finished third, and has 34 points after four of 17 races. Coulthard has 14 points and Hakkinen 12.

"There's quite a gap to make up, but we just have to keep scoring," Coulthard said of McLaren's pursuit of Ferrari. "We need to win races and finish first and second, and take as many away from them as possible."

The race was remarkably clean, with 17 of the 22 cars finishing on a dry and sunny day. That was a respite for central England, waterlogged from two weeks of rain that affected Friday practice and Saturday qualifying.

The big problem was outside the track, where more than 200 acres of farmland used for parking became a quagmire. Faced with a traffic jams as long as 15 miles, most fans gave up the quest for the parking lot, left their cars on narrow country roads and walked the final 3-4 miles to the track.

"It's like refugees streaming up the motorway," said John Mooyman, who watched at an overpass. "It's like England is being invaded."

For those who could find them, taxis were charging as much as $80 to fans willing to ride 10-12 miles then walk the last few to the track.

"It's a total nightmare," said cab driver Bill Mooney. "I've never seen anything ike it and I've been driving in these parts for 25 years. On an early trip, I waited 25 minutes in traffic and didn't move an inch."

Inside the facility originally built as a World War II air base, Schumacher's problems with traffic began on the starting grid. He went from the fifth spot, but never got clear.

"I had a good start, but there were cars everywhere around me," he said. "I considered cutting through the grass, but given all the rain we had I decided against it.

"I spent much of the race in eighth place, and I was wondering if I was fighting for nothing. I thought my chance would come later, but it did not."

But his finish kept damage to a minimum for Ferrari, whose polesitter, Rubens Barrichello, spun out on the 35th lap, and didn't score a point. Schumacher, trying to give the Italian team its first driving champion in 21 years, scored four.

Ferrari, which last year won the constructors title for the first time since 1983, has 43 points to 26 for McLaren.

Schumacher's younger brother, Ralf, finished fourth in a Williams, followed by 20-year-old teammate Jenson Button. Jarno Trulli got a point for finishing sixth in his Jordan.