DC had no right to be let by, says Palmer.

Ex-GP driver Jonathan Palmer has entered the debate on the Enrique Bernoldi/David Coulthard incident by saying the Brazilian had every right to fight for position in the Monaco GP despite the fact DC is a championship contender.

Palmer who raced in F1 in the 1980's said: "While I have great sympathy for the huge frustration McLaren must have felt the question that needs to be answered is, where do you draw the line? If Coulthard was behind Kimi Raikkonen, running 12th, say, should Raikkonen move over? If he was behind Olivier Panis, who happened to be running fourth but was not a championship contender, should Panis feel obliged to move over? No. It's part of Monaco, I'm afraid."

"Overtaking is difficult. It was a stall on the grid, but a puncture, a spin or an off could just as well have put him to the back. David may complain but he didn't seize on the windows of opportunity as vigorously as I would have expected him to. He should have been right up behind (Enrique) Bernoldi when (Michael) Schumacher came round to lap them. With a more carefully planned strategy he could then have jinked in behind the Ferrari, but he was too far behind to use the lapping situation well. It has to be said (Kimi) Raikkonen found his way round Bernoldi pretty easily."

Palmer added: "Drivers at the front of the grid have different pressures but in many ways it's a comfortable environment. They don't have to fight for position in the same way and when they come round to lap the field, they are used to cars moving serenely over to let them through. And David (Coulthard) has always been in a front-running team."