Sunday March 26th, 2000

McLaren have yet to score a single point in this year's Formula One championship after David Coulthard lost six points when his car was disqualified from second place in Sunday's Brazilian Grand Prix.

Ferrari's Michael Schumacher is now way ahead of the field with his second win in as many races in the 2000 season. Schumacher's car had also come under scrutiny in a post-race inspection, but was cleared by scrutineers.

Coulthard was already on his way to the airport to celebrate his 29th birthday Monday in London when he got the bad news nearly six hours after the race. A technical inspection found his front wing was 7 mm or a fraction of an inch lower to the ground than regulations allow.

McLaren appealed the ruling, claiming that the "bottoming and vibration" of the bumpy Interlagos circuit had caused structural damage to the silver racer's body.

But until the appeal is heard in a date to be set in the future, Coulthard is officially excluded from the results of the Brazilian Grand Prix.

With Coulthard's disqualification, Benetton's Giancarlo Fisichella moves up to second and Jordan's Heinz-Harald Frentzen to third. British 20-year-old Jenson Button takes the first point of his Formula One career with a sixth place.