McLaren Technical Director Adrian Newey admitted David Coulthard’s victory in the Monaco Grand Prix was a “happy surprise”.

Coulthard, who has faced a struggle this year in McLaren’s sluggish MP4/17, led from lights to flag in a hard-fought contest on Sunday. He got himself in a prime position to take victory having got the best start from second on the grid and leading from the first corner, Ste Devote.

Newey said McLaren was expecting a top result at the race, knowing that the flaws of its package would not be shown up like on open layouts. Even so, he and the squad were surprised that it had come off so efficiently.

‘It has been a tough season so far, so to get a good result here is really fantastic,’ the 43-year-old said.

‘It was the race at which we felt we had the best chance, the one that most suited our car, so it's nice to get the job done.

‘Coming here, we hoped we'd do well, but we didn't expect to win, so it's a happy surprise.

‘Michael’s (Schumacher) car was quicker but David did not put a foot wrong.’