Coulthard questions Webber's contract talks

LONDON, May 20 (Reuters) - David Coulthard has questioned Formula One team mate Mark Webber's motives in announcing he had begun talks to stay at Red Bull beyond the end of the season.

Australian Webber told reporters at this month's Turkish Grand Prix that he was "massively keen" to continue with Renault-powered Red Bull next year and had already opened discussions.

"If I try to rationalise why Mark would say that, I can only presume it was either to stimulate talks with the team or to stimulate interest in the rest of the paddock, reminding people that he's on the market," Coulthard said in a weekly column on the itv-f1.com Web site.

"When you think about it logically, you do your private negotiations in private and then when you've reached an agreement you make an announcement. You don't normally say 'Er, I'm about to enter negotiations..." added the Scot.

"So I would conclude that it was a positioning tactic rather than anything else."

Coulthard, the oldest driver on the starting grid at 37, has yet to score in five races this season while Webber has 10 points to his credit after finishing in the points in his last four grands prix.

At least one of the Red Bull drivers is expected to move on at the end of the year, with young German Sebastian Vettel tipped to graduate from the Ferrari-powered Toro Rosso team that Red Bull co-own.

Webber, who is 31 and managed by Renault team boss Flavio Briatore, and Coulthard will both be out of contract.

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner sung Webber's praises this week however, saying in a team preview for Sunday's Monaco Grand Prix that the Australian was "in the form of his life at the moment."

Coulthard, gearing up for the 234th race of his career, could be heading for retirement in October but the Scot refused to comment on his position at the team.

"As far as my own situation goes, I will keep my own counsel until I have a firm deal to announce," he declared.

"F1 is an unsentimental business; You race for as long as you're perceived to be doing a good job and not a day longer." (Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Trevor Huggins)