David Coulthard
Name: David Coulthard
Nationality: British
Date of Birth: March 27th 1971, Twynholm, Scotland
Resides: Monaco
Team: Red Bull Racing / Mucke Motorsport DTM Team
Title: Driver / TV presenter
David Coulthard
David Coulthard’s is among the most long-standing and popular figures in the world of motor racing. The Scot started karting at the age of 8, winning multiple championships before moving into Formula Ford at the end of 1988. In 1989, he won the inaugural McLaren/Autosport Young Driver of the Year Award – included in the prize was a chance to test for the McLaren F1 Team. The next year, Coulthard looked set to win the GM Lotus Euroseries until he broke his leg in a crash at Spa-Francorchamps. After stints in Formula 3 and Formula 3000, he began testing for the Williams-Renault Team in 1993, the same year he won the GT class at the Le Mans 24hours.
He began the 1994 F1 season as Williams’ full time test driver, but the tragic death of Ayrton Senna at Imola saw him take over the Brazilian’s race seat for some F1 events.
After a further year at Williams, during which he picked up his first GP win, David Coulthard signed for McLaren for the 1996 season. That year was unremarkable, but the following season Coulthard won the opening race and finished up 3rd in the championship, tied with Jean Alesi. In 1999, he won the British Grand Prix, a feat he repeated the following year. Shortly after that win came a very close brush with death – his private plane crashing on landing in France, resulting in the death of the pilot and co-pilot, and a lucky escape for Coulthard and his girlfriend. He finished 2nd in the 2001 Drivers’ Championship, the highest finish of his career and continued with McLaren until the end of 2004, before beginning the final leg of his F1 life racing for Red Bull in the 2005 season.
After 4 years with the team, Coulthard left F1 at the end of 2008. He remained as a consultant for Red Bull, and occasional test and demonstration driver. But in 2010, he re-entered motorsport, driving for Mercedes in the DTM. Today he juggles his racing with a role as a pundit for the BBC’s F1 coverage.
David is also a successful businessman, owning a string of properties and luxury hotels in Switzerland, the UK and Belgium.
Big Moment
Despite a number of F1 seasons in which he looked to be a title contender, the big moment which best defines the Scot’s career came in 2006. Racing at the Spanish Grand Prix, Coulthard passed a historic milestone, becoming a member of F1’s ‘200 Club’; that elite group of drivers to have competed in 200 GPs. Other members include Michael Schumacher, Riccardo Patrese and Nelson Piquet. Another symbol of his success is his status as highest-scoring British F1 driver, with 535 points to his name…
TV Show
We caught up with Coulthard on Mobil 1: the Grid in June 2010, during Round 3 of the DTM at the Eurospeedway Lasitz in Germany. We discussed the Scot’s return to motor racing, his impressions of the DTM series and his opinion of the rivalry between Red Bull team-mates Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel.
Quotes
Our favourite David Coulthard quote was when we asked him whether he still had the competitive urge after 18 months away from racing.
We Asked, ‘How motivated and determined do you feel after 18 months out of the cockpit?
Coulthard replied, “You know, it’s a funny thing because I didn’t drive anything competitively for as you say eighteen months, but then when the first race started you just remember what you’re supposed to do which is to go racing, so I think that you can, to a certain extent, you can make a fast racing driver, but I don’t think you can make a good racer. You know, racing is something that has to be instinctive; it has to be either developed at an early age in karting or you just have it in your blood, so it was reassuring to see that I still have that racing instinct. You know, driving around here I’m having a lot of fun just driving round myself. The race in a way is another story altogether, but just practising and driving the car I’m just getting this second opportunity to enjoy driving fast cars out there on race track and I think that to live a life doing that is a gift.”
Detail
2010 Joins the DTM with Mercedes
2008 Retires from F1 but retains advisory role with Red Bull Racing
2005 After 9 seasons with McLaren, switches to the new Red Bull Racing team
2002 Clinches Monaco GP victory for the 2nd time in his career
2001 Finished 2nd in F1 Drivers’ Championship, a career high
2000 Finished 3rd in F1 Drivers’ Championship
1998 Finished 3rd in the F1 Drivers’ Championship
1997 Ends season joint 3rd in the F1 Drivers’ Championship
1996 Moved from Williams to McLaren
1995 Ends season 3rd in the F1 Drivers’ Championship
1994 Competed in his first F1 event with the Williams team
