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David Coulthard
Coulthard in the pits at the 2007 Italian Grand Prix
Nationality	British
Car #	9
Current team	Red Bull
Formula One World Championship career
Races	239 (238 starts)
Championships	0
Wins	13
Podium finishes	62
Pole positions	12
Career points	533
Fastest laps	18
First race	1994 Spanish Grand Prix
First win	1995 Portuguese Grand Prix
Latest win	2003 Australian Grand Prix
Latest race	2008 German Grand Prix
2007 position	10th (14 points)

David Marshall Coulthard, often called DC, (born March 27, 1971 in Twynholm, Kirkcudbrightshire) is a British Formula One racing driver from Scotland. By virtue of a long career he has amassed a noticeable points haul, and lies fourth on the all-time scorers list, being the top British scorer. He has won thirteen grands prix, including two at Monaco, which made him the first British driver since Jackie Stewart to take victory there. He currently drives for Red Bull Racing. It will be his last year as a Red Bull driver as he announced before the 2008 British Grand Prix that he is to retire from Formula One racing once the 2008 season is over.

Biography

Pre-F1

Coulthard began karting at an early age, graduating to Formula Ford in 1989. He won the first ever McLaren/Autosport Young Driver of the Year award. In 1990, he suffered a broken leg at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, but came back the following year to win Formula 3 races at Zandvoort, Netherlands and Macau, China. In 1992, he raced in the Formula 3000 series, finishing ninth, and in 1993 he improved to third overall.

To F1

In 1993, Coulthard became test driver for the world champion Formula One team Williams-Renault and played an important role in advancing the car's technology. For 1994 he stayed with Williams as tester, but following Ayrton Senna's tragic death at Imola, was promoted to the race team alongside Damon Hill for the Spanish Grand Prix. He spent much of the season driving the second car, but had to step aside for ex-champion Nigel Mansell on four occasions. Renault were keen to have a big name in the second Williams, and Mansell, at that time reigning Indycar champion, fitted the bill. Coulthard showed flashes of speed, but errors and bad luck saw him take just one podium, a second-place finish at Estoril. For the last three races he had to sit back and watch Mansell take his place, but it was he, and not Mansell, who would race for Williams full-time in 1995.

Williams

Coulthard driving for the Williams team at the 1994 British Grand Prix.

The 1995 season saw Coulthard win the 1995 Portuguese Grand Prix. There were races where he could have won, but poor luck and mistakes once more cost him. He did score five pole positions, four of them consecutively. However, some unforced errors tarnished his season: at Monza he spun off on the formation lap, whilst in Adelaide he crashed coming into the pits.

McLaren

Coulthard driving for the McLaren team at the 1998 Canadian Grand Prix.

In 1996, Coulthard contracted with McLaren to drive alongside future champion Mika Häkkinen. His first season with McLaren was unremarkable, as the Mercedes-powered team struggled to find speed. He led at Imola and lost out to an inspired Olivier Panis at Monaco. In 1997, in his second year with McLaren, he finished the drivers championship tied with Jean Alesi for third place (after the disqualification of Michael Schumacher). He had taken two wins and could have added more, but for problems. At Jerez he was on course to win after Jacques Villeneuve moved over, but McLaren ordered him to surrender the win to Häkkinen. In 1998, the McLaren was consistently the fastest car on track, but it was Häkkinen who made the most of it, winning the title. Coulthard took just one win and spent most of the year in a supporting role.

Coulthard driving for McLaren at the 1999 Canadian Grand Prix.

In 1999, a combination of under-performance and bad luck saw him finish the season in fourth place, and McLaren lost the constructors' title to Ferrari. Häkkinen became champion, whilst Coulthard won twice. In 2000, he was involved in a tight battle for the drivers championship with Schumacher and Häkkinen, but eventually fell out of contention into a disappointing third place finish. In 2001 he finished the year in second place, but with barely half the points (65) tallied by runaway winner Schumacher (123).

Coulthard's subsequent years at McLaren, from 2002 through 2004, were disappointing as well, as he was regularly out-paced by younger teammate Kimi Räikkönen. Many of Coulthard's critics argue that his decline began in 2003, when the FIA introduced the single-lap qualifying format. Since his Formula Three days, Coulthard had had the reputation of being a poor qualifier. He openly admitted that he did not like the format and was a vocal opponent of the format. With the announcement that Juan Pablo Montoya was to join McLaren in 2005 alongside Räikkönen, 2004 was to be Coulthard's last year with the team. A poor tenth place finish in the final 2004 standings (24 points, equal with the injured Ralf Schumacher) had not helped Coulthard's cause for 2005 either.

Red Bull

Coulthard signing autographs at the 2005 Goodwood Festival of Speed

Red Bull Racing were attracted by Coulthard's experience and signed him for the 2005 Formula One season. He was teamed with the inexperienced Christian Klien and Vitantonio Liuzzi. Coulthard's contract at Red Bull Racing was also extended prior to the 2005 British Grand Prix, prolonging his Formula One career to at least the end of 2006. Coulthard's stint at Red Bull was a renewal for the Scottish driver, who scored points in many races and became one of the more outspoken and media savvy drivers.^{citation needed}

For 2006, Coulthard continued at Red Bull, partnered again with Christian Klien. For 2006, Red Bull Racing were powered by Ferrari engines, with a contract for Renault engines agreed for 2007 during the 2006 season. Technical director Adrian Newey joined the team from McLaren to design the 2007 car. These positive developments led Coulthard to state that he wished to remain with the team after the 2006 season, and to add to his victory tally with them.^{citation needed} On August 7, 2006, the day after the Hungarian Grand Prix where Coulthard finished 5th, it was announced the he had extended his contract with Red Bull Racing for 2007 and would be teamed up with Mark Webber.

Among active F1 drivers, Coulthard has the third most wins (13), behind his former teammate Kimi Räikkönen and Fernando Alonso. Coulthard is the highest-scoring British driver ever with 533 points (as of the 2008 Canadian Grand Prix), beating Nigel Mansell's previous record of 482 points. At the 2006 Spanish Grand Prix he also became the 8th member of Formula One's "200 Club", joining Riccardo Patrese, Michael Schumacher, Rubens Barrichello, Gerhard Berger, Andrea de Cesaris, Nelson Piquet and Jean Alesi in the list of drivers to have competed in 200 Grands Prix. In the 2006 Monaco Grand Prix, Coulthard scored his first podium finish with Red Bull Racing, his best result with the team and also the team's first podium finish. During the trophy presentation, Coulthard wore a red cape as the team was promoting the film "Superman Returns"..

After a slow start to the 2007 season, Coulthard delivered two strong drives at the Bahrain Grand Prix and the Spanish Grand Prix where he picked up the team's first points of the season. On July 6, 2007, Red Bull Racing announced that Coulthard's contract had been extended to the end of 2008.^[1]

Coulthard driving for RBR at the 2008 Canadian Grand Prix, where he scored his second podium finish for the team.

Coulthard had a bad start to his 2008 campaign after a racing incident with Massa. The Sun newspaper had Coulthard quoting his dissatisfaction with the move itself and Massa's unwillingness to admit fault.

"I admit I did the same thing to Alex [Wurz] last year, but I admitted it and apologised. He had better. If he doesn't, I'll knock three colours of shit out of the little bastard ".
David Coulthard, 2008, after tangling with Felipe Massa.

At the second race in Malaysia Coulthard suffered a bad suspension failure which saw his Red Bull team investigated for car safety. Although cleared to drive, the lack of testing time had a negative impact on his race performance, managing only a 9th place finish. Despite a series of poor performances over the course of the 2008 season he came back and managed to secure a hard fought 3rd place at the 2008 Canadian Grand Prix, the 62nd podium finish of his Formula One career.

On the Thursday before the 2008 British Grand Prix, Coulthard announced that he will retire at the end of the season, but will remain at Red Bull as a consultant. He retired on lap 1 after colliding with Sebastian Vettel in his last British Grand Prix ^[2] Rumours suggest that Coulthard could become a commentator for the BBC F1 coverage, which switches from ITV next year.^[3]

Personal life

Coulthard has lived for some time in the tax haven principality of Monaco, and also owns homes in London, Belgium and Switzerland. He owns several luxury hotels in Britain and Monaco, including the Columbus, which is located in Monaco's Fontvieille.

On 2 May 2000, while leasing the Learjet of friend David Murray, the aeroplane developed engine trouble while on route to Côte d'Azur International Airport in Nice, and crashed while attempting an emergency landing at Lyon-Satolas airport, France. Coulthard, his then girlfriend the American model Heidi Wichlinski and personal trainer/bodyguard Andy Matthews survived; whilst Murray's personal pilot David Saunders and co-pilot Dan Worley were killed.^[4]

According to tabloid reports, Coulthard has been associated with a number of women.^{citation needed} However, in a BBC interview, Coulthard vigorously denied these claims, stating that the tabloid reports were "out of date and inaccurate." He has been associated with a string of women, including supermodel Heidi Klum, Lady Victoria Hervey, and models Andrea Murray and Ruth Taylor. He has been engaged to models Heidi Wichlinski and Simone Abdelnour.^[5]

On 2 June 2006, He became engaged to Karen Minier, a Belgian Formula One correspondent for French TV channel TF1 The couple planned to marry "in the near future".^[6] On 14th July 2008, in his ITV F1 column, David confirmed that he and Karen were expecting their first child in December.

The museum in his home village dedicated to Coulthard is currently independently run by local fan Wendy McKenzie after previously being run by Coulthard's family. It is now the home of the "Twynosi" (A cross between Twynholm and Italian Ferrari fans, the Tifosi) who gather on race days.

On 7 August 2007, Coulthard released his autobiography, entitled "It is What It Is". In it, he admits that he suffered from bulimia as a teenager.^[7]

Coulthard's second cousin, New Zealander Fabian Coulthard, is also a racing driver^[8] currently racing in the Australian V8 Supercar Championship Series for Glenfords Racing

Racing record

Career summary

* Season in progress

Complete Formula One results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

* Season in progress

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

David Coulthard

• Official Site
• David Coulthard Museum
• Article on Coulthard's race preparation
• Statistics at planet-f1.com
• David Coulthard Statistics at f1db.com
• BBC article on plane crash
• Interview with Coulthard, mentions breakup.
• David Coulthard statistics
• Crash Investigator : 1995 Australia, David Coulthard

v • d • e Red Bull Racing Personnel: Dietrich Mateschitz | Christian Horner | Adrian Newey | Geoff Willis Current drivers: David Coulthard | Mark Webber | Sébastien Buemi Formula One cars: RB1 | RB2 | RB3 | RB4