A tribute to David Coulthard
0n Sunday, Formula One said goodbye to a true gentleman driver. David Coulthard retired from F1 after 15 seasons in the pinnacle of motorsports. We bring a tribute to the driver that will be truly missed by all the fans and the people in the paddock.
David Marshall Coulthard was born on 27 March 1971 in Twynholm in Scotland. After a long career in Formula One, Coulthard lies fifth in the all-time scorers list and won thirteen Grands Prix.
Coulthard began his motorsport career at an early age in karting. He won the Scottish Junior Kart Championship, Scottish Open Kart Championship and British Super Kart 1 Championship before graduating to the Formula Ford series in 1989. That year, he won the Dunlop/Autosport FF1600 Championship, P&O Ferries Junior FF1600 Championship and came third in the Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch. He was also awarded the McLaren Autosport Young Driver of the Year award.
After an amazing season, Coulthard moved to the Formula Vauxhall-Lotus Championship/GM Lotus Euroseries Championship in 1990 before graduating to Formula 3 in 1991. In the F3 series, DC won the Macau Grand Prix and Marlboro Masters of Formula Three while he finished second in the overall championship standings that year.
From 1992 to 1993, David raced in the Formula 3000 series before finally moving to the pinnacle of motorsports in 1994.
In 1994, David Coulthard began his F1 career, that would last 15 years, at Williams Renault. During his first season he did not race an entire season for the team as he had to give up his seat for the final three races to Nigel Mansell. Still it was Coulthard and not Mansell to get the Williams Renault drive in 1995.
His first complete season was a success for the Scot. He won his first Formula One Grand Prix in Portugal at the circuit of Estoril and finished third in the championship with 43 points.
In 1996, David Coulthard moved to the McLaren team where he teamed up with Mika Hakkinen. The highlight of his first season for McLaren was a second place at Monaco. David finished the season in 7th place with 18 points to his name.
In 1997, David Coulthard won the Australian and Italian Grand Prix and finished the season in third position with 36 points behind champion Jacques Villeneuve and Heinz-Harald Frentzen.
In 1998, David Coulthard had a supporting role for Mika Hakkinen who won the championship title. Still the Scot managed to win the San Marino Grand Prix and took the third place in the championship with 56 points.
One year later, Coulthard, still with McLaren, finished fourth in the championship with 48 points. He won the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps and his home race at Silverstone.
In 2000, Coulthard once again finished third in the standings despite winning at Monaco, Silverstone and Magny-Cours. He collected a total of 73 points, 16 less than team mate Mika Hakkinnen and 35 less than champion Michael Schumacher.
By winning at Silverstone, Monza, Monaco and Spa-Francorchamps, Coulthard completed the 'big four', but still he didn't manage to collect a world championship title.
In 2001, Coulthard finished second but could only score half of the points Michael Schumacher collected. In 2002, David teamed up with Kimi Raikkonen. Coulthard struggled for pace but was still able to win in Monaco.
In 2003 and 2004, Coulthard had a lot of difficulties to match the pace of youngster Raikkonen. In 2003, Coulthard was able to score his final Grand Prix victory at Australia. The lack of good results made that McLaren and Coulthard parted ways.
But in 2005, Coulthard got signed as number 1 driver of the new Red Bull Racing team. At the Milton Keynes-based team, DC got linked with another young driver, Christian Klien. The first season proved to be one of development. Still Coulthard collected 24 points and finished 4th in two Grands Prix.
In 2006, Red Bull went on with both Coulthard and Klien but the second season of the team was not as good as its first. The team collected 16 points of which Coulthard brought in 14. The highlight of the season was a third place of the Scot in Monaco.
One year later, Red Bull signed Adrian Newey, one of the F1 star designers. Coulthard was really happy with his coming as he only won in a Newey-designed car. The team also brought in Mark Webber who moved from the Williams team. Once again it was a difficult season for RBR. Coulthard collected 14 points but was forced to retire from 7 Grands Prix.
In 2008, David Coulthard announced that he would retire after the final race in Brazil. The Scot, who is happily in love with Karen Minier, is expecting his first child and believed it was time to retire after 14 years of F1.
Unfortunately for Coulthard, he was not able to end his career on a high. During the last race of the season, David was hit by Nico Rosberg and forced to retire after only 2 corners.
On Sunday Formula One said goodbye to a true gentleman driver, a driver who started in 247 Grands Prix and collected 13 victories, 62 podium finishes and 12 pole positions. A driver that will be missed heavily, but who is expected to return to the paddock in a new role.
We wish David all the best for the future!
