David Marshall Coulthard, MBE (born March 27, 1971 in Twynholm, Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland, United Kingdom), often known by the nickname DC, is a former Formula One racing driver from the United Kingdom. He currently works as a co-presenter and co-commentator for the BBC's F1 coverage.
Career History
Formula One
Coulthard was signed up by Williams in 1993 as a test driver.
Coulthard made his début in 1994 for Williams in Spain, replacing the great Ayrton Senna, who was killed in an accident two races earlier in San Marino, but on occaision was replaced by Nigel Mansell. Handed the seat full-time in 1995, Coulthard came third in the championship, taking his first win at the Portuguese Grand Prix.
He moved to McLaren in 1996, starting a partnership that would last nine years to 2004. Coulthard was consistantly in the top five in the championship from 1997 to 2002. 1996 was an average year, Coulthard scoring one podium; but 1997 was much better, winning twice to come third in the championsip. In 1998, he played his part in helping McLaren win the Constructors' Championship, while teammate Mika Häkkinen beat Michael Schumacher to the crown. Forced to play second fiddle again in 1999, where Häkkinen won the title again, Coulthard only came fourth in the championship. 2000 was a very strong for Coulthard, scoring 73 points (over double his 1997 total), but still coming third in championship. Coulthard took advantage of Häkkinen's bad luck in 2001 to install himself as team leader, scoring 65 points to come second in the championship, but still 58 points behind Schumacher. 2002 was a difficult year, but Coulthard still managed to win at Monaco. After winning the first race of 2003 in Australia, Coulthard started a slow decline that resulted in him not even reaching the podium in 2004.
Having left McLaren at the end of 2004, replaced by Juan Pablo Montoya, Coulthard joined the reformed Jaguar team, now known as Red Bull in 2005. The car was good, and Coulthard finished in fourth place twice to help him score as many points in his first season for Red Bull as he did in his last season for McLaren. 2006 was not such a success, although Coulthard scored a podium at the Monaco Grand Prix, standing on the podium in a Superman cape and forcing team principal Christian Horner to jump into a swimming pool, wearing only a Superman cape, as part of bet that was made. After a fairly quiet 2007, Coulthard competed in one final season, 2008, where he managed to finish on the podium in Canada in a topsy-turvy race, before achieving a strong 7th place in Singapore before crashing in his final race in Brazil at the second corner in a specially-liveried car, promoting the charity "Wings for Life".
Post-Formula One
He later moved into broadcasting, where he is co-presenting the BBC coverage of Formula One, and also co-commentates on the races as well.
Formula One Statistical Overview
Formula One Record
Year | Entrant | Team | WDC Points | WDC Pos. | Report |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1992 | Camel Benetton Ford | Benetton-Ford | Test Driver | ||
1993 | Canon Williams Renault | Williams-Renault | Test Driver | ||
1994 | Rothmans Williams Renault | Williams-Renault | Test Driver | ||
14 | 8th | Report | |||
1995 | Rothmans Williams Renault | Williams-Renault | 49 | 3rd | Report |
1996 | Marlboro McLaren Mercedes | McLaren-Mercedes | 18 | 7th | Report |
1997 | West McLaren Mercedes | McLaren-Mercedes | 36 | 3rd | Report |
1998 | West McLaren Mercedes | McLaren-Mercedes | 56 | 3rd | Report |
1999 | West McLaren Mercedes | McLaren-Mercedes | 48 | 4th | Report |
2000 | West McLaren Mercedes | McLaren-Mercedes | 73 | 3rd | Report |
2001 | West McLaren Mercedes | McLaren-Mercedes | 65 | 2nd | Report |
2002 | West McLaren Mercedes | McLaren-Mercedes | 41 | 5th | Report |
2003 | West McLaren Mercedes | McLaren-Mercedes | 51 | 7th | Report |
2004 | West McLaren Mercedes | McLaren-Mercedes | 24 | 10th | Report |
2005 | Red Bull Racing | Red Bull-Cosworth | 24 | 12th | Report |
2006 | Red Bull Racing | Red Bull-Ferrari | 14 | 13th | Report |
2007 | Red Bull Racing | Red Bull-Renault | 14 | 10th | Report |
2008 | Red Bull Racing | Red Bull-Renault | 8 | 16th | Report |
2009 | Red Bull Racing | Red Bull-Renault | Test Driver | ||
2010 | Red Bull Racing | Red Bull-Renault | Test Driver |
Non-Racing Formula One Career
Year | Role | Employer |
---|---|---|
2009 | Analyst | BBC Sport F1 |
2010 | Analyst | BBC Sport F1 |
2011 | Analyst / Commentator | BBC Sport F1 |
2012 | Analyst / Commentator | BBC Sport F1 |
Wins
Win | Race |
---|---|
1 | 1995 Portugese Grand Prix |
2 | 1997 Australian Grand Prix |
3 | 1997 Italian Grand Prix |
4 | 1998 San Marino Grand Prix |
5 | 1999 British Grand Prix |
6 | 1999 Belgian Grand Prix |
7 | 2000 British Grand Prix |
8 | 2000 Monaco Grand Prix |
9 | 2000 French Grand Prix |
10 | 2001 Brazilian Grand Prix |
11 | 2001 Austrian Grand Prix |
12 | 2002 Monaco Grand Prix |
13 | 2003 Australian Grand Prix |
Career Results
Complete Formula One Results | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | Pts | Pos
Template:1994 Results/19 Template:1995 Results/19 Template:1996 Results/19 Template:1997 Results/19 Template:1998 Results/19 Template:1999 Results/19 Template:2000 Results/19 Template:2001 Results/19 Template:2002 Results/19 Template:2003 Results/19 Template:2004 Results/19 Template:2005 Results/19 Template:2006 Results/19 Template:2007 Results/19 Template:2008 Results/19 |
Key | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Symbol | Meaning | Symbol | Meaning | ||
1st | Winner | Ret | Retired | ||
2nd | Podium finish | DSQ | Disqualified | ||
3rd | DNQ | Did not qualify | |||
5th | Points finish | DNPQ | Did not pre-qualify | ||
14th | Non-points finish | TD | Test driver | ||
Italics | Scored point(s) for Fastest Lap | DNS | Did not start | ||
18th† | Classified finish (retired with >90% race distance) | NC | Non-classified finish (<90% race distance) | ||
4thP | Qualified for pole position | [+] More Symbols |
Notes
External links
V T E | Grand Prix Drivers' Association | |
---|---|---|
Chairman Moss • Bonnier • Stewart • Scheckter • Pironi • Senna • M. Schumacher • Coulthard • R. Schumacher • De la Rosa • Heidfeld • Barrichello • Wurz | ||
Directors M. Schumacher • Berger • Brundle • D. Hill • Coulthard • Wurz • Trulli • Webber • R. Schumacher • Alonso • De la Rosa • Heidfeld • Massa • Vettel • Barrichello • Button • Grosjean | ||
Affected races 1969 Belgian Grand Prix • 1970 German Grand Prix • 1982 South African Grand Prix • 1994 San Marino Grand Prix | ||
Related Professional Racing Drivers Assocation |
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