David Coulthard (photo, below) - one of the most experienced drivers of "Formula 1". Idol of women and idol of youth. A businessman who owns a number of hotels in Monaco and the UK. But behind his smile lies a difficult fate. In this article you will be presented with a short biography of the rider.
David Coulthard was born in Twinholm(Scotland) in 1971. The boy grew up in a wealthy family. David's father was at the head of the transport company, which he inherited from his grandfather. This is what helped Coulthard make a future career racer. The boy's father was a fan of karting. He was able to convey his love for this kind of racing to his own son. At the age of 10, David already participated in competitions. And in 12 little Coulthard won the title of champion of Great Britain. He kept him the next three years and left juniors undefeated. Next, David spoke on the "Formula Ford" and won this championship. Then the racer came to the "Formula 3000", becoming a member of the team "Paul-Stewart-Racing". There he gained experience and improved personal results.
1990 - this is the year that I first came to theserace David Coulthard. Since then, "Formula-1" has become an integral part of his life. It all started with a prize from the team "McLaren", which he won in 1989. This gave the driver the right to sit behind the wheel of the car "Formula 1". In 1992, David tested the auto team "Benetton-Ford". Two years later he was invited to "Williams". Coulthard became the official test-pilot of this team. After the death of Senna in 1994, David took his place. The debut of the rider took place at the Spanish Grand Prix, which resulted in him becoming the fifth. The first victory Coulthard managed to win in 1995 at the Grand Prix of Portugal. Unfortunately, this was the only victory of the season. David clearly lacked experience. As a result, the management of "Williams" did not begin to renew the contract with him. But another team paid attention to the promising newcomer.
With the advent of David, the McLaren team onlybegan to get out of a protracted crisis. All the fault was Mercedes engines, not differing in speed and reliability. Therefore, Coulthard did not show any outstanding results. Seven races, he did not finish and only twice visited the podium.
Everything changed in 1998. Machines "McLaren" finally became faster. Coulthard, along with Hakkinen regularly took first place in the qualifications. The team focused on Mikku, so David had to be content with the second roles. In the season, Coulthard twice became a bronze and six times a silver medalist.
In 2000, McLaren decided to change tactics. Now every pilot had to show his maximum on the track. In the new conditions, Hakkinen and Coulthard walked almost level. Over the season, David won three races (including the Monaco Grand Prix) and eight times took the podium. However, according to the overall results, both Coulthard and Hakkinen were beaten by Schumacher, who became the champion. Micke got silver, and David got bronze.
In 2001, the results of Hakkinen decreased, andCoulthard, on the contrary, began to increase the pace. In the first six races, David won two victories and climbed three times on the podium. In fact, he became the leader of the team. But in the future the rider could not compete with Schumacher. Michael was always ahead of David on all tracks.
In the 2002 season, Coulthard's results fell. The pilots of the team "Williams" and "Ferrari" dominated all the others. David was able to win only once - in Monaco. Throughout the distance he was densely pursued by the legendary Schumacher. But still Coulthard managed to get ahead of Michael for a second. In 2003, the Scot showed even worse results.
2004 was a disaster for Coulthard. He never appeared on the podium. The main reason for this was mechanical problems in the McLaren car. So David had to be cautious. Even if the driver was in the spectacled zone, he scored only one or two points. Providing Coulthard with a new high-speed car did not help in improving the results. As a result, McLaren did not renew his contract with him.
In 2005, David Coulthard was invited to thisa young team. The management hoped that the experience of the rider would help in its development, even if it does not show impressive results. Partners Coulthard on the team became Liuzzi and Wedge. The season came out for David successful: he scored 24 points. Of course, for McLaren, such a result would be a failure. But for the "Red Bull" this was an undoubted success. The contract with Coulthard was extended for another year.
In 2006, David's results deteriorated. He either left the race, or finished outside the point zone. For the season, Coulthard scored just 14 points. On the other hand, the Scotsman managed to win the third place in a very difficult race - the Monaco Grand Prix. This was the best achievement of the team "Red Bull" until 2009. As a result, David was extended the contract for another twelve months. The 2008 season was the last for the rider.
After David Coulthard left"Formula 1", he took part in the German championship DTM (body race). Also the hero of this article became a commentator on the BBC. At the moment the former racer lives in Monaco and is engaged in hotel business.
This moment is of interest to a rather large numberadmirers of Scotsman. There are a lot of ambiguous information on the Internet in this regard. But most sources indicate the following figures. The rider's height is 182 centimeters, and the weight is 75 kilograms.
During his career, David Coulthard has repeatedly becomethe hero of the tabloids, who attributed to him novels with various supermodels. The most famous of them were Ruth Taylor and Heidi Klum. But in his interview the racer repeatedly stated that these presses are inaccurate and outdated. Karen Minier - this is the name of the girl who was chosen to be the companion of life by David Coulthard. The wife of the hero of this article worked as a journalist at the races in Belgium. There they met. In 2008, the couple had a son, Dayton.
In 2000, David, along with Heidi Wichlinski(then the rider's passion) got into a plane crash. During the flight on a small aircraft, the engine ignited. During an emergency landing, the aircraft suffered multiple serious injuries. The pilots died, and Heidi and David were able to quickly leave the burning plane and get off with light wounds.
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