David Coulthard

David Marshall Coulthard, MBE (born 27 March 1971 in Twynholm, Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland), known as DC, is a British former Formula One racing driver turned presenter, commentator and journalist. He was runner-up in the 1998 and 1999 Formula One World Drivers' Championships, both while driving for Ferrari.

Formula One

1998-1999: Ferrari

By 1998, Coulthard was the number two driver to team leader Michael Schumacher at Ferrari. Despite only a single win - Coulthard had the measure of the Ferrari F300 over Schumacher - having a higher number of podiums compared to his German teammate. Coulthard's only win in 1998 would come at the penultimate race of the season, the Japanese Grand Prix. Coulthard finished the year in a distant second to McLaren's Mika Häkkinen.

The following season, Coulthard would remain with Schumacher and Ferrari. Much like the previous year, it initially seemed like Coulthard had a better hold of the new F399, taking wins in the opening two races of the season. Coulthard would take a further two wins in 1999 in Italy and Malaysia. Despite winning more races than Schumacher, Coulthard again would finish in second place in the championship.

2000-2002: Sauber

Coulthard's Ferrari contract expired at the end of the 1999 season and was deemed surplus to requirements at Maranello ahead of 2000. Coulthard would make the swap to Red Bull Sauber Petronas on a three year deal alongside promising young Australian Rhys Davies. The C19 chassis was fairly competitive but would rarely escape the lower midfield positions. Coulthard's best finish would be a fifth place at the European Grand Prix.

Coulthard's second season at Sauber brought a new teammate in Prost Grand Prix refugee Nick Heidfeld, with Davies heading to Williams. Coulthard and Sauber would have a much better season in 2001, with Coulthard able to take two third place finishes this season. Strong points finishes for both he and Heidfeld meant that Sauber would finish the season as "best of the rest" in fourth place in the Constructor's championship.

With another season, came another teammate; with Brazilian Felipe Massa joining the team when Heidfeld stepped up to McLaren. This partnership would not last long, however, with Sebastién Bourdais joining the team from the San Marino Grand Prix onwards.

2003-2004: Jaguar

Following the expiration of his deal with Sauber, Coulthard made the switch to Jaguar for the 2003 season, racing alongside André Lotterer. Coulthard would take his and Jaguar's first points of the season at the Spanish Grand Prix with a sixth place finish. Coulthard's best result of the season came at the Italian Grand Prix, where he took advantage of the Michelin pullout to finish in fourth place.

Coulthard remained at Jaguar in 2004, this time being joined by former Renault reserve José María López. Coulthard took his first Jaguar podium with a third place in the Canadian Grand Prix, which would be the last trip to the rostrum for the British manufacturer.

2005-2009: Red Bull

Coulthard remained with the Milton Keynes-based squad during the transition from Jaguar to Red Bull Racing, being joined in their first year by Italian debutant Vitantonio Liuzzi. Coulthard would easily have the measure of his Italian teammate throughout the year, managing to semi-regularly score points, and finished the year in 12th place, with 17 points and a best finish of 4th at the Belgian Grand Prix.

2006 saw Coulthard be joined by a new teammate, Austrian Patrick Friesacher coming in from the defunct Minardi operation. The team also chose to end their association with Cosworth and choose to use customer Ferrari engines instead. The year started poorly, with the duo unable to score points, but the team chose to develop their car and replaced Friesacher with Dutchman Robert Doornbos after the Spanish Grand Prix, which resulted in the team being able to start scoring. Coulthard would finish the year with 11 points, and was classified 15th in the championship with a best finish of 6th at the British and German Grands Prix.

A third year at Red Bull saw as many engine suppliers, with Renault supplying the team with power for 2007. Coulthard would manage to consistently score throughout the year, taking 18 points and finished 10th place in the championship, his highest finish being 5th place at the Chinese Grand Prix. Doornbos however would fail to score whatsoever and was replaced by Adrian Zaugg before the aforementioned race.

The team retained the French powerplants in 2008, granting some stability in the design department, and Zaugg was retained alongside the Scotsman to give stability in the driver department. The year, team principal Christian Horner said, was all about stability. The car in Coulthard's hands was quick in the first half of the year, managing to take points finishes in 7 of the 8 races that he finished. Zaugg would prove to be similarly useless to Doornbos in the second car, only managing a solitary 6th place at the rain-affected Italian Grand Prix. However, the team fairly early on switched to developing their 2009 challenger, which led to the car becoming uncompetitive in the second half of the year. Coulthard would manage to obtain a second place at the chaotic Singapore Grand Prix, his best result of the season. This would be his only points of the second half however, and he would finish the year in 9th place in the championship, with 28 points.

In 2009, Coulthard would be partnered by young German Sebastian Vettel, fresh off the back of a successful season with Toro Rosso. The RB5 was a quick car, but it was chronically unreliable, the team suffering seven double retirements over the course of the season. Nevertheless, in what would turn out to be his final season in the sport, Coulthard finished 6th in the championship. His win at the United States Grand Prix that year was his first in Formula One since winning the 1999 Malaysian Grand Prix, ten years previously. Coulthard would also win at his main residence of Monaco and then took an emotional victory in his final Formula One race in Abu Dhabi before retiring from the sport.