David Marshall Coulthard, famous Scottish ex - Formula 1 driver, radio host, TV commentator and journalist.
Childhood and youth
The famous David Coulthard was born on March 27, 1971 in Twinholm, Scotland and was one of three children of Duncan Coulthard and Elizabeth Joyce Coulthard, nee Marshall. His grandfather participated in the Rally Monte Carlo and his father was the Scottish Karting Champion. From childhood, his idols were Jim Clark, Nigel Mansell and Alain Prost.
Coulthard started karting when his father gave him the first kart on his eleventh birthday. David has won several local karting championships, including the Scottish Junior Series. At the age of 17, he moved to Milton Keynes in England to be closer to the British sports center. Climbing the career ladder, he began with the Formula Ford 1600 racing series and the Vauxhall Lotus formula.
In 1991, Coulthard signed with Paul Stewart and became a pilot in British Formula 3, in the first season he won five victories and finished second in the championship behind Rubens Barrichello.
In 1992 he moved to Formula 3000, but due to technical problems finished ninth in the championship.
In 1993, Coulthard joined the Pacific Championship and with just one win, he was still able to finish third in the series.
In 1996, he became the prize driver of the legendary Formula 1 McLaren-Mercedes team and team-mate of the future two-time world champion Mika Heikinen. The duo of these pilots to this day holds the record for the longest collaboration in the history of F1.
Formula one
During 1993 and 1994, Coulthard served with the Williams team as an official test driver. But after the death of Ayrton Senna in May 1994, he was behind the wheel of a prize car.
In 1996, Coulthard signed a contract with the legendary McLaren team and became the partner of the future two-time world champion Mika Hakkinen.
In 1997, David again became Mika's partner at McLaren. He started his season by winning the first stage in Australia. And at the end of the season, he took the third line in the Pilots Championship.
In 1998, Coulthard stayed on for McLaren, paired with the Finnish driver.
Coulthard stayed with McLaren in 1999 and finished fourth in the drivers' championship.
In 2000, Coulthard reorganized his schedule for the season, focusing on racing and spending less time on advertising campaigns. Many motorsport critics and journalists have called 2000 the Year of Coulthard. At the end of the season, he again climbed to third place in the drivers' championship.
2001 kicked off with a statement by McLaren Team Leader Ron Dennis about the prospects for the new season: "David is very excited. He is strong and wants to achieve as much as possible. I honestly feel that David can win the World Cup this year." But in the end he lost 58 points to Michael Schumacher and became the second in the Championship.
The 2002 season was the first in which Coulthard was number one on his team. But this year was the beginning of the end of David's career as a pilot, he was able to take only fifth place in the championship.
In 2003, despite his experience, he was inferior to his team-mate Kimi Raikkonen throughout the season both in qualifying and in races.
2004 turned out to be the last year of the collaboration between Coulthard and McLaren. David finished tenth in the drivers' championship.
After Red Bull bought the Jaguar team, Coulthard announced on December 17, 2004 that he was leaving McLaren to move to Red Bull for the 2005 season. He signed a one-year contract for £ 1.8 million. Coulthard was offered a test pilot role at Ferrari, but declined as he decided to remain a prize driver.
Coulthard stayed with Red Bull in 2006 and finished the season in 13th in the Drivers 'Championship with 14 points and Red Bull in seventh in the Constructors' Championship.
The Scottish driver continued his collaboration with Red Bull in 2007. The Scotsman secured a tenth position in the drivers' championship with 14 points.
And in 2008 before the British Grand Prix, he announced that he would retire from Formula 1 at the end of the season, although he would remain at Red Bull as a testing and development consultant.
Life after the races
On November 25, 2008, it was announced that Coulthard would join the BBC as an expert alongside Jake Humphrey and Eddie Jordan to cover Formula One. Following the departure of commentator Jonathan Legard in late 2010, Coulthard was billed as the co-commentator for Martin Brandl. He also writes a regular columnist for The Daily Telegraph and BBC Sport.
In 2016, Coulthard left the BBC and tripled on Channel 4 after the BBC withdrew from coverage of royal races. With Channel 4, he continued to comment and cover Formula 1 events.
On October 10, 2018, Coulthard was announced as a spokesman and advisor for the W Series, the women's racing championship.
Personal life
Coulthard lived in Monaco for a time and also owns houses in London, Belgium and Switzerland. He owns several luxury hotels in the UK.
On May 2, 2000, David was involved in a plane crash when his leased plane on its way to the French Riviera to Nice International Airport crashed while trying to make an emergency landing at Lyon airport. Coulthard and his then-love American model Heidi Wichlinski and personal trainer / bodyguard Andy Matthews survived, while Murray, personal pilot David Saunders and pilot Dan Worley were killed.
Coulthard and Wichlinski broke up in the winter of 2001.
After that, David met with the Brazilian model Simona Abdelnoir for four years.
On June 2, 2006, Coulthard became engaged to Karen Mignet, a journalist for the French TV channel TF1. On November 20, 2008, the couple had a son, Dayton.
Coulthard has a second cousin, New Zealander Fabian Coulthard, also a race car driver who has won several youth championships.
Coulthard owns a navy blue (904G) 1971 Mercedes-Benz W113 280 SL that was built the same day he was born.
