Coulthard To Retire At End Of Season.

Mikk · 07-03-2008, 11:41 AM

From: BBC

Quote:

David Coulthard will bring his 14-year Formula One driving career to a close at the end of the season.
The 37-year-old Scot, who won 13 races, made his announcement on the eve of Sunday's British Grand at Silverstone, which will be his 237th Grand Prix.
Coulthard drove for Williams and McLaren and is now at Red Bull Racing, where he will continue as a consultant. "My decision was taken earlier this year and is based on a desire to stop while I am still competitive," he said.
"I'm still enjoying the immense challenge that Grand Prix driving represents. I also have the desire to look for new challenges within the sport.
"I will remain actively involved in the sport as a consultant to Red Bull, focusing on testing and development of the cars.

"I have an open mind if I will compete again in the future, in some other form of motorsport, so I am definitely not hanging up my helmet.
"The decision to make this announcement at the British Grand Prix should be an obvious one for all to understand, as I have achieved two of my F1 victories at Silverstone and I am a member of the British Racing Drivers' Club, which hosts this event.
"I am proud of my work at Red Bull Racing and will continue to race with the same focus until the last lap in Brazil. Thereafter I will continue to help the team develop and move towards their ultimate goal of winning races."
Coulthard, the oldest driver in F1, made it clear ahead of the British Grand Prix that he still loved driving and was content with his career in the sport.
"I'm not looking back nostalgically to the days when I was 21 and had abs and was going out with whomever. I still wake up in the morning raring to go," he said earlier this week.

"I do look at where I am today and think how lucky I am.
"I could have been killed in 2000 when my plane crashed, I could have been killed at various other points of my life during the journey I have been on, but I'm still here.
"I have had a great career - better to be a has-been than a never-been. F1 is unique no question, but it is wrong to say nothing can replace that.
"There are a lot of people who live exciting, adrenalin-filled lives who aren't Grand Prix drivers."
Coulthard, who won the British Grand Prix in 1999 and 2000, began his F1 career in 1994, when he was promoted from his role as test driver at Williams following the death of Ayrton Senna.
He won his first race in Portugal in 1995, and moved to McLaren for 1996.
He spent much of his career there in the shadow of Mika Hakkinen, who won the world title in 1998 and 1999 when Coulthard was his team-mate.

But the best season of his career came in 2001 when he finished second in the drivers' standings to a dominant Michael Schumacher.
Coulthard remains one of the most liked figures in F1, and is widely admired for his honesty, honour and a sense of humour that did not always come across to the public.
Red Bull team boss Christian Horner paid tribute to his driver as "a consummate professional".
"He has demonstrated that he is a real team player, a fact reinforced by the statistic that he has only driven for two other F1 teams in his career," said Horner.
"He scored our first point, our first podium and was the first of our drivers to lead a Grand Prix. Above all, he is a gentleman and I regard him as a good friend.
"His retirement brings to a close not just his career as a Grand Prix racing driver but also a chapter in the history of F1, if one considers the changes the sport has been through while he has been involved with it."

Will be a shame to not see him after this season and hopefully he'll have a good showing this weekend.

Coulthard To Retire At End Of Season.

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