After the end of this F1 season, David Coulthard will retire from driving. He would still be involved in behind the scenes work of testing and developing with the Red Bull team

Will it be a swansong season for Red Bull’s David Coulthard? I hopefully do as I’ve always love how the Scot bring his certain unique of driving panache to the F1 scene

David Coulthard started his F1 career at age of 23 years old back in 1994. He is lies fourth on the all-time scorers list of driver points from his long career in F1.

He has won thirteen grands prix, including two at Monaco, which made him the first British driver since Jackie Stewart to take victory there

Coulthard reason for retiring is “desire to stop while I am still competitive and enjoying the immense challenge that Grand Prix driving represents”. He will now seek other challenges leaving behind a great F1 legacy

David Coulthard’s official statement

I would like to announce today my decision to retire from racing in Formula One at the end of this season. I will remain actively involved in the sport as a consultant to Red Bull Racing focusing on testing and development of the cars. I have an open mind as to whether or not I will compete again in the future, in some other form of motorsport, so I am definitely not hanging up my helmet!

My decision to retire was taken earlier in the year and is based on a desire to stop while I am still competitive and enjoying the immense challenge that Grand Prix driving represents. I also have the desire to look for new challenges within the sport. The decision to make this announcement at the British GP should be an obvious one for all to understand, as I have achieved two of my thirteen 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.

There are many people who have played a part in my career and I would like to list a few of them below;

• My parents whose energy and encouragement through my entire career has been amazing
• Dave Boyce who guided me through Karting
• David Leslie Senior and Junior for teaching me how to set up and race a car
• Sir Jackie and Paul Stewart for putting me through their ’staircase of talent’
• Sir Frank Williams and Williams Renault for having the faith to promote me from test driver to race driver, which lead to my first GP victory
• Ron Dennis and the McLaren team where I spent nine seasons and achieved the majority of my success.
• Norbert Haug and Mercedes for being racers through and through
• Dietrich Mateschitz and his Red Bull Racing team for providing me with the chance to contribute to the development of a new team, while continuing to compete and add to my tally of podiums
• Christian Horner for his open and professional management style in association with Helmut Marko
• Bernie Ecclestone for providing such a strong platform for us all to develop our skills and be able to call ourselves professionals. In years to come, my future family will still be thanking him for the financial success of F1
• My management team of Martin Brundle and David Cawthorne in association with Annette Hutchinson and Iain Cunningham for providing their valued opinions.
• There have been three teams but only one designer, so Adrian Newey deserves special thanks for all the champagne that I have sprayed
• And last but not least, all the media, officials, marshals, medical support, mechanics, engineers, sponsors, lawyers, accountants and back room staff that I have worked with during this period.

David Coulthard Profile

• Nationality United Kingdom British
• Car # 9
• Current team Red Bull
• Races 237 (236 starts)
• Championships 0
• Wins 13
• Podium finishes 62
• Pole positions 12
• Career points 533
• Fastest laps 18
• First race 1994 Spanish Grand Prix
• First win 1995 Portuguese Grand Prix
• Latest win 2003 Australian Grand Prix
• Latest race 2008 French Grand Prix
• 2007 position 10th (14 points)

David Coulthard Career Summary

• 1989 Formula Ford 1600 Dunlop/Autosport 1st
  Formula Ford 1600 P&O Ferries Junior 1st
  Formula Ford Festival 3rd
• 1990 Formula Opel Lotus Euroseries 5th
  Formula Vauxhall Lotus 4th
• 1991 British Formula Three Paul Stewart Racing 2nd
  Macau Grand Prix Paul Stewart Racing 1st
  Masters of Formula Three Paul Stewart Racing 1st
  Formula Three Fuji Cup 2nd
• 1992 International Formula 3000 Paul Stewart Racing 9th
  Macau Grand Prix Paul Stewart Racing NC
• 1993 International Formula 3000 Pacific Racing 3rd
• 1994 Formula One Williams 8th
  International Formula 3000 Vortex 9th
• 1995 Formula One Williams 3rd
• 1996 Formula One McLaren 7th
• 1997 Formula One McLaren 3rd
• 1998 Formula One McLaren 3rd
• 1999 Formula One McLaren 4th
• 2000 Formula One McLaren 3rd
• 2001 Formula One McLaren 2nd
• 2002 Formula One McLaren 5th
• 2003 Formula One McLaren 7th
• 2004 Formula One McLaren 10th
• 2005 Formula One Red Bull 12th
• 2006 Formula One Red Bull 13th
• 2007 Formula One Red Bull 10th
• 2008 Formula One Red Bull 12th (Still on-going)