David Coulthard

Coulthard actually won the lesser P&O Ferries Formula Ford 1600 Junior championship.

He became the first recipient of the McLaren/Autosport Young Driver of the Year award, which allowed him to test a McLaren Formula One car.

David Marshall Coulthard (born 27 March 1971) is a British retired racing driver from Scotland, later turned presenter, commentator and journalist.

Nicknamed "DC", he competed in 15 seasons of Formula One between and, taking 13 Grand Prix victories and 62 podium finishes.

He was runner-up in the championship, driving for McLaren.

Coulthard began karting at the age of eleven and achieved early success before progressing to car racing in the British Formula Ford Championship and the Formula 3000 series.

Coulthard was born on 27 March 1971 in Twynholm, Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland, one of three children to road haulier Duncan Coulthard and Elizabeth Joyce Coulthard née Marshall.

His family was connected to motor racing: his grandfather competed in the Monte Carlo Rally and his father drove karts, becoming Scottish National Champion.

From an early age motorsport was where his interest lay, later listing Formula One World Champions Jim Clark, Nigel Mansell and Alain Prost as his childhood heroes.

Coulthard was educated at Kirkcudbright Academy, achieving eight O-grades.

Coulthard began karting when his father presented him with his first kart for his eleventh birthday.

Having won several local karting championships including the Scottish Junior Kart Championship and the Scottish Kart Championship, Coulthard participated in events further down the UK, including title victory in the Cumbria Kart Racing Club Championship in 1985.

Coulthard graded each race he entered on a scale of 1 to 10, with an additional column headlined "Performance".

He later gave credit to David Leslie, senior and junior for allowing his career to develop.

In 1989, Coulthard made the transition from karting to car racing.

It is often erroneously claimed that he won the British Formula Ford Championship that season, however this is not the case.

In 1990, Coulthard travelled to Belgium to compete in the EFDA Nations Cup for Great Britain and was partnered with Nicky Hart, where they finished 9th.

For 1991, Coulthard signed with Paul Stewart Racing to compete in the British Formula 3 series, taking five victories and finishing second in the Championship behind Rubens Barrichello.

Coulthard won the Macau Grand Prix and the Masters of Formula Three.

He later traveled to the Fuji Speedway to compete in the annual Formula Three Fuji Cup, taking pole position and finished second behind Jordi Gené.

In 1992, he moved to the International Formula 3000 series, where he suffered from a lack of competitiveness and finished ninth in the championship.

For 1993, Coulthard joined Pacific Racing, taking one victory and finishing third in the series.

He entered the 24 Hours of Le Mans alongside John Nielsen and David Brabham for the TWR Jaguar Racing team.

The trio won the GT Class, although they were later disqualified for a technical infringement.

He first drove in Formula One with Williams in the 1994 season succeeding the late Ayrton Senna.

The following year he won his first Grand Prix in Portugal, and then for the 1996 season he moved to McLaren.

After winning two races in the 1997 season, he finished 3rd in the World Drivers' Championship in the 1998 season.

He won five races during 1999 and 2000 before finishing second in the Drivers' Championship to Michael Schumacher in 2001.

Two more victories followed between 2002 and 2003 before he left McLaren at the end of 2004.

He moved to Red Bull in 2005 and secured their first podium a year later.

Coulthard retired from Formula One racing at the end of 2008.

After retiring from Formula One, Coulthard continued working with Red Bull as a consultant and joined the BBC as a commentator and pundit for their coverage of Formula One.

Coulthard has also participated in the Race of Champions, finishing runner-up in the Drivers' Cup in 2008, and winning the competition in 2014 and 2018.

He returned to active motorsports in 2010 joining Mücke Motorsport in DTM and retired at the end of 2012.

During the year, Coulthard was selected by Vauxhall Motorsport to race in a one-off appearance in the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) at Brands Hatch, where he finished 13th.

He did not return to the series after suffering a leg injury in a Formula Vauxhall race at Spa-Francorchamps.

Since 2016 he has worked as a commentator and analyst for Channel 4 after they took over the BBC's terrestrial television rights.

In 2022, he joined the Nordic streaming service Viaplay.

There he appears during Formula One race weekends as a reporter and expert commentator alongside Mika Häkkinen and Tom Kristensen.

In 2019, he was elected president of the British Racing Drivers' Club (owner of Silverstone Circuit).