NOVEMBER 22, 2004

What hope for David Coulthard?

The long and impressive Formula 1 career of David Coulthard may be coming to an end. Red Bull boss Dietrich Mateschitz says that the team is not really interested in the Scotsman. The other day Red Bull Racing's Tony Purnell said that the team intended to talk to a lot of drivers and suggested that Coulthard could bee on that list. But the remarks were made under duress with the British tabloid reporters asking him about DC's chances and not taking "no comment" for an answer. Much of the talk about Coulthard to RBR has come as a result of their stories rather than on any fact. The fact is that David Coulthard has a lot of experience in F1 but Red Bull Racing is not sure whether it wants an F1 veteran rather than two young chargers. Christian Klien and Tonio Liuzzi would be an exciting driver line-up and ultimately there is no substitute for raw youthful speed. This is not to suggest that Coulthard is no longer a strong package but at the moment he appears to be a package that does not have an obvious home in F1 in 2005. He might end up as a test driver with McLaren and there are vague stories about a deal in 2006 with Team Dubai F1. Having said that, we have yet to see any really concrete signs that Team Dubai F1 is really going to happen. One press release does not make an F1 team.

Mateschitz says that Nick Heidfeld is another possible candidate but said that he believes that BMW Williams may decide to use him as a test driver. Williams is one place where Coulthard might fit in but once again the team is showing no great interest in the Scotsman.