Coultard On the Grid next year?

[williamp]

Agreed. Don't forget he's won 13 Grand Prix- which means he's beaten Michael Schumacher 13 times. How many other drivers can say that??? How many???

Also, his team mate was Mika Hakkinen- not known for being slow, or for allowing his team mate through to win.

He's still very quick and will bring a lot of professionalism and commitment to any team. And he's very good with sponsos. But (and he probably knows it) he won't win the championship. Or probably another race.

But having said that, I'd still like to see young British talent come through, rather then slow drivers with major sponsorship backing being given a chance.

[hornet]

David Coulthard

Seasons - 11
Starts - 175
Wins - 13
Championships - 0

Always had competitive machinery.

Mikka Hakkinen

Seasons - 11
Starts - 165
Wins - 20
Championships - 2

Spent first two seasons in uncompetitive machinery.

Damon Hill

Seasons - 8
Starts - 122
Wins - 22
Championships - 1

Spent 3 and a bit seasons in uncompetitive machinery. Arguably should've won two titles.

I'm not slagging the 'Thardster off as such, but when you look at the equipment he's had at his disposal, he really has underachieved. We seem to have overlooked a whole generation of up and coming British drivers while this guy plods around finishing fourth, then telling us next year is his year...

[FourWheelDrift]

Today's times

1 K. Räikkönen McLaren Michelin 01:16:677 97
2 J. Trulli Toyota Michelin 01:16:838 69
3 R. Schumacher Toyota Michelin 01:17:112 82
4 M. Webber Williams Michelin 01:17:521 72
5 N. Heidfeld Williams Michelin 01:17:570 126
6 F. Montagny Renault Michelin 01:17:728 150
7 G. Fisichella Renault Michelin 01:17:850 19
8 A. Wurz McLaren Michelin 01:17:893 80
9 D. Coulthard Red Bull Michelin 01:18:099 51
10 J. Button BAR Michelin 01:18:171 101
11 R. Barrichello Ferrari Bridgestone 01:18:523 66
12 C. Klien Red Bull Michelin 01:18:629 26
13 V. Liuzzi Red Bull Michelin 01:18:792 63
14 L. Badoer Ferrari Bridgestone 01:18:809 85
15 A. Davidson BAR Michelin 01:18:901 42
16 E. Bernoldi BAR Michelin 01:19:067 54



I find it amusing how some teams are going for out & out fast laps (McLaren, Toyota, Williams & Renault) to impress whilst the real contenders for next year (Ferrari & BAR) are keeping their powder dry by running slower (heavy fuel maybe or light on the throttle).

[racefan_uk]

jacobyte said:

racefan_uk said: Christ, Coulthard must have the gift of the gab. FFS, why is anyone paying this bloke to drive their F1 cars? He's bloody useless! Umm, he's better than you! Coulthard is far from useless. He is a very strong racer and he is reliable. I agree, he can't peak his performances at the right time to be a consistent front runner, but he's a good points scorer for any team. As with any driver, on his day he's second to none. The fact that he a whingeing whiner doesn't remove his ability.

Err, I'm not a racing driver, so why should him being a better driver than me personally have anything to do with it?

As someone else has pointed out, he's consistently been in competitive machinery since he came into F1 and he's never been in contention to actually take the driver's title. Just because he's got experience shouldn't automatically get him into a race seat anywhere. By my reckoning there is probably three, maybe four young British drivers who would probably be quicker then Coulthard in the same car. But they don't get the chance because they don't have the 'experience' he does.

As for the team of people at Red Bull (Jaguar/Stewart) getting results, well, didn't Herbert take a race win for them in the second season of racing? Didn't Barrichello take a second place. A handful of points finishes under the leadership of Stewart when they started. It's only since the reins were handed back to Ford themselves that it's all started to go tits-up! Too much in fighting from people who 'want' to be the boss has starved them from making the right moves forward. Slagging off the talented people who work there doesn't make you look clever. I'm sure at least one of them will read this forum and I'm sure they take offence to people taking the piss just because the chassis they've had to work with or the engine they have keeps detonating itself.

I have the utmost respect for the people in the mid and lower field teams in F1, it must be a soul destrying job.

But F1 drivers who have continuosly underachieved to the expense of better and younger talent, that's different.

[Hut49]

racefan_uk said:

By my reckoning there is probably three, maybe four young British drivers who would probably be quicker then Coulthard in the same car. But they don't get the chance because they don't have the 'experience' he does.

But presumably Red Bull's team manager is not looking to find the best "British" driver - they will be looking for the best "any nationality" driver that's available and affordable, or pre-loaded with sponsorship money?

Which British drivers do you have in mind and have any of them tested for F1 in any of the teams? We'd all like to see some depth in competitive British drivers in F1.

[jaz34]

Red Bull it is!

[micron750]

A lot of the problem is david coultard is just too nice he just seems to lack that aggresion,but still think he does do a good job though, testing times have proved he's quicker than the new boys he's just got to translate that in racing conditions

[LongQ]

Hut49 said:

racefan_uk said: By my reckoning there is probably three, maybe four young British drivers who would probably be quicker then Coulthard in the same car. But they don't get the chance because they don't have the 'experience' he does. But presumably Red Bull's team manager is not looking to find the best "British" driver - they will be looking for the best "any nationality" driver that's available and affordable, or pre-loaded with sponsorship money? Which British drivers do you have in mind and have any of them tested for F1 in any of the teams? We'd all like to see some depth in competitive British drivers in F1.

The rumour seems to be that Red Bull want an Austrian and an American as drivers. So Klien as an incumbent Austrian but no obvious American at the moment. A year of DC's experience (and speed I suppose, half a second up on a regular driver first time out and then maintaining that for subsequent sessions is reasonably convincing) might be just what they need.

The earlier seasons vs wins and results analysis is a litle dubious. Mclaren have not been totally dominant in the recent Ferrari era as they were a few years before or as Williams tended to be in their Mansell/Hill glory days before Schumacher really got it together.

And few people have had the competition of the apparently twin #1 drivers that Ron Dennis has preferred since the DC/Mika H based team came together.

DC has had some hot streaks running - but never for a whole season or in the same season.

And of course the dominance of Ferrari/Schumacher makes it very difficult for anyone else to really stand out, no chance at all if they have a season with unreliability at the core.

Button's 2004 performance was all the more remarkable taking that into account.

The great thing about F1 these days is that close running snakes of vehicle and the lack of overtaking is good perception setting for travelling a typical A road at 40mph behind and HGV and a number of people who have enough financial muscle to get a capable car but little clue how to use it to best effect.