David Coulthard Is Lucky At Thirteenth
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Jun 10, 2008
Team Red Bull
The 37-year-old Scot climbed the podium for the first time in more than two years with a third-place finish in his 13th Grand Prix of Canada at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Coulthard scored his first points of the season after struggling to produce a points finish in six previous races.
Coulthard, a 13-time winner and formerly with McLaren before joining Red Bull four years ago, started from 13th on the grid and took advantage of a one-stop strategy for a points finish that came 14 years after earning his first F1 points in his first race here.
The unexpected result for the oldest driver on the grid may have had something to do with Coulthard taking time away from pre-race preparations to spend several minutes explaining to a young boy the workings of a racing tire while he and his family visited the paddock. The youngster was star-stuck throughout as he listened.
“Yeah, that was fun, telling him all about tires,” Coulthard said when reminded of it by reporters after the race.
“I am delighted because I never expected to get a podium this weekend. I had a horrible start to the year. It’s a real credit to the team for the efforts they are putting in.” Coulthard said.
Coulthard’s third place marked his first point-scoring finish of the year and his first podium appearance since the 2006 Monaco Grand Prix. On that occasion, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner leapt into a swimming pool in celebration. Horner was slightly more restrained this time around, but delighted nonetheless.
“A fantastic result for the team and particularly for David after such a tough start to the year,” said Horner. “He kept his head down, had very good pace and the strategy worked out perfectly for a comfortable third place.”
Instead, on a day when experience counted, he proved there is life and speed in the old dog yet as he roared to his 62nd podium. It was his best result since he was third at Monaco two years ago.
After race in Montreal, he said: “I was as delighted to be on the podium as I was when I scored my first podium here in 1994. Fifteen seasons is a long time in this sport and it is great to get this result especially after the ugly start to the season.”
Coulthard admitted he had his hands full trying to bring his car home in the closing stages of the race because of braking issues. He nearly went off track at one point, but kept all wheels on the deck.
“You cannot believe how difficult it is. I just had to bring the car home. Funny enough, the car stopped in the pit lane after the checkered flag.” Coulthard said.
Despite his struggles this season, Mika Hakkinen - a two-time world champion at McLaren - said a few weeks ago that it was amazing his former teammate had the desire to continue on in F1 despite the presence of so many young, talented drivers making things harder for him each race.
“Definitely, my clock is ticking and I’m delighted about that,” Coulthard said in response to Hakkinen’s comments.
