OFFICIAL _ COULTHARD TO RETIRE AT END OF SEASON
By Ian Lockwood
July 3 2008
As many people have speculated, David Coulthard has anounced his retirement from F1 racing at the end of the 2008. The Scot who has thirteen GP wins to his name made the announcement today on the eve of the British Grand Prix weekend. He will remain a consultant to Red Bull Racing, focusing on car testing and development. His full statement is below.
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
I too will miss him as he was a nice guy and a dam good racer. Also being that he is my age it means that I am now offically to old to mak it into F1
He was definatly good enough to have become a WDC and he provided many great moments throughout his career.
I hope that he has a great end to the season after his difficult start this year and can end on a high
Bon Voyage DC you will be missed.
BTW give us some good moments before you go
Circulating since 1984 and getting DIZZY!
Have a great season from here on.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2008:07:03:17:42:31 by IndyAndy.
Quote:Will be very sad to see you go from the grid, but am glad you are staying on as a consultant for RBR. You will be sadly missed. Good luck for Silverstone and hope you get on that podium in front of your home crowd. Will now treasure the pic of me and you that was in the supporters club magazine last year. CRAZY CAZ XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Also, very fitting response Caz.
Change and stay if you can, David!
Johan
________________________
Mark Webber - WINNER 2009 German Grand Prix!
Another F1 era comes to an end.
Definitely will be missed.
Quote:He was definatly good enough to have become a WDC and he provided many great moments throughout his career.
One could argue that if that were the case he'd have had at least 1 of the three where he was driving a car good enough to do it... But this is neither the time nor the place...
Bye DC, I will miss disagreeing with the stuff you say after you have an incident with another driver.
Good luck to DC and RBR for the rest of the season!
Quote:Duffer
These were not DC's own terms Syd.
We'll never know Duffer, but Keppel's right. Let's respect DC for having a long and successful career and wish him all the best for the rest of the season.
Oh yeah one more thing i agree with your posts Duff!:-)
Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 2008:07:04:14:31:22 by -Whitey-.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2008:07:04:14:35:22 by -Whitey-.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2008:07:04:14:57:45 by -Whitey-.
All things must pass. If SV is to replace him, it will be a very good line up for RBR next year with MW's contract extension. I expect RBR to continue to improve. Exciting times ahead, but still a bit sorry to see the end of an era. Although DC did indicate that he would still be doing some testing for RBR when necessary. Not sure how real that prospect is, maybe as a replacement tester? Good luck DC and thank you.
Williams and proud of it.
DC brought to RBR experience gained over many years in top teams which was an extremely valuable asset to have when building a new enterprise.
and it's hardly the end of an 'era' either, just another top driver having had his days and now passing onto other things in his life.
he has been an excellent driver who missed out on his chances like a lot of others in the past and no doubt like lots of others will do in the future. it is the way of F1, always has been and always will be.
Williams and proud of it.
The team's view is that many of the major changes within the team in DC's first two years were driven by him, his experience helped them change the focus to enable the team to improve and he was involved in some of the choices regarding other drivers in the team. They also feel he still makes plenty of good suggestions on the developement of the car and communicates well with Adrian Newey which is why they want to keep him on.
Don't worry they love Mark too and say he fits extremely well into the team!!
But as I say... it is far easier to make up our own minds about what happens in the team
i think that for DC to take it upon himself to state that "he" has taken the team to where it is, is self aggrandissement. if someone else had said it then fine. bad form to blow ones own bags in such a blatant way.
what you have posted alison is interesting and reflects what some in the team think but then again that is why DC was employed in the first place wasn't it? you are echoing what i have said re DC bringing invaluable experience with him to the team.
maybe some have seen my post as non adulatory which is probably quite right. i am not into the sentimentality game and fail to undrstand all the 'thank you' messages floating around. conspicuous compassion does not enhance ones image.