The very embodiment of mediocrity (David Coulthard)

Member Name: MichaelR

Product:	David Coulthard
Date:	28/01/01 (41 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: As good as many other drivers.

Disadvantages: Whinger. Blames everyone else for his failures

You know, if there was a dictionary of Formula One, and you looked up "David Coulthard" then the definition would read "Average".

I'm not saying that David Coulthard is not a good driver, (almost) all the drivers in Formula One are good. You can certainly not say that a driver who wins Grands Prix is not "good", no matter how good his machinery; he still has to get the thing to the flag.

David Coulthard's record in Formula One is extremely disappointing though, it has to be said.

He's competed in 107 Grands Prix, and won just 9.

Now, when you consider the cars that he has had at his disposal that is pretty poor. It's certainly not the record of a great driver.

OK, so he had a very poor McLaren in '96, and a less than brilliant (although still good) one in '97, and yes, I will grant you that '94 was his first year when he had control of the Williams, which was far superior to anything else on the grid. (Though it did not win the championship. I believe it would have though, had Senna not perished on that fateful day in Imola)

In '95, '98, '99, and '00 though, he had chances to win the championship, and he blew them all, Not only did he blow those chances, he also took very few wins.

He and his supporters would have you believe that this is due to favouritism and shady goings on down in the McLaren garage. These would be the same people that would have you believe that Michael Schumacher is Satan, Max Mosely has a teddy bear called "Enzo" and a cavillino tattooed on his left buttock, and that Bernie Ecclestone is the root of all evil...

I will admit that I think there is a certain amount of favouritism down at McLaren. Ron loves Mika, but that's only natural, when you consider how long he has been there, and how close he came to death in Ron's car at Adelaide. That brought Mika closer to the team and the te
am closer to Mika in a way that nothing else could.

I have no doubt that Ron prefers to see Mika winning races and winning championships.

However, the cars are equal at McLaren, and David has a chance to beat Mika in an equal car.

The truth is, he's just not good enough to do so. Mika has developed into a great driver, while David still remains in the realm of the good.

There are people that point to poor pit calls, well, the fact is that on most of these occasions, Mika was running in front of David anyway, and in such situations, the car in front must be given priority. It is just a simple rule of race strategy, there's nothing shady going in there, and the people who point these calls out would not speak out if the decisions had of gone the other way.

No doubt they will, sometime in the future, but in order for them to do so, David has to get in front of Mika without the team helping him.

The team is quite rightly run for the benefit of McLaren, not for the benefit of David Coulthard.

I don't think that David Coulthard will ever win the World Championship. I don't think that he has what it takes, unless Mika and Michael both retire tomorrow and Mika's replacement at McLaren is Gaston Mazzacane.

Maybe he will prove me wrong, but even if he does, it won't suddenly make him great. I will always remember him as "good".

Now, I am aware that stats alone do not make great drivers.

But, David Coulthard does not have the qualities of a great driver for me. He is not gracious in defeat, he whinges, he searches for excuses. Nothing is ever his fault, it is always the team, or another driver, or the weather, or the Easter Bunny.

He also lacks the ability to push the car to it's absolute limit - a la Hakkinen.

He has the potential - it has always been there, but he has never fully realised it, and unless he accepts that he is ultima
tely the only one responsible for his level of success, he never will.

Not many drivers get even one chance to win the Championship. David's had four now, and he has another one coming up this season. If he misses this one, he may not get another. It can only be a matter of time before Ron grows impatient.

He could be a great driver, if only he pushed himself harder and accepted responsibility for his own driving, rather than expecting everyone else to do everything for him.

For now though, in F1 terms, he is simply Mr. Average.

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David Coulthard - Grand Prix Record

Grand Prix - 107
Wins - 9
Win Ratio - 8.4%
Poles - 9
Fastest Laps - 14
Points Scored - 294
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Summary: