David Coulthard in 1999

David's championship was over and he would have to do whatever was necessary to hand the title to Mika and the constructor championship to McLaren. In qualifying David took up station behind Mika in 3rd spot, but vitally ahead of Eddie Irvine. Eddie made a good start in the race and got past David. David was able to follow closely behind and once the pit stops took place David got ahead of Eddie. Here he slowed Eddie as much as he could but Mika was already looking good for the win. Coming up to the 2nd stops David had to put up some fast laps to make sure he retained 3rd spot but he went off the circuit and lost his nose in the process. After the pit stop David found himself about to be lapped by Michael Schumacher and again he did his best to hold up the Ferrari, rather controversily. Schumacher would probably have done the same had the position been reversed. However the damage had been done and David was forced to retire with handling problems and this effectively handed the constructor championship for Ferrari. So David, hopefully you can put up a better fight for the world championship next year.

Retired

David came to Malaysia effectively out of the championship running after his retirement at the Nurburgring. He knew he would probably have to yield to Hakkinen at some point during the race. However, he was determined not to be overshadowed by Mika. He outqualified him for 3rd spot on the grid, behind title rivals Ferrari. The race started OK as well with David keeping 3rd place and harrying Eddie Irvine. This quickly became Michael Schumacher when the german decided to let Eddie past. Michael was just nipped by David and he was through to 2nd. However, the McLaren suffered an engine problem of some kind and David was out. This was bad news for Mika who was still behind Schumacher. Well the championship is over for David but you can bet he will be trying to win the advantage back to McLaren in Japan, if not for Mika but for the constructor championship, which Ferrari now lead by 4 points.

Retired

Coulthard needed a win here to put him up into the fight and it started quite well with a good qualifying performance. He would start 2nd after the surprise pole position from Frentzen with Mika behind in 3rd. David didn't have the best of starts though and he let Mika past him. However with black clouds ahead the rain was going to become a factor. Mika was called in for wets which was the wrong move and with David on drys he was able to avoid the stop as the track dried again. When Frentzen retired whilst in the lead this played into the hands of David. David was pushing hard in terrible conditions on grooved tyres and made a truly costly mistake, overcooking it and sliding into the barriers. I think his bid to be champion ended with that poor mistake! Silly boy.

Retired

David came to Italy on a high after securing a fine win in his McLaren. However, once again David was rattled by Mika's outstanding qualifying performance and he aborted a few flying laps in an effort to match him, this allowed Frentzen to snatch a place on the front row. Not a very good start really if he wants to be world championship. He didn't do very well in the race either, dropping down to 5th place. Pit stop strategy didn't help much either and although briefly up to 4th he let a flying Rubens Barrichello past to drop him down to only 2 world championship points. It could have been a lot worse though, as it looked like Mika was on for a win until a rare mistake put him out of the race. Really it should have been a different story, as he should have been 10 points up on Mika and only 4 points behind him. Instead it's 12 points and still quite a bit of work to do in 3 races.

Finished 5th

The McLaren's were once again the dominant team in Spa, outpacing the rest of the field quite nicely. Once again David took up 2nd spot on the grid and Hakkinen securing pole. The race was all about the start. Mika Hakkinen made a slightly poor one after nearly jumping it. This gave David the chance to get up on his team mate going into turn one. David wasn't going to give up easily and the two cars actually touched each other, but not enough to do any damage. Mika probably had words with David, but looking at it David had clearly got the edge on him at that corner. From there to McLaren's raced off and Mika was just not able to match the speed of David. David drove and perfect race from the front with no problems in the pitstops and taking a very well deserved win. So this win puts David right back in contention for the championship. It's going to be a great battle for the championship now, and I can't wait till Monza.

Finished 1st

As is usual with David, Mika got the better of him for qualifying, and with Eddie running well he also did a faster lap and so David had to make do with 3rd on the grid. At the start he also slipped up and he was down to 5th, trying to find a way past a Jordan and a Benetton, he couldn't! However, McLaren timed their pit stop very well for David and he was able to leapfrog both of these cars back to 3rd at the first stop. Here he quickly set about catching Irvine and he was soon there. Irvine and David came into the pits together for their 2nd stop and Irvine just managed to keep 2nd. However Irvine was under considerable pressure and he made a mistake which allowed David past to make it a fine McLaren 1-2. There's still a chance for the championship, but he's going to have to work very hard at it to get past Mika.

Finished 2nd

David was the bad boy in Austria, but Germany should have given him the opportunity to make amends. Qualifying, saw David edged off the front row by Frentzen, so that wasn't so good. In the race he made a reasonable start but Mika Salo made a better one and got past him. Mika Salo was flying and David had to try very hard to get close so as the get the tow. However, he tried too hard and nudged the back of the Ferrari and broke his front wing. An early pit stop was required and this was too early for the normal one-stopper. So David had to continue pushing and again he over did it when taking Panis, going over the kerbs. This would lead to a pit stop penalty and it was looking clear that David wasn't going to finish too far into the points. David had a late splash and dash but was too far away from Ralf Schumacher to do any better than 5th place. So David suffers a championship set back but he isn't quite out of it yet.

Finished 5th

David was coming off a fine win at Silverstone and he was wanting to carry the momentum forward. Qualifying was close between the McLaren's but once again Mika just had the better of David. At the start David got a little over eager to get past Mika and put his team mate in a spin that would see him to the back of the field. Oops, you're not supposed to do that DC! Still he could have won the race, and it looked like he was going to, pulling out quite a large lead. However, I don't think David pushed hard enough as they failed to see the threat that Eddie Irvine was posing. Eddie made a late stop and was able to push really hard before coming in and when he came out he had done enough to take the lead. David tried very hard to catch but it was clear that catching was one thing but getting past was another. David crossed the line just behind Eddie in 2nd. Mika will have been none too pleased with that result, but at least David isn't out of the championship yet.

Finished 2nd

Well Silverstone started with David favourite for a British win. However once again in qualifying Mika Hakkinen showed his superior qualifying ability, but all was not lost with a pretty good 3rd place on the grid. David made a good start in the race and was in 2nd place at the 2nd restart after Michael had to visit the medical centre. It was going to be David's day though, with Mika having his turn at the reliability problems and having to pit a couple of times with wheel problems before retiring. So David was in the lead, but was under severe pressure from Eddie Irvine. After a poor pit stop from Eddie, David was home and dry and managed to get his first home win infront of an immensely pleased Silverstone crowd who had seen a British 1-2 and Damon home in 5th place.

Finished 1st

Yet more disappointment for British F1 fans. David made brilliant use of the qualifying to get 4th on the grid, which was far better than Mika managed in 14th and higher on the grid than the 2 Ferrari's as well. It was a perfect opportunity to take a race win. the start of the race went really well and David was quickly up into the lead and was able to pull away a couple of seconds a lap. Surely he would win from there! However, yet again David was hit by Mechanical gremlins and he was forced to retire. I think David's championship chances have definately gone with that now. Oh well.

Retired

Well in practice session Coulthard looked like he had the measure of Hakkinen, who was having problems finding a set up. It looked like Coulthard would outqualify his team mate, but true to form Hakkinen mananaged to pull it out of the bag when he most needed it and beat to narrowly miss pole with Coulthard back in 4th. At the start David let Fisichella get a run on him but he was soon back into 4th. After numerous racing incidents and the safety car coming out, David saw this was his chance to take Irvine. They pushed hard and Coulthard overdid it. Eddie Irvine took his racing line and unfortunately David couldn't get the brakes on quickly enough and they hit each other. Both cars were able to continue but David took the opportunity to get some new boots, sadly though he went too fast in the pit lane and he had to take a 10 second penalty which put him out of contention for the points. However the safety car had to come out again 3 laps from the end for Frentzen's accident, and it was a shame the pace car stayed out as Coulthard could probably have got by Diniz for a points. So David still needs a win to get him back into the championship.

Finished 7th

David qualified in 3rd eventually after a very closely fort session with the Ferrari's. It didn't appear there was much in it, on a circuit that suits the McLaren. In the race Coulthard made a good start to get up to 2nd and followed Mika Hakkinen round until the stops. David overcooked it on his stop which dropped him back a bit from Hakkinen. However, from there he pushed hard and could well have won the race if not for that poor pit stop. Still he managed to hold off a charging Michael Schumacher to take 2nd. He can win, he should win, let's hope he can do it in Canada.

Finished 2nd

David Coulthard needs results. Qualifying was a bit of a ding-dong and David managed to slip ahead of Irvine to claim 3rd, but still behind Hakkinen and Schumacher. Not too bad a place to start with 3rd spot being on the racing line, however this didn't seem to help much with the Ferrari of Eddie going past at the first corner. David was keeping up the pressure on Eddie Irvine through the early stages of the race, but a puff of blue smoke in the slow-speed hairpin spelled the beginnings of a gearbox failure. David was unlucky once again and was forced to retire half way through the race

Retired

David needed to prove a few things in San Marino, after not finishing in any of the two races so far and Hakkinen off the mark with a race win in Brazil. David likes San Marino and in what was an extremely close qualifying session it looked like a pole position was possible. However, once again Hakkinen was able to pull one out the bag and just sneak it. In the race David made good start and was able to run in 2nd place. It appeared Mika Hakkinen was on a different pit stop strategy and he was able to pull away a bit of a gap. However, Hakkinen made a rare error and David would be needing to keep McLaren's flag waving. Unfortunately for David, it was Ferrari that had a better pit stop strategy and David had to settle for 2nd. Still, he has some points now and but he will still need a win in the next few races if he is the stand a chance of the championship.

Finished 2nd

Well it was clear from Australia that McLaren have the best car on the grid yet again, in terms of speed, but with a big question mark on their reliability. We were all hoping that with a 5 week gap the team had ironed out most of the problems. David was quick in qualifying but he couldn't quite hook it all together and was again edged out by Mika Hakkinen. So to the race, hmmmn, well David got nowhere at the start stalling on the grid with some technical problem. David was 3 laps down before his race even begun and he would have had a lot to make up to get into the points. David was spared this fight though when his car died completely after about 20 laps

Retired

David is looking to come out from the shadows of Mika Hakkinen for 1999. The new McLaren looks to be ahead of everyone else once again and everyone must have been expecting another 1-2 for the team. Qualifying was close between the two drivers, but once again Mika just had the edge and secured pole. In the race, David pressured Mika and the team pulled out a big lead from the others. However, the new McLaren has got reliabilty problems and it wasn't long in to the race before both cars were out. With 5 weeks to go till the next GP, McLaren will be working flat out to make their car reliable. If they sort this then once again McLaren will be a formidable force.

Retired after electrical problems.