Qualifying
David Coulthard seemed to be on the pace in Malaysia and had a reasonable qualifying session, however, he was beaten down to 3rd on the grid by a late hot lap by Mika Hakkinen.
Race
David Coulthard was able to move up to 2nd at the start and Mika Hakkinen let him through to the lead as the Finn had jumped the start. David led the race and appeared to be on a two-stop strategy. However, he was unable to pull out a big enough gap to prevent Schumacher passing when he had his stop. However, David pressurised Michael Schumacher for the last half of the race but was unable to get past.
Finished 2nd
Qualifying
David Coulthard didn't really get his car hooked up in Japan. He qualified well in in 3rd but was overshadowed by the battle for the championship between Mika Hakkinen and Michael Schumacher.
Race
David avoided jumping the start of the race, but was only able to maintain his 3rd spot. Hakkinen and Michael Schumacher pulled away from David but David didn't come under any pressure from behind either. He had a quiet race to come home on the podium.
Finished 3rd
Qualifying
Well qualifying for the US GP went a lot better for Coulthard. Late in the session the McLaren team decided to send out Hakkinen to give David a tow down the straight. This tow ironically helped David in 2nd spot on the grid pushing Hakkinen down to 3rd.
Race
David's race was effecttively over before it even started when David jumped the lights and ended up being given a stop-go penalty. This dropped David right down the grid. David battled his way back up but had too much to do and had to make do with 5th place. It was a bad race for McLaren with Mika Hakkinen retiring.
Finished 5th
Qualifying
David Coulthard needed a good grid position to keep his championship hopes alive. However, he was hampered once again by Heinz-Harald Frentzen who got in the way on his last flying lap. Villenueve put in a great performance for 4th and this dropped Coulthard down to 5th.
Race
David Coulthard's championship hopes ended at the 2nd chicance. However, I'm sure Coulthard will count himself lucky to be alive after the huge pile up caused by Frentzen hitting Barrichello. David ended up in the gravel but Pedro de la Rosa flew through the air and his car was smashed up on David's car. It was very dangerous and Barrichello and Coulthard could easily have been killed. The accident caused the death of a fire marshall and why the race wasn't stopped remains a mystery to me.
Retired
Qualifying
David Coulthard had a number of coming togethers with Frentzen during the qualifying hour. Each time fast runs were being spoilt and David was unable to do anything better than 5th on the grid.
Race
The race started under the safety car and David was therefore unable to gain any places at the start. The track was quickly drying though and cars began pitting for grooved tyres on lap 6. However, it was Mika Hakkinen that came in first and David Coulthard was forced to stay out. This lost David Coulthard valuable seconds and on rejoining was down in 8th place. At the first proper fuel stops David was in 6th place behind Frentzen, but was able to take him in the pits with a better fuel stop. David was now back in 5th and quickly caught Jenson Button. He was able to get past Jenson to take 4th but was unable to catch the remaining front running drivers. David will be disappointed with 4th as this drops him further behind in the championship standings to Mika Hakkinen.
Finished 4th
Qualifying
David Coulthard was outqualified by Michael Schumacher in the qualifying session but was fastest in all of the other sessions of the weekend and was looking good for a good result in Hungary.
Race
David made a bad start however, and Hakkinen and Schumacher were able to get past him. David tried all the time to pass Schumacher to take 2nd but was unable to find a way past at the twisty Hungaroring circuit. It was down to the pit stops and McLaren brought David in a little bit too early and David came out after the stops still behind Michael Schumacher. Despite following Schumacher for most the race he was unable to get past and had to settle for 3rd spot.
Finsihed 3rd
Qualifying
David Coulthard's weekend got off to the best start when he secured pole position by going out at the right time to convincingly set the fastest time of the session. It looked like a win was on the cards
Race
Coulthard made a good start, quickly cutting Michael Schumacher off, but unfortunately Mika Hakkinen made an even better start and was able to drive through to take the lead. The two McLaren's were in the best position and Michael Schumacher was out of the picture after crashing into Fisichella. It looked like a 1-2 was on the cards but Coulthard wasn't enjoying being second. The race turned around completely when a lone spectator gatecrashed the circuit and forced the safety car out. Coulthard stayed out as Mika Hakkinen went into the pits and lost a lot of time behine the safety car. A communication problem was to blame as the team wanted to bring both cars in at the same time. Coulthard dropped down the 6th. However, he was quickly able to recover back to 3rd when rain hit the circuit and Coulthard timed a stop for wets well. However Rubens Barrichello took a brave decision to stay out on slicks and was able to hold off the two McLaren's for his first ever F1 victory. Coulthard finishing 3rd and Hakkinen 2nd now brings the two McLaren drivers to 2 points behind Schumacher on the same points. It's going to be an exciting 2nd half of the season.
Finished 3rd
Qualifying
David Coulthard was hoping to get another pole position to continue his challenge on the championship. However, he had to cope with an on form Mika Hakkinen and was unable to match Mika's speed during qualifying. He did some fast laps and was able to take a front row position in 2nd.
Race
David Coulthard and Mika Hakkinen managed to get good starts at the beginning of the race. David was alongside Mika going into the first bend but had to yield to his team mate to avoid taking each other out. Behind them there was mayhem as Michael Schumacher spun after being hit by Zonta, putting him out of the race. The main rival had gone out of the equation and the two McLaren's were left to drive home for a fine 1-2. There were no team orders and Mika Hakkinen was able to take the race win. David is now only 6 points behind Schumacher, but is now facing renewed threat form Mika Hakkinen.
Finished 2nd.
Qualifying
David Coulthard struggled to get some good track time over the weekend. An engine failure in Saturday free practice meant the team had to change the engine for qualifying. The car wasn't ready at the start of the session and David had to do 2 runs in the spare, set up for Mika Hakkinen. However when David finally got his own car he was able to close to 1 tenth of Michael Schumacher's time and therefore just missed out on pole position.
Race
The start of the race saw Michael Schumacher cut across David and he was dropped to 3rd place leaving the 2 Ferrari's in front. However David harryed Rubens Barrichello and was soon able to get past him at the hairpin. He was now left to set about Michael Schumacher. David quickly caught the German and tried to pass him, again at the hairpin. First attempt was unsuccessful causing David to issue a few rude hand guestures to the German! However, Michael was forced to yield on the 2nd attempt and David went through into the lead. Michael Schumacher later retired with engine problems, but David can say he beat Michael in a straight fight keeping his championship hopes alive with a brilliant win.
Finished 1st
Qualifying
David came to Canada on the back of a great win at Monaco. He was on the pace all weekend and looked like he could take a pole position. However, in the usual last gasp runs of the qualifying hour, David was edged off pole by Michael Schumacher. Still it looked like a good result was on the cards.
Race
Well there was drama for David before the race began. The McLaren stalled on the grid and the team were unable to restart the engine before the green light for the parade lap. This was a contravention of the rules and David was given a stop go penalty while he was harrying Michael Schumacher for the lead. This dropped David down to 9th and effectively ended any chances of a good result in Canada. By the end of the race David was right behind Trulli fighting for the single point for 6th, but was unable to get past.
Finished 7th
Qualifying
Qualifying is very important at Monaco and David wasn't able to make the most of his lap times, finishing off the front row of the grid in 3rd spot, with Michael Schumacher on pole and Trulli's Jordan in 2nd.
Race
The Monaco GP was started 3 times but each time David wasn't able to get past the Jordan of Trulli. This meant that David couldn't get past and Michael Schumacher began pulling away. However Trulli retired which allowed David to begin catching Michael, but he already had a significant lead. However, luck played into David's hands when Michael Schumacher retired on lap 55, allowing David to take the lead and eventually the win.
Finished 1st
Qualifying
David Coulthard started his race weekend in fine style. The team perfectly timed their run for David allowing him to take his first pole position of the season before rain spoilt the session.
Race
The race started badly when Coulthard couldn't get quickly away allowing Mika Hakkinen to come through into the lead and Michael Schumacher through to 2nd. It appeared David may have been on quite a heavy fuel load. When rain came on lap 10 David was unable to keep Barrichello behind him and dropped down the 4th. However after pit stops he was able to get back ahead of Barrichello and Hakkinen. However, David was struggling with the set up on his car and he was forced to let the faster Mika Hakkinen through into 2nd. David continued round in the rain slightly off the pace of the others but was fast enough to maintain position in 3rd despite being lapped by both Michael Schumacher and Mika Hakkinen.
Finished 3rd
Qualifying
David Coulthard's run up to Spain was certainly not ideal, after survining a terrifying plane crash, but it's a testament to David's drive that he still opted to race in Spain. He qualified in 4th spot in the end, but really David can be happy with that, as he was clearly suffering from his bruises from the plane.
Race
At the start of the race David was caught out by a flying Ralf Schumacher, but he was able to get the jump on Barrichello to retain 4th spot. David was unable to make much impression on Ralf Schumacher so the McLaren team opted to bring him in early for his stop, and this allowed the McLaren to get ahead of the Williams. Later in the race Michael Schumacher suffered a slow puncture and this allowed David to get the jump on him at the end of the straight, so David could take up station behind Mika Hakkinen. The McLaren's finished 1-2, and it was clear at the end of the race David was suffering from his aches and pains. It was a great result for David and let's hope he is fully recovered for the next race.
Finished 2nd
Qualifying
A drying track on Saturday, played a bit of havoc with the times and it was the drivers who were able to go out late and put their flying laps in, would be the ones at the front. David Coulthard wasn't able to hook up a really fast lap and was left with 4th place on the grid, but importantly ahead of Michael Schumacher.
Race
At the start of the race, David made a good one, and was able to get the jump on Mika Hakkinen. He was then left following Frentzen and Barrichello. The top 6 were all so close together, but it became apparent at the first stops that McLaren were heavy on fuel going for 1 stop. This was great tactics for the McLaren and allowed them to take a great 1-2 finish. And much to the delight of the British crowd, David was the one on top of the podium.
Finished 1st
Qualifying
David usually does well at Imola and he needed to do well in qualifying if he is to start mounting a world championship campaign. There was a brilliant battle between McLaren and Ferrari, but once again it was Michael Schumacher and Mika Hakkinen occupying the front row of the grid, with David in 3rd spot. All is not lost from there.
Race
David made a good start but was hampered when Michael Schumacher cut across him and this let the Ferrari of Rubens Barrichello past. Rubens was a lot slower than Michael and David Coulthard was being held up quite a bit by the Brazilian. It was going to come down to pit stops. The 2nd stop was the crucial one, with both Rubens and Davd coming in together. David was quick but so was Rubens, but in a contoversial move David was flagged out nearly taking the Ferrari with him, but the work had been done and David was ahead. However, bye then it was all too late to make an impression on the leaders and he had to settle for 3rd spot, but nonetheless opening his points tally for McLaren.
Finished 3rd
Qualifying
Well in what was a disasterous qualifying with the session being stopped 3 times because of the advertising boardings falling down, and then the final 10 minutes being washed out by rain, David managed to get his McLaren ahead of the Ferrari's. However once again he was unable to secure pole position with that going to his team mate Mika. Nevertheless a good position to be in if he can make a good start.
Race
The race start was not one of David's best but with a lighter Michael Schumacher getting past him, 3rd place wasn't too bad. Rubens Barrichello who was also on light fuel also managed to get past David eventually. The McLaren's were on a 1 stop strategy with Ferrari on 2 stops. The race went quite well and when Rubens Barrichello retired David was in a fine 2nd place. He finished the race in 2nd and thought the 6 points were his. However, nearly 6 hours after the race had finished David was disqualified from 2nd due to an illegal front wing which was too low. McLaren are appealing the decision which will be heard on 3rd April.
Disqualified after finishing 2nd
Qualifying
David crashed heavily at the end of the qualifying session forcing the session to be stopped. He emerged unscathed and had already done enough to secure 2nd place on the grid behind his team-mate Mika Hakkinen who secured pole position.
Race
David made a good start and took up his usual position in 2nd place just behind Mika Hakkinen and being pressured by Michael Schumacher in 3rd. The race was going well until he developed a problem and was forced to pit on lap 11. The McLaren team tried to fix the problem and sent him out again, but the engine gave out shortly afterwards.
Retired lap 12, engine problem.
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Design & Coding Mark Durham
© 2003