Coulthard Should Move to Toyota, Says Watson

Former McLaren driver John Watson has advised fellow countryman David Coulthard to leave McLaren next year and move on to a new team, preferably Toyota.

"Coulthard won't be at McLaren next year and Toyota is a team going places. I think it would be the right move for him," Watson told The Sunday Mirror. "Just as McLaren brought in Mika Hakkinen when they knew Ayrton Senna was on his way out of the team, so they brought in Kimi this year to be tutored. David is there as cannon-fodder for Kimi. David is not the future for McLaren, Kimi is."

According to Watson, team chief Ron Dennis has never been as close to Coulthard as he was with former World Champion Mika Hakkinen. "David has always been like the adopted son, rather than the natural child at McLaren," Watson said. "He knows he is there to do a job and that's it. There's no human relationship with Ron."

Nevertheless, Watson defended Dennis's approach, saying it was a lesson of past dealings. "Ron is actually a very generous man," Watson said. "But he wants to be seen to be tough and in a business context he is. He learned his lesson on money with Senna. He realised he paid him far too much and should have spent that money on the development of the car.

"David didn't stand up for himself when he was told to make way for Mika in 1997 and '98. If he had, things might have turned out differently at McLaren. But now in these last two races [he has shown] that given the chance he can get the job done. I thought his win at Monaco was his best ever. But he's been at McLaren too long and I have to wonder what he's going to do for the rest of his career."

Watson went on to say that Coulthard should aspire to sign a three year deal with Toyota. "David could get an excellent three-year contract with a team that has a real chance of becoming a major player in F1," Watson said. "I think Toyota could be the biggest threat to all the top teams in the next three years because they have the horsepower and the budget."