Interview: Coulthard hits 200 races

"I don't feel any different today to when I did my first Grand Prix. I love it, I love the buzz," the 35-year-old Scot told Reuters at the Circuit de Catalunya, the track where he made his Formula One debut in 1994.

"I have got no fear of letting go, I'm not holding on to something.

"I'm doing my job and fulfilling my role and when the team or I decide that I don't fit into that role, then we'll do something else.

"But I'm not doing this because I've got no imagination to do something else...I love it and I think I'm good at it."

Coulthard's statistics speak for themselves - 13 race wins, runner-up to Ferrari's Michael Schumacher in the 2001 World Championship while at McLaren, 60 podium finishes, 18 fastest laps and 12 pole positions.

Add to that 500 points scored, more than any other British driver and fourth on the all-time list.

"It doesn't mean that I don't sleep at night not having got a championship to my name," said Coulthard, now driving for Red Bull. "I haven't been in Formula One for so long by accident, it's because I have delivered.

"The history books show that so far I've got 13 wins.

"Well, I moved over in two races where I finished second to Mika, so I can count that as 15, and moved in one for Damon (Hill) in 1994 at Monza. So to my mind I have won 16 races."

Coulthard spent nine years at McLaren, the team that gave him his best and worst moments in the sport, after two years at Williams in the aftermath of the death of Brazilian triple champion Ayrton Senna.

"Obviously I would never have wanted to get my opportunity to start in racing through the death of another, but that's the journey of life and here we are," he said.

Red Bull rescued his career in 2005 after McLaren decided not to renew his contract. After a strong first season, it has become a slog this year with just one point in five races.

"I am here to try and win Grands Prix," said Coulthard. "I don't have the package at the moment to do so but there's only one way to take the team to that position, which is to work.

"Winning Grands Prix is the most fun thing you can do, but turning up and going out on a Sunday is still for me very exciting.

"The older I get, the happier I am. Why do I have to say 'Oh, I'd better go and get a desk job now because I'm grey'?"

Coulthard rates the 2000 French Grand Prix as his greatest victory, overtaking Schumacher and giving him 'the finger' as he went past as payback for being squeezed out at the start. He keeps a photograph of that gesture in his motorhome.

The low point was the Monaco Grand Prix of 2001 when he took pole and then stalled due to an electronic failure.

"It came on the back of...the race before, where (team boss) Ron (Dennis) had made a silly comment that I had 'brain fade'," he recalled.

"Well, the brain fade was from his technical staff, not the driver. It was a failure in the software which then failed again at the following race. It just seemed so unjust and still annoys me today.

"There were just so many technical problems happening during my McLaren career, that was the frustration there. We could have achieved so much more."

Two other images stand out from Coulthard's later career.

"I've got a caricature that someone gave me that has got Michael (Schumacher) saying about last year when we were scoring points 'If that's how quick you go when you grow a beard, I might grow one'," he said.

"And there's another one that someone gave me when I signed for Red Bull that was me as a cowboy coming through the saloon doors that says "DC and Red Bull, the Last Chance Saloon' which I thought was a bit harsh.

"But I kept it anyway."