The Young Drivers: No.1 - David Coulthard

Where were they then?

The McLaren Autosport BRDC Award had not evolved into the competition it is today when it was first run in 1989. Winner David Coulthard didn't have to go head-to-head with his rivals during evaluation tests and was instead selected for his dominance of both the P&O Ferries and Dunlop/Autosport Formula Ford 1600 championships, but that year did set the two must important parts of the template. The Scot was a seriously talented young driver and, by winning the award, he was destined to have a Formula One test for McLaren.

He went on to become the first award winner to taste victory in a grand prix, taking a total of 13 wins in an F1 career that only came to an end - after 246 starts - in last month's Brazilian Grand Prix.

This is what Autosport magazine wrote about Coulthard at the time:

David Coulthard had quite a night at the Autosport Awards. He was delighted to be voted British Club Driver of the Year, but the announcement of McLaren and Autosport's new programme surprised him. As the first Young Driver of the Year, he will have opportunities which before he had only dreamed about.

With the disappearance of the Grovewood/Cellnet Awards in 1989, there was no scheme for the British motorsports industry to recognise and support its young talent. The union between Autosport and McLaren International should change all that.

The announcement was made jointly by McLaren's managing director Ron Dennis and Autosport's editor Peter Foubister. To say the announcement, its prize and its winner came as a bit of a shock to Coulthard is an understatement.

David Coulthard won the 1991 Macau Grand Prix in a Ralt RT35 Mugen/Honda © LAT

"When they started talking about it, I thought that they were referring to Allan's McLaren deal. I was just thinking how good that is for him when they mentioned my name. It was such a surprise! After I stood up, I thought 'did they really say my name?' and I was going to sit down again! As I walked to the stage they said that I would get an F3 test drive. I couldn't believe what they said. Then they say I get to drive a Formula 1 car!

There was no shortage of well wishers making their way to his table afterwards to offer congratulations. Watched by his mother, father, David Leslie Sr and David Leslie Jr - all of whom have been so instrumental in the young Scotsman's career - David sat with a huge grin on his face.

"I really don't know what to do or say. I think this is the most nervous, scared and excited I've been in my entire life. it's just all too much to understand or comprehend. It is such a tremendous opportunity."

Once his heart rate had settled down a little, he searched out Ron Dennis to thank him personally. When he sat down with his family again he was still very excited.

"Ron Dennis is someone I read about in magazines. For me to be here and talking to him is something you dream about. He asked me if I was surprised that he kept an eye on the lower categories and I said yes. It's nice to know that people are watching because when you are racing with a team against the same people each week, you don't realise that there may be someone from the higher grades taking an interest.

"And an award like this makes you feel like you've achieved something."

To have achieved all this after just one season's racing says much for David's talent both on and, just as importantly, off the track. So far, he has won both junior British Formula Ford 1600 championships, and finished an impressive third in the prestigious Formula Ford Festival.

For 1990, he will be graduating to the British Vauxhall Lotus Championship and the GM Lotus Euroseries. It is widely thought that he will be running with Paul Stewart Racing in the categories, but as yet nothing has been announced.

David Coulthard shared a Jaguar XJ220C in the 1993 Le Mans 24 Hours with John Nielsen and David Brabham © LAT

"We have been talking to a few teams for this season and I've already had some testing. I'm off on holiday just now, but I know that I'll be desperate to get back and start testing again."

Also at the Awards, McLaren pledged to oversee Allan McNish throughout the next three years. The two young Scotsmen with the bright futures were childhood friends. It seems to be a good time for them at the moment.

"When I found out I was going to have a run in a McLaren, I went and asked Allan what it's like because he's tested one already. Now I can't wait.

"I've got to keep my feet firmly on the ground, though. I'll just carry on with my racing and hope I can follow in Allan's footsteps. He's got a fantastic chance there and I'm sure he'll make the most of it. As for me, well, I've got something to dream about for quite a while now, haven't I?"

Where are they now?

With an ultra-successful first year in car racing in Formula Ford under his belt, Coulthard opted to step up to contest British Vauxhall Lotus and the Opel Lotus Euroseries in 1990 with the crack Paul Stewart Racing team. It wasn't the best of seasons - a broken leg suffered at Spa forced him to miss several races and left him fourth and fifth in Britain and Europe respectively.

But he did make his mark. He took two wins and could have won the title but for the injury in the British series, ranged against the likes of Vincenzo Sospiri, Rubens Barrichello and Gil de Ferran and, more significantly, bagged a first European victory of his career at Knutstorp Park in Sweden.

But any disappointment soon turned to delight when Coulthard headed to Silverstone that winter to test a McLaren-Honda MP4-5B. It was the first time he had sat in a McLaren, a team he would eventually come to know intimately during his record nine-year stint at Woking.

"I didn't realise at the time that it was important, because it didn't exist until that year," says Coulthard of winning the award. "But the thing that was important was that I drove a F1 car when I was 19.

"When you are trying to achieve something, you don't know what it's like, but when you actually drive it you realise it's just another car. Yes, it's fast, it's physical, it's difficult, but it became a reality and helped me set a real goal rather than a fantasy goal.

David Coulthard made his grand prix debut replacing Ayrton Senna in the Williams FW16 Renault at the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona © LAT

"That was the biggest thing I took out of it. Looking back, you don't realise at the time what a big opportunity it is. Nowadays, it's not remarkable for an 18 or 19-year-old to drive a Formula One car, but back then it was a bit more unusual."

Even more unusual was just how at home Coulthard felt. Despite his young age, he had been brought up to believe he would one day make it to F1 and that winter day in 1990 brought him one step closer to his dream.

"I don't remember being nervous," adds Coulthard. "I was living in Milton Keynes at the time and the test was nearby at Silverstone so I just went up myself. I didn't have managers and family there - not because they didn't care but that was the way you did it. You just got on and did your job.

"As a teenager, my father told me I would be in F1 and live in Monaco, not because he had the money to buy me a drive but because he had confidence in my ability. So when I did get into an F1 car, it wasn't a surprise - it was pre-programmed."

Coulthard had made an impression in that test, which undoubtedly played a part in the team's eagerness to sign him in 1996. But before even thinking about starting his F1 career, the young Scot had to continue to climb up the racing ladder. Next on the agenda was F3, where he would again take on de Ferran and Barrichello, as well as Steve Robertson - now Kimi Raikkonen's manager and a talented single-seater racer in his day.

It was a ferociously-fought year, but despite taking his first win in his third start at Donington and ending the season with five victories, Coulthard missed out the title to Barrichello by just eight points.

The title may have eluded him, but Coulthard showed a knack for shining in big races that would serve him well in F1 (he won the Monaco and British grands prix twice) by topping the podium in the Marlboro Masters of F3 at Zandvoort and the all-important Macau Grand Prix.

Coulthard opted to step up to F3000 for 1992, staying with PSR, showing steady improvement throughout the season on his way to ninth in the championship. There were no wins, but a brace of podiums late in the season at Nogaro and Magny-Cours showed he had emerged as a front runner. His performances in the category also earned him a second taste of F1 power, with Benetton-Ford, that year.

A second year in F3000 followed, this time with Pacific, as well as a first win at Enna-Pergusa. More importantly, Coulthard was called up to test for Williams-Renault, earning himself a regular test contract.

David Coulthard makes his final F1 start at the 2008 Grand Prix of Brazil in a Red Bull RB4 Renault © LAT

That deal was to prove vital in Coulthard's F1 career, for after starting the 1994 season working hard to raise the funds to keep his race-by-race F3000 deal with Pacific going he was called up to race for Williams at the Spanish Grand Prix following the death of Ayrton Senna. Although he didn't finish the race, Coulthard had made his point and did enough in his eight outings in 1994 to earn a full-time drive with the team for the following season.

The rest is history. Coulthard took his first victory in the Portuguese Grand Prix at Estoril in 1995 before joining McLaren in 1996. After a tough season feeding on scraps in his first McLaren season, Coulthard broke the team's three-year winless streak with a stunning win in the 1997 Australian Grand Prix - adding a second triumph at Monza. Then it all started to go a little wrong. At Jerez, Coulthard was ordered to let Hakkinen by to effectively take victory, a sacrifice he also had to make one race later, in the 1998 season-opener at Melbourne.

He spent the next three years as Hakkinen's de facto number two, winning six races, including two British and one Monaco Grands Prix. But by the time he stepped out of the Finn's shadow in 2001, Ferrari were too far ahead. The Scot finished a career-best second in the 2001 drivers' championship with wins in Brazil and Austria early in the year, but ended up a long way behind champion Michael Schumacher.

The final four years of his record nine-season stint at McLaren were disappointing. He took his final two wins - a stunning Monaco triumph in 2002 and in Australia in 2003 - as McLaren struggled to match the Ferrari steamroller and found himself out of a drive in favour of Juan Pablo Montoya at the end of 2004. His career could have come to an end there and then, but he was picked up by the new Red Bull Racing team, which had risen from the embers of the defunct Jaguar Racing team.

It was the start of a four-year racing relationship with the team during which he was a regular points scorer - with podiums at Monaco in 2006 and in Canada in 2008 the highlights as he helped drag the team to the front of the midfield.

With Mark Webber having the edge, Coulthard announced his retirement at the end of the season at Silverstone in July. Fittingly enough for a driver who, despite his prodigious success, is regarded as something of a nearly man, he was wiped out at the first corner by Williams pairing Nico Rosberg and Kazuki Nakajima.

But, after 15 seasons in F1, the sport hasn't seen the last of the popular Scot. As well as his ongoing role with Red Bull, a role which could see him return at some point on a testing basis, he will be a regular on British television as a pundit in the BBC's coverage of the sport.