Coulthard retires from F1

David Coulthard will retire from racing in Formula at the end of his 18th season this year.
In the announcement, Coulthard said “my decision was taken earlier this year and is based on a desire to stop while I am still competitive”. “I’m still enjoying the immense challenge that Grand Prix driving represents. I also have the desire to look for new challenges within the sport”.

Coulthard started in Formula One in 1994 with Williams at the Spanish Grand Prix, after Ayrton Senna was killed in San Marino. Whilst Hill struggled in 1995 against Schumacher and Benetton, Coulthard had a strong full season, with five poles and a win the Portuguese Grand Prix, finishing third in the championship. His season came to an embarrassing end when he crashed in the pitlane whilst leading the Australian GP.
Would Coulthard have been 1996 world champion if Williams had not replaced him with Jacques Villeneuve? Damon Hill won eight races to take the title, but Villeneuve was clearly the faster driver by the season end. Coulthard may have been as quick from the start of season.

Coulthard ended up at McLaren alongside Mika Hakkinen in 1996. 1997 was arguably his best season in F1. He was competitive throughout and faster than his team-mate, winning 2 races in a fragile and unreliable McLaren.

Over the next three seasons, Coulthard would be little more than wing-man to Hakkinen as the fight was brought to Schumacher and Ferrari. Hakkinen’s performances were occasionally breathtaking, but Coulthard rarely had the same pace and often struggled if the car was difficult to set up. As a result, Hakkinen was favoured for the drivers championships by the McLaren team. Coulthard leapfrogged a disillusioned Hakkinen in 2001 to finish runner-up, but was no match for a dominant Schumacher, regardless of what the history books may say.

Juan Pablo Montoya replaced Coulthard in 2004, and he joined the new Red Bull Racing team. In the final years of his career Coulthard provided a steady and experienced hand against his young team-mates. Red Bull valued his ability to develop the car and the knowledge he brought from Williams and McLaren. Coulthard himself still looked determined to succeed, but Red Bull rarely rose from the very middle of the mid-field.

He will move to a consultancy role for Red Bull, and will offer advice on testing and development in a role similar to Michael Schumacher’s at Ferrari.

Wimbledon Centre Court round-up

CLD Sport watched the men’s semi finals from Wimbledon centre court today. On the walk to the club we were handed various freebies, only for all these products to be confiscated by Wimbledon security as we approached the grounds. This was very embarrassing for the drinks and toiletries companies who clearly hadn’t bothered to check that their handouts complied with the security rules of the club.

The atmosphere within centre court was one of expectation – people knew that Sunday’s final was going to be a Federer/Nadal affair, and were almost expecting the men’s singles matches to be exhibitions. Somewhat unusual for the most famous tennis tournament in the word at its semi-final stage.

First up was Federer against Marat Safin. Whilst Federer had cruised to the semis without dropping a set, the unseeded Safin was made to work somewhat harder, coming up against the number 3 seed Djokovic (causing the upset of the tournament) in the second round, with three of his games going to four sets with five tie-breaks on the way to this match.

Federer was in total control of the first set, breaking Safin’s serve once to win 6-3. The second was a much closer affair with Federer winning the tie-break 7-3. Safin became increasingly frustrated by the sheer quality of Federer throughout the set but was in contention right through to the end. The crowd appeared to be cheering for Safin in the second set, if only so they could watch Federer win in four instead of three.

The third set was more one sided as a tired and distracted Safin was unable to find a way past Federer. Safin did a marvellous job of entertaining the crowd, with several screams and bouts of racquet abuse, even sitting down whilst challenging a line call. Federer, meanwhile, displayed flashes of his best play, but was simply not required to display it often enough by Safin. He must start as favourite on Sunday.

Nadal came onto centre court to rapturous applause, possibly a warmer reception than for Federer. His opponent was the unseeded Rainer Schuettler, who won his quarter-final against Arnaud Clement in the longest singles match in Wimbledon history. Nadal destroyed Schuettler in the first set to win 6-1. Schuettler broke Nadal in the second after the Spaniard appeared to begin cruising a little too slowly. At times he appeared more concerned about his recurring wedgie than his tiring opponent. Schuettler was cheered on – in German – by a few excited members of the crowd. The last match had clearly taken its toll on the German, however, and he eventually lost in straight sets.

It was amazing to see the two styles of Federer and Nadal back-to-back. Federer’s occasional net play was a bit patchy but his controlling and elegant approach contrasted with the more brutal, attacking style of Nadal. There’s no doubt that both players have found their extra gear in preparation for Sunday, and will rise to the occasion.

Finally, it didn’t rain all day. Not a drop.