David Marshall Coulthard (born 27 March 1971) is a British former racing driver and broadcaster from Scotland, who competed in Formula One from 1994 to 2008.

Nicknamed "DC", Coulthard was runner-up in the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in 2001 with McLaren, and won 13 Grands Prix across 15 seasons.

[2] His family was connected to motor racing: his grandfather competed in the Monte Carlo Rally and his father drove karts, becoming Scottish National Champion.

[3] From an early age motorsport was where his interest lay, later listing Formula One World Champions Jim Clark, Nigel Mansell and Alain Prost as his childhood heroes.

[7] In 1990, Coulthard travelled to Belgium to compete in the EFDA Nations Cup for Great Britain and was partnered with Nicky Hart, where they finished 9th.

[8] During the year, Coulthard was selected by Vauxhall Motorsport to race in a one-off appearance in the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) at Brands Hatch, where he finished 13th.

[9] For 1991, Coulthard signed with Paul Stewart Racing to compete in the British Formula 3 series, taking five victories and finishing second in the Championship behind Rubens Barrichello.

[11] He entered the 24 Hours of Le Mans alongside John Nielsen and David Brabham for the TWR Jaguar Racing team.

[13][14] Making his début in Spain, Coulthard qualified in eighth position, and was set to score a point before his engine failed 34 laps from the finish.

Williams dropped Coulthard for the following race in France, allowing 1992 Drivers' Champion Nigel Mansell to make a one-off appearance due to pressure from engine supplier Renault.

[18] The dispute went to Formula One's Contract Recognition Board, who ruled in favour of Williams on 14 December, forcing Coulthard to stay with the team.

[25] He took a further two podiums at the Nürburgring and Aida he retired in Suzuka and infamously crashed into the pit lane wall while leading in Adelaide.

[27] For 1996, Coulthard partnered experienced driver Mika Häkkinen at McLaren, and believed there was a chance of winning races, though a challenge for the World Championship was unlikely until 1997 or 1998.

[28] His season started badly; he suffered a throttle issue in Australia, including a collision with Jordan driver Martin Brundle on the first lap.

The factor of unreliability had an impact throughout the season, which became notable in Canada when Coulthard made a pit stop while leading and the car developed clutch problems.

The race was restarted, and he was later involved in a controversial collision with Michael Schumacher when being lapped, leading to an angry confrontation in the pit lane.

He took his second podium of the year in Spain before Coulthard later finished outside the points-scoring positions in Canada and retired with electrical problems in France.

[63] The change of car improved reliability and results, helping Coulthard to achieve sixth place during the Grand Prix, and secured further points in four more races over the course of the season,[23] only suffering from one further non-finish from a collision with Ferrari driver Rubens Barrichello in Japan.

Before the San Marino Grand Prix, Klien was replaced by Red Bull test driver Vitantonio Liuzzi who partnered Coulthard for the next four races.

[68] The forced withdrawal of all teams using Michelin tyres, including Red Bull, at the controversial United States Grand Prix, meant Coulthard did not start a race for the first time in his career.

[77] Coulthard finished outside the points, with consecutive retirements in Canada and the United States, before he secured fifth position in the European Grand Prix.

[83] In his final race in Brazil, Coulthard's Red Bull RB4 was decorated in the colours of "Wings for Life", a charity dedicated to raising awareness of spinal cord injuries.

[101] For 2014, Coulthard went onto the Nation's Cup with Wolff and the pair reached the final, finishing runner-up to Team Nordic's Tom Kristensen and Petter Solberg.

[102] On 25 November 2008, it was announced that Coulthard would join the BBC as a pundit alongside Jake Humphrey and Eddie Jordan for the broadcaster's coverage of Formula One.

[103] With the departure of commentator Jonathan Legard at the end of 2010, Coulthard was announced as a co-commentator alongside Brundle, after undergoing successful screen tests.

Coulthard co-owns Whisper Films, along with former co-presenter Jake Humphrey, and the production company was chosen by Channel 4 to produce its coverage of all of its races.

[109] On 10 October 2018, Coulthard was announced as a spokesperson and advisory board member of the forthcoming W Series, a racing championship for women based on Formula 3-homologated Tatuus T-318 chassis.

[112] On 4 April 2010, Coulthard announced a return to motor racing when he secured a contract to drive for Mücke Motorsport and would be partnered by Maro Engel.

[127] For the 2007 Japanese Grand Prix, he changed his design to grey with a stylised saltire on the sides of his helmet, as an homage to the late World Rally Champion Colin McRae.

[131] Coulthard and Wichlinski ended their engagement before the beginning of the 2001 season, which was followed with a series of inaccurate newspaper reports about alleged affairs with other women.