THIS is a new David Coulthard, there's no doubt about it. Gone is the genial analyst, the sponsor's dream. Instead, post-accident, this is a harder, tougher McLaren driver. He avoids interviews whenever possible and he is angry with something other than himself.
Coming into today's European Grand Prix at the Nurburgring, Coulthard felt frustrated and stressed. His fractured ribs had meant no testing and virtually no physical training. He'd won at Silverstone, had felt more than capable of beating Mika Hakkinen, and then it had all gone wrong.
The problem, of course, was the plane accident and the emotional trauma that had followed. And then, in its trail, came Barcelona. Had he qualified better in Spain (a technical problem cost him valuable time) he might still have been able to out-race Hakkinen, broken ribs or not. As ever, though, everything seemed to conspire against him. Hakkinen, again, was the man.
Coulthard's driving at the Nurburgring on Friday and yesterday, when rain interrupted play about as regularly as it would at Lord's, consequently had a new, rougher edge to it. This wasn't the polished Coulthard who usually qualifies within a couple of tenths of Hakkinen. This was an angry man, throwing his McLaren around in ways that were almost Schumacher-like.
[...]
Five minutes to run became four; four became three: it was Schumacher who rejoined the track first, and thus had the traffic-free lap. Behind him, it was if the race was about the start. The pit-lane was a multi-coloured train.
Again this was a new Coulthard. He cruised his out-lap, gunned it as he left the last corner, saw traffic ahead of him and slowed, causing virtually everybody behind him to slow with him. Jacques Villeneuve was later to remark that "somebody up ahead of me slowed down the whole field", and there was little doubt about where the finger was pointing. Coulthard was on pole, though, and it was in his interest to make life as difficult as possible for his opposition. Call it gamesmanship; call it the new Coulthard.
[...]
So Coulthard was on pole, less than three weeks after that miraculous escape and still with three fractured ribs. He punched the air, Hakkinen-style, as he climbed from his car, and he kept his face dead-pan, his body language aggressive, in the post-qualifying festivities. He even delivered a no-sex joke for the Sunday papers, causing Schumacher and Hakkinen to crack up and the media centre to erupt in a keyboard-tapping frenzy. Still, though, he remained dead-pan.
"David. What do you say about the comments Mika is supposed to have made about you - about you not being as quick as he is?"
"Mika?" said David sharply. "Mika? I assume you're talking about Mika Hakkinen and, if you are, I've got nothing to say. What he may or may not have said is of no interest to me."
End of interview.
So Jackie Stewart may be right. Maybe the plane accident will indeed bring out the best from Coulthard. The reserves of strength that he is now drawing upon have given him a new resilience; he is very capable of winning today's race.
What do you think?
