David Coulthard shares one of his biggest F1 regrets after letting McLaren ‘manipulate’ him

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David Coulthard had a successful stint with McLaren in Formula 1, but on one occasion he let victory slip through his fingers.

At the 1998 Australian Grand Prix, he was ordered to move aside for teammate Mika Hakkinen, losing a win in the process.

He achieved 13 wins during his career, but that tally could have been even higher if he decided against obeying team orders.

After McLaren, he moved on to Red Bull where he eventually retired in 2008 after crashing out of his final race in Brazil.

David Coulthard regrets letting ‘manipulation’ get to him

Despite never really challenging teammate Hakkinen at the 1998 Australian Grand Prix, he inherited the lead from him after a pitstop went wrong for the Finn, and nobody was there to serve him when he pulled in.

After losing 30 seconds he still managed to close to the back of Coulthard, before being let past for the win.

Speaking on The Red Flag Podcast, he shared regret over his decision to obey the rules, which cost him another victory.

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“Of course I do, because in pure sporting terms, it’s not show friends, it’s show business to quote Jerry Maguire. You want to get out and let the racing gods decide.

“When you are being manipulated, it ain’t a great feeling. I did it because I respected the contract I had.

“But if I was more like a Michael, or more like an Ayrton, or more like a Lewis, or more like a Max, I probably would have said [no].”

Why did Coulthard never become a champion?

The difference between becoming a champion and not for Coulthard wasn’t just his acceptance of team orders.

He lacked the cutting edge that his rivals throughout his career did, the likes of Michael Schumacher, Hakkinen, and Fernando Alonso who spared no quarter.

If he had retired a year later, we may have seen him compete for victories again with a Red Bull team that went on to win four consecutive championship doubles.

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But by that time he was past his best – which he performed at during the early 2000’s, achieving his best finish of second in the championship in 2001.

The main problem was that he had nearly half the points that Schumacher gathered that year – just another monster on the track.