Formula 1
Nothing to lose for Coulthard
McLaren announcing the signing of Juan Pablo Montoya for 2005 does not make David Coulthard's future with the team look very bright. It's widely presumed Coulthard will be the one to make way for Montoya but while the Scot's manager, Martin Brundle, ...
Published: Nov 23, 2003, 8:06 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
McLaren announcing the signing of Juan Pablo Montoya for 2005 does not make David Coulthard's future with the team look very bright. It's widely presumed Coulthard will be the one to make way for Montoya but while the Scot's manager, Martin Brundle, admits the announcement was not great news for David, he pointed out that nothing is decided yet.
David Coulthard.
Photo by Brousseau Photo.
"McLaren haven't announced their 2005 driver line-up and they have a contractual position with David going forward," Brundle, a former F1 driver and now commentator, told ITV-F1. "Eighteen months is a long way away. A lot of things happen in F1 in 18 months. We'll see what happens."
"If you look at their respective ages and career profile you'd have to assume that of those trio that McLaren will be thinking of Montoya and Raikonnen. I imagine that most people will suspect David is automatically out, but let's see what happens."
While Brundle conceded that 2003 was not one of Coulthard's best years, he is sure that David will be fighting hard in 2004, and McLaren signing Montoya could be the spur he needs to produce a stellar performance.
"It might turn out to be the best platform for him to go and deliver something consistently special," Brundle commented. "There's nothing to lose now. He's in a straight fight. And there is a lot of racing to go before 2005."
McLaren making the deal public so soon caused a few raised eyebrows and makes for a somewhat uncomfortable 2004 for both itself and Williams. Brundle thinks that as the situation was not unknown within in F1, McLaren simply wanted to get the announcement over and done with.
"It was quite widely known. It would have been to clear the air on that really. It's not something that you want hanging around as you go into the season," he remarked. "For McLaren it clears it out of the system. They now have three world class drivers which must be good for business."
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Renault 2003 technical debrief
Next article Bahrain on track for deadline
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Juan Pablo Montoya
Team Penske and Chevrolet announce multi-year extension of IndyCar partnership
IndyCar
IndyCar
Team Penske and Chevrolet announce multi-year extension of IndyCar partnership
Juan Pablo Montoya admires Franco Colapinto's "aggressive" approach despite Baku crash
Formula 1
Formula 1
Azerbaijan GP
Juan Pablo Montoya admires Franco Colapinto's "aggressive" approach despite Baku crash
Williams tipped for "huge step" forward at Azerbaijan GP with major upgrade
Formula 1
Formula 1
Spanish GP
Williams tipped for "huge step" forward at Azerbaijan GP with major upgrade
More from
McLaren
The figures that show Mercedes has lost its supremacy in F1 2026
Formula 1
Formula 1
United States GP
The figures that show Mercedes has lost its supremacy in F1 2026
McLaren held fresh talks after Singapore GP clash as Lando Norris promises to "make better decisions"
Formula 1
Formula 1
United States GP
McLaren held fresh talks after Singapore GP clash as Lando Norris promises to "make better decisions"
Latest news
Belgian firm to take over Renault/Alpine engine facility in Viry
WEC
WEC WEC 12 min
Belgian firm to take over Renault/Alpine engine facility in Viry
Jorge Martin the slowest Aprilia in Australia practice: “I'm used to riding with the Ducati here”
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Australian GP
51 min
Jorge Martin the slowest Aprilia in Australia practice: “I'm used to riding with the Ducati here”
2027 Winter Series calendar: Three series across five circuits
General
Misc General 1 h
2027 Winter Series calendar: Three series across five circuits
Ducati says Aprilia “can do whatever they want” amid team order talks in MotoGP
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Australian GP
1 h
Ducati says Aprilia “can do whatever they want” amid team order talks in MotoGP
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe