Coulthard calls it a day

It may not be the biggest shock of the F1 season so far - Max in his y-fronts probably steals that honour - but David Coulthard has today confirmed that this will be his last season of Grand Prix racing.

With Red Bull keen to promote Vettel and Mark Webber being consistantly fast in the sister car, DC's chances of a Red Bull Reprieve for 2009 were always looking slim.

David Coulthard won 13 Grands Prix in a career that began in the turmoil of May 1994. By Portugal 1995 he had won his first race, and could have won the final race in Melbourne had he not misjudged the pit-lane entry and parked in a wall.

1996 saw a switch from Williams to McLaren who after several difficult years with uncompetitive cars were starting to turn the corner. It would be another season though before they were finally on the pace. Coulthard took that long awaited win for McLaren - the first in partnership with Mercedes - at Melbourne in 1997 and would go on to win again at Monza.

12 Months later Coulthard should have repeated his Melbourne success, however a "Gentleman's Agreement" saw him slow to a near standstill to allow Mika Hakkinen through to take the win. It would perhaps prove a pivotal moment in the balance of power within the team and Mika would go on to take the next two World Championships.

2000 was a dramatic year for DC. In April he would join the list of British Drivers to have won their home Grand prix in a famous race at a Mud-Covered Sliverstone. In May he was lucky to escape with his life when a plane he was on crashed killing it's two pilots. Just a month after this tragedy Coulthard proved his was just as focused as ever by winning on the streets of Monte-Carlo.

In his post McLaren years DC changed from the company controlled McLaren Driver into an outspoken elder statesman of Grand Prix racing. He is always ready to throw in an inspired quip when the moment suits - as his McLaren sucessor Juan Pablo Montoya discovered the weekend he "Fell off his Tennis Raquet". Hopefully the rumours will prove true and he will take up a microphone next to Martin Brundle at the BBC next year!

It is worthy of note that during his career David Coulthard has scored more World Championship points than any other British Driver in F1 history - his all time tally is beaten only by Schumacher, Senna and Prost