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David Coulthard's best season 2001

David Coulthard was thrust into Formula One as the direct replacement for legendary Brazilian driver Ayrton Senna in 1994 and, while the Twynholm-born driver cannot claim the title success of his predecessor, he has become one of the country's most recognisable sporting figures.

Coulthard was born in 1971 into a family which was never far away from motors and racing. His father owned his own trucking business and encouraged his son to take pat in karting from the age of eight.

He took to the sport immediately and went on to dominate the under-age classes, winning the Scottish youth honours in his teens. His obvious potential was rewarded with a deal from Paul Stewart Racing and his ascent to Formula One quickly gathered pace.

However, he faced a setback in 1990 – crashing in a race at Spa in Belgium and spending time on the sidelines. This setback perhaps set the tone for a career which, despite its numerous highs, has so far failed to live up to its potential for a variety of reasons.

After recovering from his leg break, Coulthard – who had been bestowed with the honour of being the first McLaren Young Driver of the Year – was given the role of test driver for Ron Dennis's McLaren team.

In addition to his testing duties, he raced in Formula 3 against Rubens Barrichello, a South American whose career eventually followed a similar path to Coulthard's. Barrichello took the drivers' championship in 1991, but Coulthard did enough throughout the course of the season to underline his potential and attract attention.

A move to PSR was largely a failure, although F1 teams were still keen on his talent and he drove further tests for Benetton and Williams.

In the end, Frank Williams decided to give the young Scot a chance and named him as his official test driver and back-up to Senna. When Senna died, at San Marino, Coulthard was promoted and made his debut at Barcelona, finishing a respectable third despite ignition problems.

Coulthard's relationship with Williams was tempestuous and he became unhappy that the team wanted to alternate his appearances with Nigel Mansell. Nevertheless, the off-track distractions did not affect his driving and he finally recorded his first victory in the Portuguese GP at Estoril.

McLaren, impressed by his growing skills and knowing of his unhappiness with life at Williams, moved to sign him up for the 1996 season.

His move to the up-and-coming team could – and probably should – have made him world champion. However, he was team-mate of Finnish driver Mika Hakkinen and, as thus, was eventually shunted into a secondary role.

This was not evident in their first season, as they both remained fairly close in the championship, although neither won a race.

In 1997 Coulthard edged ahead of his colleague, winning the Australian and Italian GP's en route to a 36-point finish.

In 1998, their third season together, Hakkinen emerged as McLaren's top man and because of this Coulthard was often subject to team orders and passed up the opportunity to win on several occasions just to ensure that he gained valuable points in the championship race.

One controversial example of this was during the '98 season opener in Australia when he pulled over to let Hakkinen claim the first full points of the campaign.

The Finn won the World Championship that year and the following season, with Coulthard slipping down the pecking order to fourth in 1999.

The start of the new Millenium was to prove traumatic and saw the beginning of his, and McLaren's, decline. Coulthard began steadily, tasting victory in the British GP, but less than a week later was involved in a near-fatal plane crash at a Lyon airfield.

His light aircraft was heading for Nice with five passengers on board, including his then girlfriend Heidi Winchelski, but experienced problems and had to make a crash landing. The pilots were instantly killed, but Coulthard and the passengers miraculously escaped from the burning wreckage through a broken window.

This life-changing experience gave the Scot a new determination and he was back on the track less than a month later, reaffirming his place as one of the steeliest characters in sport with a stunning win at his favourite track, Monaco.

That was probably his finest moment and one which endeared him to motor racing fans the world over. The years since have been blighted by inconsistency and poor form caused mainly by the advancement of the other teams and Michael Schumacher's complete dominance.

However, the chequered flag has not been raised yet for Coulthard – as his impressive fourth place Australian GP finish for his new team, Red Bull Racing, proved and with a new, reliable car behind him there are bound to be plenty of miles left yet.

Written by: Robert Thomson