David Coulthard enjoyed a very successful career in karts and then graduated to Formula Ford in 1989, winning the first ever McLaren/Autosport Young Driver of the Year award. The prize just happened to be his first ever drive in a Formula One car. He made short work of the junior categories after that, even after missing several races due to a broken leg received in an accident at Spa in 1990. His reputation received a major boost in 1991, by winning both the International Formula 3 races at Zandvoort, and Macau.

He finished ninth overall in Formula 3000 in 1992 for Paul Stewart Racing and third overall in 1993. His greatest success for that year was his role as test driver for Williams, but 1994 didn't bring him the drive he was hoping for, so he planned to continue in F3000, while also testing in F1. Ayrton Senna's tragic death at Imola in 1994 opened the door for Coulthard as a full time driver, and although he only competed in eight races that year, he finished eighth overall.

1995 saw him continuing to drive for Williams, along side Damon Hill, winning his first Grand Prix in Portugal, beating both Michael Schumacher in the Benetton, and his own team-mate. He finished third for the season with 49 points. In 1996 he switched to McLaren, partner to Mika Hakkinen. Although both drivers struggled to keep pace with Williams, Coulthard won the season opener in Australia, putting McLaren back on the winning track. Winning again in Monza, he finished equal third with Jean Alesi in the drivers' championship.

1998 saw McLaren take the constructors' championship, but Coulthard had his share of ups and downs, winning his only race for the season at San Marino. Pit stop confusion, accidents, and the occasional mechanical problem didn't slow him too much, as he finished third overall with 56 points, behind the battle between Michael Schumacher and Mika Hakkinen.

In 1999, he once again fought gremlins, his car failing just as he started to get somewhere, but he finally saw his first win for the season at the eventful British Grand Prix. Although he continued to challenge his team-mate, he ended up finishing fourth in the drivers' championship. He continued to partner double World Champion Mika Hakkinen in 2000, a season that saw him even more determined that ever before. A serious plane crash that saw the death of both pilots seemed to give the Scot a new lease on life. However, despite a very strong challenge for championship glory, he finished third in the standings.

2001 was a year plagued with reliability problems for the team and despite his gallant efforts; Coulthard just couldn't match the performance of a very dominant Michael Schumacher. Finishing second to the German, Coulthard ended the year well ahead of team-mate Mika Hakkinen, who opted to announce his retirement, ending what was the longest partnership in the history of the sport.

Coulthard partnered young Kimi Raikkonen in 2002 with fresh hope that it would finally be his year to shine, but once again it wasn't to be. The McLaren charger wasn't up to par with its rivals and Coulthard was forced to settle for fifth in the championship while the Woking team slipped to third in the championship.

Coulthard won the first race of the 2003 season but the Scotsman had a difficult year, especially in qualifying. He finished seventh in the championship and things got little better in 2004 as he finished a distant tenth in the championship with a best result of fourth after failing to make the best of a much improved chassis from the mid-point of the season.

After no less than nine seasons with McLaren, it was all change for Coulthard in 2005 as he joined the new Red Bull Cosworth team. After so long at McLaren, Coulthard enjoyed his new-found freedom at Red Bull and he put in a very impressive season with the squad as he racked up an impressive tally of 24 points. Showing the way to both Christian Klien and Tonio Liuzzi, Coulthard remained with the team in 2006.

Despite some high profile signings on the design front and the deal to run Ferrari engines in 2006, it was a disappointing season for Coulthard and the team. Coulthard would end the season in 13th position but he did manage to secure the team's first podium position at Monte Carlo.

With Renault powering the Red Bull team in 2007, Coulthard and new team-mate Mark Webber were generally fairly equally matched in race conditions. Coulthard's qualifying pace often let him down however as did the appalling reliability of the RB3 package. Fourth position at the rain-hit Japanese Grand Prix would be the highlight of the season in which Coulthard notched up 14 points and tenth position in the championship.