Zoom Coulthard has certainly changed his tune

Niki Lauda has slammed F1 drivers who fear the end of traction control in 2008.

The triple world champion, who won 25 races during the 70s and 80s, told Germany's Bild am Sonntag newspaper: "If they are afraid, they need to go back to driving school."

David Coulthard, a steadfast figure of the drivers' union GPDA, has been the most vocal about the banning of sophisticated driver aids because he says they will make racing the rain more dangerous.

"Some people are bound to say drivers are not real men these days but they can say what they like," the Red Bull racer told Britain's Daily Mirror.

"I'll race in any conditions, but we would all look silly if something was taken away like this and we didn't raise our concerns," Coulthard added.

Intriguingly, back in 2000, Coulthard - then a McLaren driver - opposed the reintroduction of traction control.

"I am a pure racer," the BBC quotes him as saying then. "I want to change my own gears and I don't want computers to help prevent wheelspin. "

"Traction control will not be good for pure driving. That is what I like and it is one of the most enjoyable parts. It will be a shame when it happens."

At the launch of BMW Sauber's 2008 car on Monday, German racer Nick Heidfeld insisted that one GPDA spokesman does not necessarily reflect the views of every driver on the grid.

"You have to be careful not to see it this way," he said in Munich. "I guess (Coulthard) said it in a personal way, as it was not discussed within the GPDA.

"Driving a Formula One car is dangerous by itself. You can just sit outside and it is safer," he added.

Source GMM
© CAPSIS International