DC: I'm comfortable with has-been tag

Tuesday 7th October 2008

David Coulthard has hit back at Ted Kravitz after the ITV pitlane commentator called his performance in the Singapore "mediocre".

The Red Bull driver was in the running for a podium finish when the Safety Car was deployed following Nelson Piquet's crash, but a mix-up at his final pit stop saw him end the race in seventh place.

Kravitz wrote in his ITV column: "It seems pointless to criticise a man who's only got three more races to go in his F1 career, but since he may well be dishing plenty of criticism out to others next year, I'll start now: he was mediocre in Singapore.

"I don't mean to sound picky, but it just seems that David is a shadow of the driver he was this time last year.

"Why is that? Is he mentally being a bit more careful when in the car knowing he has retirement and a family on the way?"

Coulthard, who announced earlier this year that he will vacate his racing seat at Red Bull at the end of this campaign, defended his performance and says F1 journalists should show "a bit more humility".

"Whatever anyone thinks of my performance this year, I look back at that period of my race as a very strong, consistent piece of defensive racecraft," the F1 veteran wrote in his column on ITV.

"I have no problem receiving criticism for errors or what might appear like average performances, but to cite Singapore as an example of that simply doesn't stand up in my opinion.

"What I think this highlights is the difficulty that people who are not ex-drivers have in explaining some of the nuances of Formula 1 to the viewing public.

"The public relies on so-called expert opinions, but very often the opinion-formers are people who don't have any direct experience of what they are talking about.

"I appreciate it's not realistic to expect all F1 journalists to be ex-F1 drivers, but I do feel a bit more humility would be in order when offering opinions that are not based on facts."

The Scot also says he is comfortable being labelled a has-been.

"The reality is that I still enjoy the technical aspects of F1 and I still love driving the cars, but I recognise that my competitive racing days are coming to an end," he added.

"I'm not in denial of that fact, so to suggest that my time is up - when I've already acknowledged that's the case, after a long and in my opinion mildly successful career - is hardly an earth-shattering revelation.

"I'm entirely comfortable being in the category of has-been because the other options are to be a wannabe or a never-has-been."

Your Comments

andyrake

"Ted Kravitz is a total pr*ck! Why is this guy even commentating when he hasnt even been behind the wheel of an F1 car? I get sick of his ramblings during a race, Martin Brundle is so much more informed, why hes not the main commentator is beyond me. Kravitz, youre no Murrey Walker and never will be. Youre a prize d*ck! Coulthard has been a great racer for Britain and by no means a has been, he was, unless youve forgotten, up against one of the best drivers of all time in Schumacher!"

robson

"more like "never was" than "has been". he just stepped into top car when was senna killed & never deserved such a ride, otherwise his GP win score would be zero."

Buffy

"I can think of 4 'has beens' and they are, Steve Ryder, James Allen, Ted Kravitz and the other bird, the odd one with the bangles. Actually, come to think of it, they never actually were anything to begin with. What did they actually do that qualifies them to comenting on F1? DC had a good run as everyone said and I really hope that the 4 has beens never again darken my TV set as they are just awful and 'add no value' to the programme. "

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