David Coulthard  Born: 27.03.71  Birthplace:Twynholm, Scotland  Team: Red Bull  2006 Car Number: 14  Last Season: 12th  GP Pedigree (After Brazilian GP)  Starts: 211  Victories: 13  Poles: 12  Fastest Laps: 19  Points: 513  GP Debut: 1994, Spanish GP, Williams, retired   Five-year Stats

'Good but not good enough' is perhaps destined to be the epitaph of David Coulthard's F1 career.

Now at Red Bull, and in his previous incarnation at McLarenm, the Scot has been able to win races but not good enough to launch a realistic and prolonged assault on the world championship.

However, it has not always been his fault, illustrated by events during the 1998 season.

The opening race in Melbourne proved to be one of the most controversial in the sport’s history as DC pulled over to let team-mate Mika Hakkinen through to claim the win, thus sticking to a pre-race agreement between the two team-mates.

Little did he know that the season was to follow a similar line as he proved an able backup to his team-mate who raced to the world title.

David made his F1 start in difficult circumstances in 1994, thrust into the F1 cauldron.

He not only replaced the legendary Ayrton Senna after his fatal crash at Imola, he was racing for the dominant Williams team and was also forced to share the place with the returning Nigel Mansell through much of the season.

However he did creditably well when he was given the chance and was rewarded with the permanent seat for the 1995 season.

His first full F1 season was solid if not spectacular, finishing third in the drivers' championship and notching up his first GP win at Estoril.

In the off-season he moved to McLaren but even with a competitive car he struggled throughout the year.

His only highlight was a second place in the famous Monaco race when only three cars finished.

But as the McLaren team gradually became more competitive so did DC, breaking the team's win drought with a first at Melbourne in 1997.

1999 was a difficult season for David, as he alternated between impressing and infuriating his fans.

At San Marino he seemed reluctant to tackle backmarkers, whilst at Spa (a real driver's circuit), he was magnificent.

And his move on Michael Schumacher at Malaysia was one of the bravest of the season.

Yet again his campaign did not go exactly as planned in 2000, with things getting off to a slow start.

After surviving a plane crash at the beginning of May, David seemed to have found a new lease of life, finishing second, third and first in the following three races.

Despite this, his performance dropped off towards the end of the season, and he was never a realistic title contender.

2001 marked a watershed in his driving partnership with Hakkinen and for the first time David looked like stepping out of Ron Dennis's favourite son's shadow.

Unluckily for him though, just when he was able to deal with the challenge from his team-mate, Schumacher's Ferrari looked unbeatable.

David managed to buy a hotel - 'The Columbus' in Monaco - and won races in Brazil and Austria, but ultimately the McLaren fell a long way short of Ferrari.

Still the Scot managed to hang onto second place in the drivers' title race with 65 points, but that's all he was doing. Hanging on.

2002 was just like 2001, only worse.

Not only were Ferrari even further ahead, McLaren were under-powered, Williams were invariably in front of them on the grid and they were unused to the Michelin tyres.

Added to that team-mate Kimi Raikkonen's performances turned out to resemble those of a pre-2001 Hakkinen.

DC resisted pressure from Juan Pablo Montoya and Schumacher to score a memorable win at Monaco, one of only two non-Ferrari wins that entire season.

He scored 41 points and ended up fifth, but it was a disappointing and frustrating year which saw the cool Scot enter verbal jousts with both Juan Montoya and Eddie Irvine.

Although he began strongly in 2003, winning the opening race in Australia, his challenge fell away badly and he was forced to play second fiddle to Raikkonen.

He continued to do so in 2004, his final season as a McLaren driver.

With Montoya's arrival announced almost 18 months before his first race for McLaren, 2004 was effectively an 18-race job application for David.

However, it says everything about his underwhelming season that when it ended with him 11th in the drivers' standings, it was thought it wasn't just DC's time at McLaren but also his time in F1 that had run out.

Yet just when it appeared that the Scot's F1 career was destined to end in a whimper, it was announced that he had been given a race seat with Red Bull.

And although no race wins or podiums ensued, DC put together a highly impressive season that ended with him a surprising 12th on the Drivers' table with 24 points.

His performances saw Red Bull extend David's contract and with design guru Adrian Newey joining the team in February, 2006 could yet be a stellar year for a driver who remains one of the most likeable, and dignified, on the grid.

Formula One Career:

2006:	GP with Red Bull.
2005:	GP with Red Bull (24pts - 12th in championship).
2004:	GP with McLaren - (24pts - equal ninth in championship).
2003:	GP with McLaren - victory in Australia (51 pts - seventh in championship).
2002:	GP with McLaren - victory in Monaco (41pts - fifth in championship).
2001:	GP with McLaren - victory in Brazil and Austria (65pts - second in championship).
2000:	GP with McLaren - victory in Britain, Monaco and France - (73pts, third in championship).
1999:	GP with McLaren - victory in Britain and Belgium (48pts - 4th in championship).
1998:	GP with McLaren – victory in San Marino (58pts – 3rd in championship).
1997:	GP with McLaren - victory in Australia and Italy (36pts - equal third in championship).
1996:	GP with McLaren - (18pts - 7th in championship).
1995:	GP with Williams - victory in Portugal (49pts - 3rd in championship).
1994:	GP with Williams - (14pts - 8th in championship).

Background:

1993:	Test driver for Williams
1992:	Competed for Paul Stewart Racing in F3000, finishing 9th. F1 test with Benetton
1991:	2nd in British F3 Championship.
1990:	4th overall in British Vauxhall Lotus series
1989:	Formula Ford 1600 Junior Champion
1988:	Scottish Open karting champion
1983:	Began in karting, winning Scottish Junior title in 1985.