Coulthard made way for Vettel without a problem: "My time was up"

When Jaguar continued as Red Bull Racing in 2005, the Austrian team was looking for an experienced driver to help the team get started. After a frustrating last year at McLaren, David Coulthard took on that role. For four years he drove for Red Bull in midfield and had to miss out on the team's big successes. Still, he looks back on that time with a good feeling.

Coulthard decided to end his Formula 1 career at the end of 2008. The following season Red Bull Racing started to win GP's and within five years they achieved four world titles. However, Coulthard doesn't have a bad feeling about that. In front of the Irish RTE he says he is proud of his role in the team and realises that his time in 2008 was simply up.

Vettel was de opkomende man

"I'd had my time and I recognised that my time was coming to an end. It was clear that Sebastian was the coming man. He'd won the Italian Grand Prix in the Toro Rosso in 2008, which was my last year, and then he moved up to the big team."

"I recognised that my career was coming towards its natural conclusion and therefore to have four seasons in helping change the team along with Christian [Horner] and they continued on to win four world championships and have continued to be a challenger to Ferrari and Mercedes, I do feel good about that."

Coulthard was known for his loyal service in his Formula 1 career. He started at Williams as a test driver, where he replaced Ayrton Senna after his accident. In 1996, he switched to McLaren, where he would stay for nine seasons, before ending his career at Red Bull Racing. He still has a good relationship with all three teams.