Coulthard to Sign new Red Bull Contract

By Ian Lockwood
July 13 2006

According to reports in the press, David Coulthard is now on the verge of signing a £1.5m contract to drive the Adrian Newey designed RB3 in 2007. The deal is expected to be announced within the next two weeks.

Coulthards securing of Red Bulls maiden podium at Monaco certainly did his chances no harm, but the gritty performances he displayed to secure a point from the back of the grid in Canada, together with seventh place and two points at the USA Grandprix the following week seems to have convinced Red Bull boss, Dietrich Mateschitz, that he is definitely the man for the job.

Coulthards performances in these last two races are in stark contrast to another experienced driver who had also been linked to the seat - Juan Pablo Montoya who crashed out of both races, and took his team mate out of the USA race too.

Red Bull Racing team boss Christian Horner has not hidden his desire to retain Coulthard - "I have made no secret of my admiration for David. He is an exceptional driver and, when he is motivated and performing, he is one of the best in the world.

He is tremendously fit and, let's not forget, Nigel Mansell and Damon Hill were older than he was when they won their world championships."

Coulthard is believed to have been instrumental in luring Adrain Newey away from Mclaren, and Adrian is also keen to keep the Scot on board - "David is a tremendous chap and it would be great to have him on the team"

The race for the teams second seat is still on. Christian Klien has reportedly held talks with Dietrich Mateschitz and been told he could still retain his seat - this would be in contrast to earlier speculation that only one of the current line-up would remain. 'Tonio Liuzzi would be keen to take the step up from junior team Toro Rosso, and there is also speculation that a possible Renault engine deal would come with a "Heikki Kovalinen" to drive clause. Other names in the frame include Mark Webber, Ralf Schumacher, and Massa.....pretty much anyone without a confirmed contract then!