Scotsman David Coulthard arrived in Kyiv, following former teammate Mika Hakkinen, to attend the ceremony of opening the fan club West McLaren Mercedes and plant a tree (previously carefully dug up by the organizing committee) on the lawn in front the Formula Club (accommodating the fan club) to symbolize his stay in Ukraine – and, of course, give a press conference to tell about himself, his team and sponsors.
I was able to partake in the festival known as formula one from the very beginning of the press conference. The small and stuffy Formula Club hosting the press conference was jammed with media people, something last seen a long time ago in Kyiv. The photo and video cameramen fighting for vantage points reminded one of the Cannes opening ceremony. The visit of an F1 driver, even if not the top one, caused a real sensation. The celebrity, Monaco title-holder, “the fastest Scotsman,” or just David, made a well-timed appearance when the excitement had reached its peak. He started by asking not to be addressed as Mr. Coulthard. The first question was about his impressions of Kyiv. He said he liked it and had noticed signs of “restoration,” overall tidiness, and lots of trees. And yes, he would certainly see the capital’s sights.
He told Kyiv journalists he missed Mika for professional rather than personal reasons. There is no secret about him and his Finnish colleague having never been close friends, as too much was at stake to go to parties together. still, Coulthard missed Hakkinen as a race driver. David said Mika would always set the mark David would be after, although he would win the championship, not David.
In the course of the press conference there were frequent interruptions of simultaneous translation in the earphones and at one point David pointed good- humoredly that transmission was as good as at Silverstone, referring to the last round of the Grand Prix when the McLaren team found themselves out of the game because of ambiguous instructions, once again failing to put up a good fight with Ferrari led by the Red Baron. Yet he did not envy the man about to become a five times world champion. When asked about the possibility of joining Ferrari, David diplomatically replied that he saw his future at McLaren, but he was not very convincing. It is true that Coulthard is a one team man, as often happens in sports. True, he began with Williams, but then joined McLaren, forming a tandem with Hakkinen which has proved of the longest duration in the past decade. This won him British fans’ respect and affection. The same holds for the club leadership, renewing his contract every year. Strangely, this is also true of journalists. While pulling to pieces practically all F1 drivers, relishing every detail of Schumacher’s insolence, Vilnev’s laziness, and Irvine’s expressiveness, they never write anything bad about Coulthard. Even though the Scotsman now and then offers juicy material. Thus, he admitted not so long ago that having sex on the eve of the race helped him tune himself up, whereupon he was ready to move mountains. Had anyone else said anything like that, European media wags would have made mincemeat of him. As it was, the remark passed discreetly unnoticed. David Coulthard is Britain’s pride, actually the only one left to face the Germans and South Americans, vying for the royal title of royal (i.e., inherently British) automobile racing.
After the press conference, David, surrounded by a thick crowd of local paparazzi, cut the symbolic ribbon opening the fan club. Out in the street, despite the growling security guards, he gave several autographs, planted the fir tree, and left the cheering masses in a black Mercedes, waving through the tinted window.
