Red Bull had looked in good shape. But a water leak in qualifying pitched the Scot into the barriers in qualifying. In the race he limped to a disappointing 14th.

It was another frustrating weekend in what has often been a frustrating career - but he has the chance to bounce back with Red Bull says Keith Collantine.

The famously chisel-jawed racer is in his 13th season, has scored 500 World Championship points to date (more than any other British driver), and many would say his winning days are behind him.

But don't write him off just yet. His Red Bull team are serious about succeeding. They have spent millions to buy Ferrari engines and are hoovering up F1's top engineering and design talent at an astonishing rate.

British design genius Adrian Newey has come on board, and once he gets to work on the car, don't be surprised if you see the name David Coulthard at the front of the field once again.

A career often thwarted by misfortune can only motivate him to go out on a high.

Coulthard made his F1 debut for Williams in 1994, replacing the late Ayrton Senna. He led convincingly in only his eighth Grand Prix in Portugal, before being asked to let team mate Damon Hill past. But he scored his first F1 win 12 months later at the same Estoril track.

He was a dependable performer for Williams in their dark days after Senna's death but the team dropped him just as they found their form again. Williams won both the drivers' and constructors' championships in 1996 and 1997, having replaced the Scot with Jacques Villeneuve.
coulthard

It was just his luck to be dropped from the team before they hit their high.

Coulthard moved to McLaren and formed what would become one of the longest-running driver partnerships in Formula One with Mika Hakkinen. But the partnership would be more fruitful for Hakkinen.

In 1998 McLaren produced a gem of a car. But Coulthard set the tone of the season at the first race when he controversially let Hakkinen by to win, honouring an agreement between the two.

McLaren galvanised around Hakkinen. The Scot got more than his fair share of car failures, and by the end of the year, he was playing the dutiful back up man to Hakkinen's championship bid.
To his credit, he always maintained that, on his day, he could beat the Finn. And indeed he could - he triumphed magnificently at Magny-Cours in 2000, outclassing Michael Schumacher, even taunting the German as he passed.

But these glory days were infrequent. More often than not Hakkinen led the way and he claimed two titles.

In 2001 Coulthard took strong wins in Brazil and Austria, and challenged Schumacher for the championship. But McLaren were now falling into decline, and although he took the runner-up spot he was a distant 58 points adrift.

When Kimi Raikkonen replaced Hakkinen and edged Coulthard out of the limelight, the writing was on the wall. As 2004 drew to a close it looked as though the sun had finally set on his career.

Salvation came from an unlikely source: the Red Bull soft drinks company, who bought the defunct Jaguar team to contest the 2005 championship. The car proved reliable and Coulthard became a regular points finisher, to the shock of the paddock experts who had written him off.

Coulthard can be proud of what he's achieved. He has won his home Grand Prix twice, and the prestigious Monaco Grand Prix in 2002. He is one of a very small number of drivers who can claim to have beaten Michael Schumacher in a straight fight.

At Red Bull, with the support of team boss Christian Horner and reunited with friend Newey, Coulthard could even add to his tally of 13 wins if he continues racing in '07.

He's not done with Formula One just yet.

What do YOU think? Is Coulthard past it? Tell us: editorial@autotrader.co.uk.

Racing round-up

Fernando Alonso became the first Spaniard to win his home Grand Prix yesterday. He held off Michael Schumacher to stretch his championship lead over his rival to 15 points.