David Coulthard explains why he was told he was ‘not nice’ to Sebastian Vettel
David Coulthard explained why he gained the reputation of always being on Sebastian Vettel’s back.
The Scotsman has even been questioned by Vettel’s press secretary Britta Roeske to find out why he is criticizing the former four-time world champion.
This season, it only took one race of Vettel’s time with Aston Martin at Coulthard to say that he “didn’t see how he was going to rediscover this mojoâ€.
This came after the German’s debut for the Silverstone-based team, which he joined for 2021 after being released by Ferrari, went badly at the Bahrain Grand Prix, incurring penalties both in qualifying and in the race, in which he finished 15th.
Since then, Vettel has crossed the finish line twice, even though he lost one of those second places in Hungary due to a fuel sample issue.
The 32-year-old rider sits 12th in the Drivers’ World Championship standings in a season in which his support for environmental and sustainable causes drew a similar number of titles to his driving exploits.
In a video interview with Austrian media outlet Kronen Zeitung, Coulthard hinted that he would prefer Vettel to focus on his race – and defended being “not nice” to the man who replaced him at Red Bull in 2009 and won the first of his four titles the year after.
“Seb’s record is exceptional. In the first part of his career, he won world championships on merit, at speed, â€began the 50-year-old.
“Seb didn’t look the same during Ferrari, during his time at Aston.
“He never told me about it. But Britta, her press officer, came over several times because I knew her from Red Bull, came to me and said “you’re not nice to Sebastian” and I was like “well, Britta , what do you see that I don’t see? ‘
“I’m just saying what I see and he was behind his teammate at Ferrari and he’s there or pretty much with his teammate at Aston.
“When he was winning I was like ‘wow this is amazing this guy is a winning machine’. When he loses I say ‘well that’s disappointing’.
“I’m a little confused. I understand, because I have been a grand prix rider, that people don’t care when you say positive things and people [do] mind when you say something less positive.
“I don’t really know what to say about Sebastian. He races in Formula 1. Off track, he tells us all to collect litter and ride a bike. I don’t need Sebastian telling me to collect litter and ride my bike – I do both!