GQ&A: David Coulthard

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Hoje trago uma entrevista da GQ com nosso DC! A matéria é de março, mas isso não nos impede de curtir...

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GQ&A: David Coulthard -  By Tom Ward 07 March 14

"On the face of it, the most exciting years of my life are behind me," David Coulthard begins. Coulthard, 42, won 13 Grand Prix over a 15 season Formula One career, driving for both McLaren and Red Bull. In 2010, he returned to the track the 2010 Deustche Tourenwagen Masters, announcing his final retirement from racing in 2012. He's dated a string of beautiful women and travelled the world, from Singapore to Bahrain to Monaco, racking up over 200 Grand Prix starts, making him only the eighth member of F1's "200 club" alongside his old sparring partner Michael Schumacher.

It's hard to settle down after travelling in excess of 230mph every day for 14 years, but Coulthard is a man looking to the future. "They're only going to be the best moments of my life if I allow them to be," he says.  Since his final retirement from racing he's gone on to cover F1 for the BBC and the Telegraph, become a consultant for Red Bull Racing and released a number of signature watches.

Still, whilst Coulthard isn't overly concerned with reliving his past glories, oversized watch company TW Steel were not about to let the 20th anniversary of his Formula One debut pass without occasion. To that end, they've released the new CEO Tech David Coulthard Special Edition. It's Coulthard's third model since joining with the company in 2010 and, like its predecessors, the CEO is a stylish, masculine and functional model, complete with Miyota 6S20 Big Caliber chronograph movement, a sapphire crystal face and a carbon fiber dial design. To celebrate the release, GQ sat down with him to talk watch design, the end of Sebastian Vettel's winning streak and the underwhelming prospect of Formula E.

GQ: What's your own taste in watches and how long have you been a watch enthusiast for?

David Coulthard: I've been a watch enthusiast since I was a kid. I remember one of the first watches that I had was a Formula One model because I was aspiring to be involved in the sport. Tag Heuer used to do a little watch with a metal body and a rubber bezel, so as a teenager I saved up to buy that because I grew up watching racing.

I later became involved with Tag Heuer for a while through McLaren, but TW Steel was the first brand that was directed at the driver. It's been great to see their rise over the last several years. They've used the world of motor sports to show the brand, show the watch and create a strapline that's now very well known in the industry. My new edition is the third watch I've had from them. The rubber strap is very functional as with my job now with the BBC I'll be in a hot country sweating away and leather straps tend to not last as well. Personally, I like to travel with just the one watch. I like things that I can wear to the gym and to a black tie function, rather than having to travel with a whole suitcase full of different watches. So my new watch has everything: functionality and style.

What do you make of the Brits' chances this season - particularly Max Chilton?

Of the British drivers you've got to say that Lewis [Hamilton] and Jenson [Button] are in a much better position. They're world championship winning drivers on world championship winning teams. Max is in his second year of Formula One. He's got Ferrari power, which is quite a sexy name to have strapped to your car, but the team's still young. The future is in his hands. He's got to show he can respond at high levels and get the big teams talking about him once he gets in the car, so there's a lot of pressure on him. But if you can't handle the pressure, you're in the wrong sport.

Can anyone stop Vettel?

I think he's had an amazing run over the past four years with his back to back championships, but in the pre-season testing in Bahrain right now we're seeing a much bigger recoverable energy aspect to the car due to the new technology. The total output of a car is probably 760 horsepower. 160 of that comes from the battery packs and that energy is charged into the battery through heat from the turbo and from kinetic energy covered during the breaking phase. If you don't have that system working in harmony you're just going to be seconds off on the day. At the moment Mercedes seem to have the best handle on that. Ferrari are next up but Renault are struggling and Red Bull have the Renault power. The combustion part of the engine works well, but there's still something not quite right with the battery packs. It'll be difficult for Sebastian to do a fifth title this year but Formula One changes very quickly and between now and the first race there'll be even more changes.

What do you think everyone gets wrong about Lewis Hamilton?

Well, I'll tell you what I like about Lewis: what you see is what you get. He's been offered a world of opportunity and he's embraced it and that's inspirational. He wears his heart on his sleeve; he's so open and sincere with his emotion. Lewis can be on pole position but not happy and that's just part of what makes him Lewis. On the other side of things he can finish fifth and you think he's going to be pissed off, but he's smiling and going "You know what? I couldn't have got any more out of the car today." What you see really is what you get, and it's easy for people to misunderstand the sincerity and the grounded person that is within the new façade of  "Why don't we jump on the plane and go to LA?" That's just his world, which is difficult for other people to relate to.

What do you think about Formula E - does the prospect excite you?

Well, I understand the concept and there are some great people behind it… but do we need a very quiet, not very fast motor race when we have Monaco and Singapore, which are fast with cutting edge technology and all the rest of it? It's a bit like me taking away your iPhone and giving you the brand new Nokia from seven years ago. It's brand new, you should be happy, but actually you wouldn't really thank me for it. Electric energy is clearly a big part of our future and somebody's going to make the first step, but if you want excitement and you want the fastest form of closed circuit racing you go and watch Formula One. The only thing Formula E is delivering which is different is a marketing opportunity. Has the world gone crazy for electric vehicles? Are the people literally lining up for the unveiling of the next electric car? No, I don't think so.

 Do you personally think the return of Ron Dennis will inspire McLaren?

Yes, definitely. Ron makes things happen and I say that with the greatest respect to Martin Whitmarsh, but the difference is that Martin was an employee and Ron is a shareholder. He just commands a different level of respect and it carries with it a different emotion.

You wrote in the Telegraph about  Michael Schumacher's self-belief and his former status as a pantomime villain. What for you is the moment that sums up his talent?

I think there isn't one moment, but he went to Ferrari - a team that hadn't won the world championship since '78 - and Michael either recognised himself or was part of the process of saying, "Look, Ferrari is great name to have above the door but it's the people within the company that create the success. The name alone will not sell products or create good racing cars." So it was about recognising how important the people you're associated with are and how important work ethic is. That was the thing that really got my faith in him.

Who is the best-dressed man in F1?

Jenson's a pretty smart guy. I went to a party the other night and he turned up in a bow tie and no shirt - but you know, he's got a good chest! He looked sharp and pulled it off.

What should every man have in his wardrobe?

Other than my new watch, good shoes are very important.

Is there an obscure sportsman outside of F1 who you admire more than any other?

I've still got a wooden block signed by Pele at home. His Viagra advert had a great strap-line, "I don't have erectile dysfunction, but if I did, I would use Viagra." I like how he's embraced the whole after-sporting career. I think that being a sports person is a gift, first and foremost - to be paid or subsidised to be sent on your career is a gift. Having been a sportsman I know how lucky we are and how selfish it is sometimes, how focused and dedicated you have to be and how that can be at the sacrifice of other things, but you've got to work hard to protect your name.

Who is the driver we need to watch out for next season?

Kevin Magnussen. He's arrived with good credentials. He comes from a racing family and is putting a lot of pressure on Jenson. Because Magnussen's not known, if he beats Jenson, that's not going to be good for Jenson's long-term career. If he doesn't beat Jenson then people will ask why not. There's more pressure for either of them then say on Alonso and Räikkönen. I think Alonso might win the season, but that's perhaps being unfair on Räikkönen.

What trend in F1 - either in the commentary or with the drivers themselves - needs to die out?

We'd all love people to be more open and less scripted but because of corporate sponsorship there's so much demand on the driver's time and as a result they're not actually preparing how they'd want to. It's a tricky one because the time you want to be left alone is when you're racing, but the busiest time for sponsors and the media and everything is during the race weekend. I do enjoy the paddocks in the evenings when large groups of people are hanging around. Take away the glitz and glam and whether it's engineers, mechanics or drivers, we're all fans of the sport.

  

How has the dynamic changed at Red Bull now Marc Webber has retired?

I think that Mark was good for Red Bull and Red Bull were good for Mark, but I think Daniel Riccardo is a good guy and he's also influential. Daniel works well alongside the current four time World Champion [Vettel]. Mark recognised that he couldn't keep going on forever and it was a good time to move on.

Which questions are you bored of answering?

What was the best race or the highlight or your career? Because those questions forget about tomorrow. I actually don't remember too much about individual racers or events because I was always moving on. Next. Done that, what now? Driving a Grand Prix car around Monaco and winning races are something I won't experience again. They were landmark, exciting moments, but they're only going to be the best moments of my life if I allow them to be, so I'm always looking forward to tomorrow.

What's the worst thing a commentator or pundit has ever said about you?

Well the wonderful thing about the technology we have today is that you find out very quickly if someone doesn't like something that you're doing. When we're agreeing on something, there's a happy hormone that goes through our bodies because you're sharing a moment with someone who likes the same things you do. If we were disagreeing about something, that's a different feeling. If someone tells you "you're a c***," then you go "Well, that's not how I see it," but you have to respect that we're all the same.

How would you like to be remembered?

I'd like to be known the same way as anyone probably would, as having brought something to the table. I want people to think that when given a responsibility, I delivered what was expected of me. I want people to think that I was never a wallflower, but always someone who could add to the conversation. 

(fonte: http://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/)

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