Coulthard makes a trip to McLaren

Source: Agencies  |   2008-7-3  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

FORMULA One driver David Coulthard returned to McLaren as a paying guest yesterday and took his Red Bull bosses with him for a tour of their rival's factory ahead of the British Grand Prix.

The 37-year-old Scot, who raced for the team between 1996 and 2004, made the top bid in a charity auction for lunch for four and a guided tour of the Woking facility with McLaren executive Martin Whitmarsh.

McLaren said Coulthard turned up with Red Bull team principal Christian Horner, engineering head Adrian Newey and former grand prix racer and television commentator Martin Brundle.

Newey was previously McLaren's technical director while Brundle, who is also Coulthard's manager, drove for the team in 1994.

"David has always been a popular driver at McLaren and we've known him for a long time," Whitmarsh told the McLaren Website.

"In fact he's driven more grands prix for McLaren than any other driver in Formula One history. It's fantastic that he's put his hand in his own pocket to support this charity auction and its great to see him back at Woking."

Coulthard, a veteran of 236 races whose future beyond this season remains uncertain, will be racing for his Renault-powered team at Silverstone this weekend.

Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton said he is in the best form of his career heading into the British Grand Prix, despite disappointing finishes in his last two races.

The 23-year-old McLaren driver led the overall standings after winning at Monaco last month, but has since fallen to fourth place after a crash and penalties kept him from getting a single point in Canada and France.

"I haven't had any lack of concentration," Hamilton said. "If anything, I've been more in form in the last two races than I ever have before."