David Coulthards big break into Formula One came under the tragic circumstances of Ayrton Senna’s death. Before the 1^st May 1994, Coulthard was a Williams test driver and he was competing in F3000 but, after that day, he was a Formula One driver; replacing one of the greatest F1 drivers in the sports history.  

In his debut season he was a regular point scorer and even managed to get on the podium at the Portuguese Grand Prix but, Williams replaced Coulthard with World Champion; Nigel Mansell for the last few races of the season. But, Coulthard still managed finished 8^th in Championship. In his second season he took his first victory at the Portuguese Grand Prix he also, had four consecutive pole positions. 

In 1996 he moved from Williams to McLaren, in terms of competitiveness it was a step backwards. After two uncompetitive seasons, McLaren finally found the edge over their rivals; they won both the Drivers and the Constructors World Championships.

But, it was not Coulthard who was enjoying McLarens newfound dominance, it was his Finnish teammate, Mika Hakkinen who was taking the victory while Coulthard was finishing second, behind his teammate. It seamed as if his role in the team was to help support Hakkinen in his quest for the World Championship.

In 1999 in was the same story as the previous year, Hakkinen won the Drivers World Championship again but McLaren was beat by Ferrari for the constructors Championship. In 2000 McLaren, could not find an answer to the dominant Ferraris but Coulthard was more evenly matched to his teammate, he took three wins and finished third in the Drivers World Championship.

2001, was Coulthard best ever season in Formula One. He won the Brazilian and Austrian Grand Prixs. His car was more reliable than his teammates, so he outshone the Fin. He finished the season as runner up in the Drivers Championship plus, his teammate Mika Hakkinen announce that 2001 was going to be his last season because he was retiring from Formula One. But, this did not leave the path clear for Coulthard to be the team leader.

In 2002 he got a new teammate, Kimi Raikkonen. Coulthard won the Monaco Grand Prix taking McLarens only victory of the season. Plus he took credited in the fact that he and Ralf Schumacher was the only non-Ferrari drivers to win a Grand Prix that season. By the latter part of the season Raikkonen was starting to outshine Coulthard.

In 2003, new rules and regulations were introduced into the sport to prevent the Ferrari dominance that was saw in the previous season. Coulthard struggled with the new single lap-qualifying format but, he still managed to win the season opener in Australia but, from there his season spiralled downwards compared to his teammate who, lost the Drivers World Championship by two points.

In 2004 Coulthard continued to struggle with the qualifying system, he had another poor season and was outshone by Raikkonen. McLaren decided that they were going to replace Coulthard with Williams driver Juan Pablo Montoya. This did not make David the happiest driver on the grid; he started making sly remarks in the media about Montoyas weight problems.

But in December 2004 Coulthard announced, his move to newest Formula One team; Red Bull Racing. Since then the Scot has changed; he is now more relaxed and feels more at home with Red Bull with their young vibrant image.

In the first Grand Prix of the 2005 season, Coulthard had a super race and finished fourth in his debut for Red Bull Racing. Since then he has been frequently in the points. He has also, renewed his contract with Red Bull Racing for 2006, when Ferrari engines will power them.