David Coulthard finished his F1 career with a stint at Red Bull (Image: Getty)
David Coulthard retired from F1 with 13 Grand Prix wins and a runner-up spot in the 2001 Drivers’ Championship.
But in 2006, while still an active driver, the Scotsman was outpaced by MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi during a three-day test in Valencia. In fairness to Coulthard, he was not the only driver shown up by the seven-time world champion, who is widely considered to be the greatest motorcycle racer of all time.
Fellow seasoned professionals such as Mark Webber and Jarno Trulli were also left trailing. And an added mitigation for Coulthard is the fact they were not racing in the same machinery.
By that point in F1 history, Coulthard and Webber’s Racing was still in its infancy. And , who drafted Rossi in for the Valencia test, were among the big hitters on the grid.
But the fact the Italian did not come dead last is astounding in itself. Rossi’s reputation is built almost entirely on being untouchable on two wheels, but he came ninth out of 15 professional F1 drivers on four, and posted a time only one second slower than Michael Schumacher in the other .
Recalling the test, ex- engineer Luigi Mazzola said: “I do not remember exactly how many tests we did with Valentino Rossi at , at least seven of them.
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Valentino Rossi impressed during a number of F1 tests with Ferrari (Image: Getty)
“On the first test, Valentino had done a lot of laps, and he had been driving some incredibly good times. I remember Michael Schumacher, who studied telemetry, looked very surprised, almost unable to believe what he saw.”
Years later, Rossi reflected on mixing it with Schumacher in an F1 setting, and admitted that one of his past comments nearly landed him in a sticky situation. “I have a great memory of Schumi,” he said.
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“It was known that years earlier, I had bet on Jacques Villeneuve [to win the title], so against him. So when we found ourselves in the pits, I was a bit paranoid. I thought, now he’s looking at me and thinking, here’s the idiot. But he was super kind, gave me a lot of advice. A real cool guy.”
At the time, it was believed that Rossi was seriously flirting with the idea of moving into F1 and leaving bikes behind. But on the grounds of unfinished business he stuck with what he knew and went on to win two more world titles.
Since retiring from MotoGP, Rossi has competed in car racing events such as the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance & Sprint, the 24 hours of Le Mans and the World Endurance Championship.