David Coulthard spent nine of his 15 years as a Formula 1 driver at McLaren yet even the offer of $1million (£800k) from Ron Dennis was once not enough for him to take.
The 53-year-old has revealed that he plus then-teammate Mika Hakkinen flat out ‘refused to entertain’ the offer from Dennis during his stint as the team principal at McLaren. Coulthard raced alongside the Flying Finn for the Woking outfit from the 1996 through the 2001 terms.
Coulthard is a rare breed in Formula 1 history having only ever raced for three of the biggest teams that the pinnacle of motorsport has ever seen. The Scot debuted with Williams in the 1994 season before switching to McLaren in 1996 and Red Bull in 2005 until retiring in 2008.
David Coulthard ‘refused’ Ron Dennis’ $1m offer to remove the Scottish flag from his helmet at McLaren
Coulthard enjoyed the best years of his F1 career with McLaren, too, having scored 12 of his 13 Grand Prix wins with the team. Williams saw the Twynholm, Kirkcudbrightshire native be a race winner for the first time at the 1995 Portuguese Grand Prix, for his only win for them.
But while McLaren also saw Coulthard come second in the Formula 1 drivers’ championship in 2001 plus third in 1997, 1998 and 2000, he flat out ‘refused’ Dennis’ offer of $1m (£800k) to remove the Scottish saltire from his helmet – which was a trademark aspect of his design.
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Coulthard told the Daily Mail about the $1m (£800k) offer: “Back in the 1990s, Ron Dennis wanted to create a sort of uniform look for the team. Mika Hakkinen was my teammate and, individually, he had this conversation with us. Both of us refused to entertain the idea.
“Maybe he hadn’t appreciated it fully. He was an incredible team principal and team owner but he had never been a driver. He could probably only relate to it if someone had suggested an amount of money to change the logo.”
David Coulthard and Mika Hakkinen won McLaren’s last constructors’ title prior to 2024
Dennis was instrumental in making McLaren the dominant force that the Woking outfit were during the 1980s and 1990s with his approach to managing the team. He took over McLaren in 1980 and would see them win seven of their nine constructors’ championship titles so far.
Yet, as Coulthard notes, there were occasionally differences between Dennis’ style and what McLaren’s drivers desired. But even if Dennis did not get his way regarding the helmets their drivers wore, Coulthard and Hakkinen saw McLaren win the constructors’ title once in 1998.
It would take until the 2024 season with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri behind the wheel of McLaren’s car plus CEO Zak Brown and team principal Andrea Stella calling the shots for the Woking squad to the win the constructors’ championship again after their crown from 1998.
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