Coulthard reveals why he turned down offer to join Ferrari

Former F1 driver David Coulthard was offered an opportunity to join Ferrari in 1996, but the Scot had a good reason at the time to shy away from the House of Maranello.

Couthard served his apprenticeship in F1 with Williams, joining the Grove-based outfit in Spain in 1994, a month after the tragic death at Imola of Ayrton Senna.

The Scot conquered his maiden Grand Prix win a year later in Portugal and looked set on remaining with the British squad for 1996. Until both Ferrari and McLaren submitted an offer to the young charger.

The Scuderia’s allure was almost irresistible while McLaren offered the prospect of a solid retainer.

Although money was the decision-making factor in Coulthard's choice to move to Woking, there was another reason why the 13-time Grand Prix winner snubbed the Scuderia's offer.

And that reason was Michael Schumacher.

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"I met with Jean Todt in Paris in his apartment, to talk about the potential to drive for Ferrari,” Coulthard recalled on his Formula for Success podcast.

“And my recollection of the contract offered was basically a number two contract, which, despite whatever anyone can now conclude about my career, at that time, I still felt that I wasn’t going to sign anything other than equal opportunity.

“And so essentially, if I was running fourth and Michael was fifth, then I had to move over and all the way right up to if I was leading. And I just couldn’t agree to signing to that.”

The Scot ultimately found at McLaren the “equal opportunity” he was looking for, and credited team boss Ron Dennis for providing him with that fair chance, one that he shared with teammate Mika Hakkinen.

“And all credit to Ron and McLaren, the contract they offered me was always equal opportunity,” added the Channel 4 commentator.

"And although there was a clause that said you had to accept the instructions of the team principal, in whatever circumstance it might be, largely speaking, I was given a fair and equal opportunity to crack on and try and see how good I could develop my skills.

“So that was the only team really I spoke to during my nine years at McLaren.”

Between 1997 and 2004, Coulthard won twelve races with McLaren, but it was his Häkkinen who conquered the world title in consecutive years in '98 and '99.

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