Book Review: David’s Diary by David Coulthard with Gerald Donaldson
:
Negatives
One last British driver book from the vault – David Coulthard’s 1998 epic “David’s Diary“. Although I’m a McLaren admirer, I was never a huge fan of David Coulthard. Having said that, I picked up this book in the bargain section of a motorbook store several years ago. 1998 was of course, Mika Häkkinen’s first […]
One last British driver book from the vault – David Coulthard’s 1998 epic “David’s Diary“. Although I’m a McLaren admirer, I was never a huge fan of David Coulthard. Having said that, I picked up this book in the bargain section of a motorbook store several years ago. 1998 was of course, Mika Häkkinen’s first championship year and David was maybe seen by many as the #2 driver.
There were a few dramas during the ’98 season which you hope to get some insight into with this book – team orders to give the win to Mika in Melbourne and a few major scraps with Michael Schumacher in Argentina and Spa.
Coulthard covers each race of the season chapter by chapter including his comments on the lead up to the race weekend, media gossip, practice session, qualifying and the race itself. He also gives a few insights into his private life, his personal views on relationships with the F1 media and PR duties with McLaren and the post-Spa reconciliation meeting with Schumi in Monza.
Unlike many other driver diary books, Coulthard actually bothers to spend a chapter introducing and acknowledging all the McLaren crew on his side of the garage. It’s a nice touch.
Most of the book’s photography is from Sutton Images with double page spread race photos from Hoch Zwei opening each chapter. Aside from the double page photos, the rest are a mixture of race and Coulthard off-track with his girlfriend and team personnel.
I haven’t read David’s 2008 autobiography “It is what it is” yet, so it would be interesting to see if his views on ’98 or McLaren have changed since this “David’s Diary” book.
Overall, a reasonably well balanced book but very McLaren spin friendly so perhaps lacking a little of the sting or controversy of a really good warts and all driver book.
That’s about enough British driver book reviews for a while, I haven’t decided which book to review next, however it might be good to pick a more obscure book for the next one. Stay tuned….
Wow Factor or Money Shot: Inside the David Coulthard museum (page 257) and the aerial shot of the McLaren MP4/13 at Barcelona.
Suitable for: Coulthard and McLaren fans.
