Coulthard is no stranger to motorsport. As a 13-time Grand Prix winner in F1, he also has a wealth of experience in broadcasting and helped co-found Whisper which is delivering the championship’s English language live race coverage and programming over the upcoming season.
“Formula E is the fastest form of electric racing that we have on a closed circuit,” he stated during a media day for TNT Sports, the new home of live Formula E coverage in the UK and Ireland.”
Having started karting aged 11, and with 246 F1 starts to his name, Coulthard has a first-class understanding of the mentality of a racer and thinks that Formula E’s ‘one day format’ is the perfect solution.
“I love the fact that as someone with very little patience, and a need for being entertained, Formula E is all condensed into one very exciting day,” DC continued. “I have long since felt that turning up on a Thursday at a Grand Prix track to sit in the engineering room, talk about predictions and things that may or may not happen in the future, I just found it all a bit confusing and underwhelming. I'm very much about entertainment.
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“The fantastic thing about the championship, especially for the drivers, is we're all about entertainment. We want the fans to feel engaged. But as a race driver, to have the opportunity to turn up with consequence and know that the practice session leads directly to your qualifying session, which leads directly to race day, it gets an adrenaline-fuelled period of time where we’re focused on absolute commitment!
“Anyone that's come up through the grassroots of motorsport, which is basically everyone who is in Formula E, has come up through karting. You're just supercharged with entertainment through free practice, your heat and your final. So when you transition into car racing, and you have qualifying one day, and then the race on the other day, it actually takes a while to adjust to slowing down the adrenaline because it's spread over a much larger period of time.
“So in that respect, as someone that loves to feel the focus of competition, Formula E absolutely delivers.”
Scotsman Coulthard has spent time in Formula E before, helping with commentary and presenting during the 2018 Berlin E-Prix. When asked about his contenders for the World Championship in Season 10, he kept his cards close to his chest but was very impressed with our reigning champ, Andretti’s Jake Dennis.
“You always have to look to whoever the champion is as the benchmark for the season ahead. Jake Dennis earned this World Championship across an exciting season. But maybe the fair weather fans of F1 and motorsport aren’t aware that Jake has had an integral part in the success of Red Bull Racing in Formula 1 and what they do.
"He has been part of the simulation programme, he was a Friday driver in Abu Dhabi, and he was part of the tyre test afterwards. I think that this is what has to be recognised. World champions are incredibly capable of jumping into different cars and the fact that one championship happens to be more established and around for longer, versus another, does not diminish from the greatness of the competition.”
Formula E will kickstart Season 10 on 13 January 2024, returning back to Mexico City. The special anniversary year will be the second season of GEN3 – the all-electric championship’s third generation of race car.
TICKETS: Secure your seats for the 2024 Mexico City E-Prix
“The teams understand very well what they're dealing with,” Coulthard added about what fans can expect in the next chapter. “They know the opportunities to develop, especially in the software side of things.
“It is a mature racing product that's got great respect within the motorsport community. There are a lot of engineers there that I've worked with in the past, some of the drivers, and of course, much of the senior team management.
“I'm looking forward to celebrating the future of mobility within the Formula E community.”