BRITISH GP - JULY 6TH 2008 Finally the news that we knew would come one day, but always hoped would be next year. David is to retire from driving in F1 at the end of the season, but does hope to continue competing in other forms of racing and also to help with the development of Red Bull Racing into a GP winning race team. The club had a party on the Thursday at the Absolute Authentic showrooms at Silverstone which DC attended after his interview with Chris Evans on Radio 2. By the time of his arrival we had all heard that he had announced his retirement and so the mood was more sombre than usual. On his arrival though, David lightened everybody’s mood as he was obviously on fine form. With news of his impending wedding to Karen and her pregnancy, the news was definitely positive rather than sad. Soon the packed hall was roaring with laughter as DC kept the fans entertained with his humour and light spirit which was great to hear. Once again he stayed for hours signing autographs and having chats with each supporter present. He shot away at the end on his scooter to loud applause and with the best wishes of all who were there ringing in his ears. It is a real shame that the race weekend did not go so well in the end for him. Qualifying just outside the top ten gave DC the advantage of choosing his strategy for the race and with rain and a very wet track on Sunday he was well placed for a strong finish. Fate took a hand though and after a good first lap he and Vettel arrived at the same piece of track at the same time. The ensuing spins left both cars stranded in the gravel and the end to both their races. I am convinced that if DC had still been running at the end he could well have been on the podium, it’s unfortunate that we’ll never have that confirmed. With the news that from 2010 the Grand Prix will be moving to Donnington, it seemed like an era was coming to an end. We will have to wait and see how the Donnington plans develop but they need to get a move on to be ready within 2 years. I wish them luck with that as there is a fair amount of history at their circuit also and at least we should have a guaranteed event in Britain for a few more years yet. But what of the race? Well frankly Lewis has many critics but his drive at Silverstone had it all. Starting from fourth he nipped past Mark and Kimi into Copse and then hounded his team mate for a few laps before scything through at Stowe and pulling away at the front. As the track dried though the Ferrari of Raikkonen closed the gap to almost nothing before they both dived for the pits at the same time. The mechanic race was evenly matched and Lewis emerged ahead as they joined the circuit as the rains started again. This was to alter the race incredibly as the Ferrari team had followed Alonso’s plan of staying on the worn intermediate tyres. The folly of their plan was realised instantly as their cars started losing dramatic amounts of time to those on fresh rubber. In fact the quickest cars were soon to be those on the full wet tyres most notable of which was Rubens who was running over 6 seconds per lap faster than the struggling machines. Lewis was disappearing at the front seemingly able to maintain the tyre temperatures better than nearly all his rivals. For a while we wondered if Nick Heidfeld would be able to challenge Lewis, as he was travelling extremely well in the BMW. As the race wore on his challenge became to maintain second from the closing Honda of Rubens. Rubens managed to get past but had a final pit stop to negotiate which put him back behind the German and thus they stayed for the remainder of the race. Behind a battle royal had ensued between, Kimi, Heikki, Fernando and Robert with the BMW man ending his race in the gravel like so many others. The battle ended in the above order with Jarno grabbing seventh on the final lap from Kazuki who had driven another good race in the Williams. Just behind him was his team mate Nico and a recovering Mark Webber who had spun on the first lap and ended up facing the wrong way at the start of the Hanger Straight. Bourdais was next ahead of Glock and Felipe Massa bringing up the rear. The championship leader at the start of the race had a mare of a day, spinning more than the spectators tumble dryer’s on Sunday evening. A race he will no doubt wish to forget. Everyone else was in the kitty litter and no surprise there no a day when very few shone in dreadful conditions. But for the three on the podium a day when their reputations should most definitely have taken an upturn. David Retires from F1 Driving at end of 2008 David’s official statement is as follows: I would like to announce today my decision to retire from racing in Formula One at the end of this season. I will remain actively involved in the sport as a consultant to Red Bull Racing focusing on testing and development of the cars. I have an open mind as to whether or not I will compete again in the future, in some other form of motorsport, so I am definitely not hanging up my helmet! My decision to retire was taken earlier in the year and is based on a desire to stop while I am still competitive and enjoying the immense challenge that Grand Prix driving represents. I also have the desire to look for new challenges within the sport. The decision to make this announcement at the British GP should be an obvious one for all to understand, as I have achieved two of my thirteen F1 victories at Silverstone and I am a member of the British Racing Drivers’ Club, which hosts this event. I am proud of my work at Red Bull Racing and will continue to race with the same focus until the last lap in Brazil. Thereafter I will continue to help the team develop and move towards their ultimate goal of winning races. There are many people who have played a part in my career and I would like to list a few of them below; My parents whose energy and encouragement through my entire career has been amazing Dave Boyce who guided me through Karting David Leslie Senior and Junior for teaching me how to set up and race a car Sir Jackie and Paul Stewart for putting me through their ‘staircase of talent’ Sir Frank Williams and Williams Renault for having the faith to promote me from test driver to race driver, which lead to my first GP victory Ron
Dennis and the McLaren team where I spent nine seasons and achieved
the majority of my success. Dietrich Mateschitz and his Red Bull Racing team for providing me with the chance to contribute to the development of a new team, while continuing to compete and add to my tally of podiums Christian Horner for his open and professional management style in association with Helmut Marko Bernie Ecclestone for providing such a strong platform for us all to develop our skills and be able to call ourselves professionals. In years to come, my future family will still be thanking him for the financial success of F1 My management team of Martin Brundle and David Cawthorne in association with Annette Hutchinson and Iain Cunningham for providing their valued opinions. There have been three teams but only one designer, so Adrian Newey deserves special thanks for all the champagne that I have sprayed And last but not least, all the media, officials, marshals, medical support, mechanics, engineers, sponsors, lawyers, accountants and back room staff that I have worked with during this period. DC DC’s
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