David Coulthard has been a mainstay of the Formula One world since he retired from racing at the end of the 2008 season, and has made millions from his career
David Coulthard is one of the most recognisable names in Formula One, and he has made plenty of headlines for his exploits both on and off the track.
Some of these include his unusual pre-race ritual and aspirations to become the next Hugh Hefner – but most recently, Coulthard has called out “bulls***” claims on women in F1. However, fans were left worried about the ex-racer earlier this year after he was involved in a motorbike crash that left him with a broken collarbone.
Notably sporting a sling while on Channel 4 during the Chinese Grand Prix last month, he confirmed his condition to viewers. Co-host Steve Jones brought up the crash as he said: “I just want to point out really quickly, DC has had a bit of a tumble on his bike, he’s broken his collarbone. But you’re okay, yes?”
The Scottish racing legend replied: “Yes, all good.” Coulthard, who’s been offering his sharp commentary on Sky Sports, BBC, and Channel 4 since 2010, has amassed a fortune through his endeavours on and off the grid.
Here, we have broken down some of the juicy details of Coulthard’s life – from a jet-set lifestyle to his jaw-dropping net worth and his problems with the “bulls***” in F1 narratives.
What is David Coulthard’s net worth?
Celebrity Net Worth reports that the 54-year-old is estimated to be worth a cool £61.8million, a sum credited to his stellar F1 career and punditry work. Before joining the big league as a full-time racer, Coulthard honed his skills with Williams as their test driver.
His first shot in F1 came in 1994 with the team, but it was his switch to McLaren where he hit his real stride. Following a win and a third-placed season finish in 1995, Coulthard switched to the McLaren team in 1996 and won 12 Grand Prix titles over an impressive eight years.
His finest Championship performance was in 2001 when Coulthard finished runner-up to Ferrari legend Michael Schumacher. His career then took him to Red Bull from 2005 to 2008, but he didn’t secure another victory before retiring from F1 at the end of the season.
Post-retirement, Coulthard joined the BBC alongside the late Eddie Jordan and has since served as a pundit for Channel 4 and Sky Sports. In 2023, Jordan and Coulthard launched an F1 podcast named Formula for Success, but following Jordan’s heartbreaking death from bladder and prostate cancer last month, the future of the podcast is uncertain.
Who is David Coulthard’s partner?
Coulthard is engaged to Swedish model Sigrid Silversand, who initially began dating the F1 star in 2021. After four years together, he proposed to Silversand during a romantic trip to Mauritius earlier this year.
The 31-year-old model, who is 23 years Coulthard’s junior, started dating the F1 pundit after his divorce from ex-wife Karen Minier. The Belgian TV presenter tied the knot with Coulthard in 2013 after they got together in 2005.
The ex-couple share a 15-year-old son, karting star Dayton Minier Coulthard, who will be hitting the track for Douglas Motorsport in the GB4 Championship this year.
News of Coulthard’s engagement to Silversand was shared by his podcast co-host Jordan, who expressed his joy to Boat International about the couple’s betrothment at the time.
Jordan said: “I’ve got to send a very special congratulations to my old mate David Coulthard, who’s just run off to Mauritius and got engaged to a Swedish model 23 years his junior! She’s taller than him, which I like to remind him about as often as I can.”
Silversand also spoke about the engagement, telling the Daily Mail that her beau did a stellar job of keeping his intentions under wraps during their holiday. She said: “It was a surprise, as David is really good at hiding. He kept it a secret and asked my parents for permission to marry me. He’s a proper gentleman, and there are only a few of them left.”
Playboy days
Coulthard hasn’t just been in the limelight for his love life – his bedroom antics have also been a topic of conversation. In a 2002 interview, while he was still racing on the track, the F1 icon suggested that having sex before getting behind the wheel made him quicker.
The Irish Examiner reported that when asked if he indulged in some bedroom activity before racing, Coulthard said: “Sure, why not? Sex makes you fast.”
While many might credit his innate driving skills for Coulthard’s F1 triumphs, he himself might attribute his 12 Grand Prix victories to a bit of personal pleasure before hitting the grid.
Coulthard’s reputation as an F1 ladies’ man isn’t a shocker, especially since he once confessed his idol was none other than Playboy icon, Hugh Hefner. We reported in 2010 that the former speedster was drawn to the lavish lifestyle that is often seen in the sporting world.
Coulthard said: “I might be setting myself up by nominating Hugh Hefner as my hero but I have a few good reasons. I’m sure Playboy has influenced me. Although I took my racing very seriously, I knew that there was always another side to it, the glamour and the parties.
“I always knew it wasn’t just about the driving, that there could be an off-track lifestyle associated with what happened on it. In Twynholm, I was three miles from school and 30 miles from a town with even the most basic entertainment, like a cinema or a McDonalds.”
He continued: “The Playboy world could hardly have been further away, even when I got into motorsport through karting and watching F1 on the BBC. Things started to change when I found out about this magazine called Playboy, which was read by the truckies who worked for my father’s road haulage business.
“These blokes spend heaps of time on the road, solo, so mags like Playboy, with tales from far-flung places and, yep, snaps of bare women, were a hit, as you’d guess. I didn’t get hooked on Playboy just for a quick buzz. I would actually pore over every page.
“People sometimes forget that it had some of the best writers and that it was much more than a porn mag. Through Playboy, I started to learn about a world I could only dream of. Hefner very much had an idea of ‘lifestyle’ that shaped it.”
‘Bulls***’ F1 claim
Coulthard didn’t hold back recently when discussing the subject of women in motorsport, slating the outdated views that they don’t have “what it takes” for high-speed racing. The Scottish sporting icon has especially called out American racer Danica Patrick, who is renowned for her polarising stances within the racing world.
Patrick, a pundit and trailblazing female racer who has 191 NASCAR starts in her career, stirred up the debate on female drivers earlier this year. She suggested that the “feminine mind” might not possess the aggressive edge needed to excel in racing’s cutthroat world.
Patrick said: “It takes 100 guys to come through to find a good one, and then it takes 100 girls. That takes a long time to find a good one, right? It’s just, the odds are not in favour of there always being one or being many of them.
“At the end of the day, I think that the nature of the sport is masculine. It’s aggressive. You have to handle the car – not only just the car because that’s skill, but the mindset that it takes to be really good is something that’s not normal in a feminine mind, a female mind.”
In the world of F1, only two women have ever qualified for a race, with Lella Lombardi being the last to debut back in 1976. But Coulthard is calling out these claims made by Patrick, and backs women to one day rule the grid.
Coulthard told the Daily Mail earlier this year: “Of course it will happen. Without question. It’s utter bulls*** that women don’t have the strength to do it. Anyone who doesn’t train doesn’t have what it takes to perform in motor racing – whether you’re a man or a woman. An untrained person doesn’t have the strength to do anything.
“I’m 53 and I wouldn’t be able to drive an F1 car quickly for more than 10 laps in my physical condition, now that I’m on the other side of my peak of fitness. I had to train like an athlete twice a day, with a trainer, for years, to be able to do my job. You can either do a fast lap time or you can’t… Sport is about delivery.
“It’s not my opinion that there will be a woman in F1 – it’s just a fact. But I can’t tell you right now who that person is. I assure you that every single F1 team would sign someone up right now, if they thought they could get that person.”