David Coulthard confirms Mercedes deal

David Coulthard has officially returned to racing. The Scot is going to drive for Mercedes in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters 2010.
“I didn’t actively look to race anything through 2009 but at the season finale DTM race I really got the buzz and the tingle again for the competition,” Coulthard said to BBC.

“That led to a test with Mercedes, which led to me making the decision that I’d like to dovetail my BBC work with racing in the DTM,” said Coulthard.

Coulthard is going to continue commentating Formula One for BBC as there are no clashes between DTM and Formula One.

The Scot has got a long history in Formula One, having completed no less than 247 races. And while DTM does not have the same high level of technology and speed, Coulthard is pleased to join the German championship.

“There’s a reasonable level of technology involved in the cars, it’s a professionally run championship and in Mercedes there’s a company I worked with for seven year in my time at McLaren,” said Coulthard.

Coulthard retired from F1 in 2008 and has not raced anything since then, despite offers from Formula One teams.

“The adrenalin is the thing I miss in everyday life. Do I miss the competition? Only because I know how much fun it is to compete. But there’s not a big void in my life which means I’m missing it.

But if I can do a championship which fits with my other commitments and I get the buzz you get behind the wheel of a racing car, then why would I not take it? I’m almost 40, I won’t have that option open to me when I’m almost 50,” said Coulthard.