JEDDAH, 9 March 2008 — Hundreds of Formula One fans turned up to see Red Bull Racing Formula One driver David Coulthard in action on Tahlia Street on Friday night. But they were all disappointed as Coulthard had to shorten his show-run due to the trespassing of the street by some spectators.

“I had to shorten the show-run as I could not run the risk with so many spectators on the street,” Coulthard told Arab News.

Much before the event, the street, from its starting point at Basateen Center — with its front parking lot turned into a workshop for the installation of the service center for the F1 car — to traffic signal opposite to SAMBA building on the same street was equipped with safety barriers on its either sides. The barriers were meant for spectators to safely watch the sensational show.

Families and children lined up on both sides of the street to see the historic event, but they were all disappointed. It was around 9:30 p.m. that Coulthard set off with his car roaring along the street but had to stop within seconds as he saw some of the spectators trespassing the street. He then chose to return to the starting point.

“I missed what could have been a fantastic event,” said Khaled Albar, an undergraduate student of King Abdul Aziz University. “It was a rare chance for me to see the F1 driver performing right here and am totally disappointed,” he added.

Equally disappointed was Coulthard who had a long cherished desire to perform here. “I could not help it as there were people on the street,” he said.

In an interview to Arab News earlier in the day, Coulthard said: “I am very happy to be in this wonderful country and I have fulfilled my long cherished desire to visit this place and perform here.

This also gives me a chance to promote Forumula 1 racing and a chance for the people to see the F-1 car.” Asked about his track record in F-1 racing, Coulthard said: “I am happy to be entering my 15th year in F-1. So far no complaints.”

1971-born Coulthard, a British national living in Monaco and England, is considered the best British F1 driver with a score of 527 points, which is considered the highest score point in the history of British Forumula 1 race drivers. Red Bull has two teams officially competing in Red Bull Formula One Race — Red Bull Racing and Scuderia Toro Rosso. In addition to Coulthard, Red Bull Racing team includes Australian Mark Webber and Swiss Sebastien Buemi.

Coulthard has won 13 Grand Prix titles so far during his F-1 career, which began with the Spanish Grand Prix in 1994.

Coulthard began karting at an early age, graduating to Formula Ford in 1989. His performance was so impressive that he won the first ever McLaren/Autosport Young Driver of the Year award. In 1990, he suffered a broken leg at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, yet still came back the following year to win Formula 3 races at Zandvoort, the Netherlands and Macau, China. In 1992 he raced in the Formula 2000 series, finishing ninth, and in 1993 he improved to third overall.

In 1993, Coulthard became test driver for the world champion Formula One team Williams-Renault and played an important role in advancing the car’s technology. For 1994, he stayed with Williams as tester, but following Ayrton Senna’s tragic death at Imola, was promoted to the race team alongside Damon Hill for the Spanish Grand Prix. In 1996, Coulthard contracted with McLaren to drive alongside future champion Mika Hakkinen.

Signed by Red Bull Racing for 2005, the team was attracted by Coulthard’s experience. He was teamed with the inexperienced Christian Klien and Vitantonio Liuzzi. For 2006 he continued at Red Bull partnering with Christian Klien.

Among active F-1 drivers, Coulthard has the third most wins (13), behind his former teammate Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso.