For 24 minutes Cape Town felt like Formula 1's Spa

CAPE TOWN – David Coulthard proclaimed Cape Town as the perfect city for Formula One street racing and then proceeded to break 300km/h down the City’s Darling Street straight stretch.

Former British Formula One driver David Coulthard (left) talks to Dutch DJ Armin van Buuren in Hanoi, Vietnam. Photo: EPA/Luong Thai Linh

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Coulthard provided thousands of Capetonians with a glimpse of F1’s thrill, speed, power and sound.


He did it in three segments of eight minutes each, which included famed doughnuts. It was 24 minutes more than Capetonians had ever seen live, but it was a good 240 minutes less than the crowd wanted on this spectacular day in the Mother City.

The crowd, packed into the grand stand and lined along the streets, wanted more. Coulthard’s first effort was spectacular in the speed he clocked. The latter two sprints only had everyone asking for more.

Why, oh why does Cape Town not have a F1 street race on the annual calendar?

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juliankiewietz@juliankiewietz



Only in #CapeTown will you witness a taxi backing itself against F1 power. Local is mos lekka @redbull @THESTORMERS @CityofCT #CapetownCircuit #F1 @IOLsport @IOL @MaxVerstappen_


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Melissa and Ulrich Pearce, local-based F1 fans who travel the global circuit, were impressed with what Red Bull and DHL had delivered yesterday.

“If I had never watched F1, I’d be hooked,” said the Pearces. “This was just a glimpse of the race-day experience, but it was enough to invite and excite. Coulthard still has it. For him to get to those speeds in the Darling Street stretch said everything about his ability.”

Coulthard won 13 grand prixs, finished in the top three 62 times, claimed 12 pole positions and 18 fastest laps in an F1 career that started in 1994 and ended in 2008.

He rates Canada, Australia and Singapore as the places that most come alive with the lifestyle of F1 and told an expectant crowd that Cape Town had a similar appeal and potential to be a part of the global F1 street circuit.

Coulthard raced Darling Street in the 2011 Red Bull world championship F1 winning car. He was fast and furious under a helmet, but with the helmet off he was humility personified.

And the locals loved him because of this attitude.


David Coulthard
✔@therealdcf1



Its an honour to stand on the balcony at city hall Cape Town with the mayor and the statue of Nelson Mandela ahead of driving the ⁦@redbull⁩ #F1 #capetown


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Coulthard, who completed his F1 career with Red Bull, was the marquee attraction at Red Bull and DHL’s first-ever joint effort to reconnect South African F1 fans to the car, driver and sport.

Did the event achieve its goal?

“Most definitely,” said Melissa.

“We are off to Belgium in August again to watch the Spa Grand Prix and then to Italy. But just for a moment in my home city of Cape Town I felt that F1 was here and I was with F1 “

Ironically, Spa, in Belgium, is Coulthard’s favourite circuit as a high-speed roller coaster.

And for 24 minutes in Cape Town yesterday he made thousands feel like Darling Street, Cape Town could have been Spa.

Hamilton eyeing another Schumacher record this weekend

London - The sevens are aligning for Lewis Hamilton in Canada with another of Michael Schumacher's Formula One records in his sights as Mercedes aim for a seventh win in seven races this season.

File picture: Jon Nazka/Reuters Pool Via AP.

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Montreal has been a happy hunting ground for the five times world champion and Sunday could see the Briton equal Schumacher's seven Canadian Grand Prix victories between 1994 and 2004.


Yet Hamilton, who leads Finnish team-mate Valtteri Bottas by 17 points in the standings after four wins out of six, can take nothing for granted at a power-sensitive track named after Ferrari great Gilles Villeneuve.

Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel won from pole position in Canada last year and Mercedes have suggested the high-speed circuit could again favour Italian rivals whose season has yet to get into gear.

"We are beginning to see more clearly the strengths and weaknesses of our car. In the past six races, we were very strong in the corners but lost time on the straights," said principal Toto Wolff.

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"This will make Canada a huge challenge for us as the track characteristics could favour our opponents - there are many long straights, and fewer corners in which to make up lap time."Picture: EPA

Hamilton, who took the first Formula One win of his career at the circuit with McLaren in 2007, indicated after winning the previous race in Monaco that a Mercedes engine upgrade was expected.

While Mercedes have kept a lid on their plans, the timing would be right since the rules allow each driver three engines per season and Canada comes a third of the way through the 21-race championship.

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Ferrari, Renault and Honda have already introduced their upgraded engines.

A main concern for the champions will be tyre management, with Hamilton struggling on the wrong choice in Monaco.

"We need to learn from Monaco... because this situation in Montreal, you lose the race," Wolff told reporters at the time, cautioning also against too much confidence after such an unprecedented start to the campaign.

"We must never be carried away by saying we are just flying at the moment and it's going to continue like this," said the Austrian.

Ferrari were out of sorts in Monaco, despite Vettel finishing second for the team's best result so far this season, with Red Bull's Max Verstappen posing the biggest threat to Hamilton but hit with a time penalty.

"It's a fun track, at least you can overtake if needed and I always enjoy going there," said Verstappen, who was third in Canada last year behind second-placed Bottas.

"I expect Ferrari to be more competitive in Canada, so for us it may be a bit more difficult, but as always we will try and maximise the result."

Bottas, beaten into third in Monaco after a pitlane clash with Verstappen that cost him second place and Mercedes a sixth successive one-two, will be fired up to claw back points from Hamilton.

While rivals talked up Ferrari's prospects, team boss Mattia Binotto has sounded less optimistic.

"We know we're not competitive enough right now," he said. "And for the time being we haven't got any more changes coming on the car that will have a significant effect on the problems we have encountered since the start of the season."

Away from the leaders, the Racing Point team (previously Force India) will be looking for a strong first home race under their Canadian ownership.

F1 needs to be more diverse, and physical - Hamilton

Montreal - Formula One needs more diversity and drivers need to toughen up if the sport is to become more entertaining and grow, five-times world champion Lewis Hamilton said on Thursday.

File picture: Benoit Tessier / Reuters.

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Years of tweaking the rules and attempts to control costs have only marginally improved the product, the Briton told a news conference ahead of Sunday's Canadian Grand Prix.


Acknowledging that Formula One is often seen as "boring" and often dominated by a single team, like his own Mercedes who have won all six races this season, Hamilton mused on a return to V12 naturally-aspirated engines, manual gearboxes and the removal of steering assistance to put the focus back on drivers.

Stopping short of labelling drivers as wimps, Hamilton made it clear that driving Formula One is no longer the physical test it should be.

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"People do continue to comment that it’s boring," Hamilton said. "How you stop that, that is definitely a part of the regulations but I think on a more global scale, I think there needs to be some more changes outside of the regulations in my opinion.


"I do think it should be the most physically challenging. You should be just so physically exhausted after the race, to the point…like a marathon.

"Sometimes you do these races and I could probably do two or three races in a row and Formula One should not be like that.

"It’s a man’s sport and a lot of youngsters come in and it’s quite easy for them to get straight into it."

While drivers have many ideas and a global platform on which to air them, Hamilton maintains their voices are still not really being heard.

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"Unfortunately, the technical regulations are done by the people with power, with money and we generally have a little say, if any, as to what changes will take place," said Hamilton.

"We do want to be a part of the conversation because ultimately we can help for the future."

For Hamilton that future includes more diversity.

A lack that, not just on the starting grid but up and down the F1 paddock at all levels of the sport is a concern for Formula One's first black driver, who grew up on a council estate and defied the odds to become the sport's biggest name.

"There really is the most minimal diversity within this sport and I really somehow want to be a part of shape-shifting that with Formula One," Hamilton said.

"I don’t know why there’s not enough university students, engineers, mechanics and even within the media, coming through from more diverse backgrounds."