F1 driver confessed to drinking booze half an hour before securing pole position
David Coulthard has admitted that he consumed schnapps before qualifying for the 1995 Italian Grand Prix. The iconic Brit, who was driving for Williams at the time, managed to secure pole position despite this race falling in his rookie season.
Despite the boozy adventure before the race, Coulthard managed to put his Williams car on pole position ahead of Benetton’s Michael Schumacher, as well as team-mate Damon Hill, who finished qualifying in fourth place, behind Gerhard Berger.
Addressing the incident with former Ferrari driver Berger on the Formula For Success podcast, Coulthard said: “You pulled me in and persuaded me that it was tradition in Monza before qualifying to have a schnapps.
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“I was a young, impressionable driver and you were a grand prix winner. You’ve got Niki [Lauda] there. Of course, you guys had set this up and I didn’t want to say no so they bring out three little glasses that looked like schnapps.
“For sure they were drinking water. They gave me a schnapps. This is about half an hour before qualifying. I take the schnapps, I go out, I’m in pole position. I got pole!”
Unfortunately for Coulthard, the joy of claiming pole position was quickly eradicated come race day. The young Brit spun off the track at the Ascari chicane on the formation lap in embarrassing fashion, putting him out of contention for the original race start.
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A stroke of fortune meant that the race was stopped on the opening lap, giving Coulthard time to re-enter the race in a B-spec car that had been prepared for team-mate Hill. As no racing laps had been completed, he was allowed to resume his place on pole position for the restart.
Coulthard’s second shot at leading the race was going much more smoothly than his first before a wheel bearing failed on his Williams car, sending him out of the race once and for all. There was karma heading the way of Berger though after the Ferrari driver orchestrated the schnapps stunt before qualifying.
The Austrian had inherited the lead from Coulthard after his unfortunate DNF but was taken out of contention himself after the first round of pit stops when a camera from team-mate Jean Alesi’s car dislodged and destroyed the trailing Berger’s suspension. Ultimately it was Coulthard’s compatriot Johnny Herbert who took the Italian GP victory.
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