"I've managed to come here for many years and not spend a lot of time in the bar," Coulthard said. "But for some reason last night - maybe it's because I'm retired - I spent a lot of time in the bar, so I was a little bit late waking up. But I guess I was celebrating freedom!"
Freedom was one of the topics on Coulthard's mind, but over the following half hour he touched on subjects ranging from family life and his early years, through why the realities of pressure in F1 are somewhat different to the perception.
Autosport.com was on hand to hear the Scot speak.
Q. Fifteen years is a long career. Can we go back to the 29th of May 1994. What happened on that day?
But when I was at Red Bull for the Christmas function and Sebastian Vettel was there, I was saying to him that he is two years into his Formula One career, and my 15-season career just seems like it started yesterday.
So he obviously has to really cherish the time and the moment. I think I have been very fortunate. I've just been around at a stand which has my first go-kart right through to my Red Bull Formula One car, and I haven't seen those cars for a couple of years because I haven't been back up in Scotland, but it's great memories for me. I really enjoyed my racing career, and I know how lucky I've been.
It would seem like an obvious thing to say right now, but Autosport has been such a big part of my life, because as a fan of motorsport growing up, I would get the magazine - and it would always come, like, two days later up in Scotland because it's such a long distance to deliver it up there - but it was my view of what was happening in motorsport.
So when I look now, I'm still reading the magazine, and I have obviously had the benefit of being on the inside in motorsports, and I'm, still going to be around because I enjoy very much the association.
Q. The museum with all your cars has a really great line-up of stuff. It's run by your sister, isn't it?
DC: Yeah, and I need to have a word with her because the cars are looking a little bit dusty and I saw some cobwebs on the back of them. So I am sorry about that to anyone who looks closely. My family have not been as publicly viewed as some of the other racing drivers' families, but they have been such a big part in my life – obviously if my mum and dad hadn't got it together, I wouldn't be here.
Their enthusiasm, their funding, their time and effort was what created my racing career. I have an older brother and a younger sister, and my sister has been involved with the museum. She was actually a very good karter herself; she was very quick, but she never continued with that career. But it has been very much a family experience. My whole family and my nephew are down here for the Autosport Show.
Q. I suppose the old man could really only support one of you?
DC: The family business did alright, so it could probably have supported more than one of us. But I was the only one that really had the dedication, I guess, with no disrespect to my sister and brother. It's one thing to have talent, it's another thing to be given the opportunity, but you've got to have commitment. You don't get things easily in life, you have to work at it. And it was a big focus for me through my teenage years.
You know, everything I did, I tried to do the best I possibly could. And I'm sure that the effort I put in was the reason why I had such a long career in racing. It may sound a bit like a sermon, but everyone who's out there who has got talent and opportunity, that isn't enough. You've got to give 100 per cent of yourself, otherwise why would you succeed? Someone else will give more effort, maybe with less talent and less opportunity, but effort will take them to achieve their goals.
Q. You won in every category you raced in – karting, Formula Ford, Formula 3, Formula 3000, and ultimately Formula One. Did you put extra pressure on yourself as you made each step up to say, 'this is working, I'd better keep going at this'?
DC: No, I didn't. Motorsport has always been a hobby to me, and that hobby became a career. But I remember when I was in karting; my father, when I was 17, was mapping out my future towards Formula Ford, but I was having fun in karting. I wasn't driven towards being in Formula One. I was given the opportunity and I did well and I progressed onto the next opportunity. So it was never, 'Oh my God, my life will not be complete if I am not a Formula One driver'.
I firmly believe I would still have been happy with my lot of I was living back in Scotland having competing in club racing. But I was given that opportunity and I took it and it led to a professional career. So now I'm no longer a racing driver and am back to being a fan of the sport.
I'll still be involved in the sport, with my consultancy with Red Bull and through the BBC. I said when I opened the Show earlier today, I said that it's a new experience to me to comment on Formula One and I hope I do a good job, and I hope I reflect Formula One in the way that you all want to hear about it.
And if I don't, please write to me in Monaco and complain, please don't write to the BBC and complain, because I want to get it right. You can tell me. You just need to put 'DC, Monaco' on the envelope and it will get to me, because Monaco is not such a big place.
But tell me what you think, tell me what you'd like to know about, and if you don't like the angle that I comment on Formula One from, then if I agree with with you, I'll change it. If I think you're barking up the wrong tree of course, I have to follow my instincts.
Q. You were always a driver who spoke his mind and occasionally people misrepresented what you said. Do you ever look back on that and think 'I should have shut up, I should have said a bit more, I should have thought about it a bit differently ...'?
DC: I think that not to have some regrets in life is not healthy. You have to have done a few things that you wish maybe you hadn't done to know what road you want to be on. First of all it is completely pointless to wish you could have done something differently, because you can't change the past.
Do I wish I could have done some things differently? Of course. But you can spend your life looking back and wishing you had done things differently, or you can use it as a map to make good decisions in the future. And that's what I do. I'm not someone who goes, 'oh, it was much better yesterday'. I'm excited about tomorrow. My heart is beating, I only have so many heartbeats, I don't know when it is going to end and I want to enjoy my life right now, so you make your choice.
Q. As one emotional rollercoaster came to a halt in Brazil, another started. Of course, little Dayton was born in November. That gives you a whole new list of priorities and emotions, doesn't it?
DC: It's incredible. Those of you who are parents will know what it means to have that connection with that little thing. To love your partner is one thing, and it's a fantastic feeling of course to be in love, but your child is another feeling altogether, and I never really fully appreciated that until the 21st of November when Dayton was born. I'm emotional just thinking about it, it's an incredible experience.
Prior to that date when another child was crying it was like a nightmare to me, it was just terrible. But when he cries, it sounds like music! It really does. So I am loving that experience and I look forward to enjoying this period of him growing up. I guess by the time he is a teenager, he'll be gone. He'll think his Dad's an idiot and all the rest of it. But this next maybe 10-year period is a great opportunity for me to enjoy being a father.
Q. In a couple of years he'll want a kart, won't he?
DC: Yeah. In his bedroom already he has a little pedal car. It's hanging on the wall, and it's all painted up in Red Bull colours and it has got 'DC Junior' written on the side of it. The team gave me that in Brazil as a leaving present. McLaren actually gave me a bicycle as a leaving present, rather bizarrely.
But anyway, Red Bull gave me a little racing car. So it is hanging on his wall, and he has his first helmet, and he has a little racing suit that Alpine Stars and Puma provided. So as he grows up and he is looking out of his cot, he'll be seeing this racing car. He'll wonder why it is hanging on the wall, so at some point I'll need to put it on the ground so he knows exactly what it is meant to do.
Q. He'll think it got there because you crashed it.
DC: Probably, yeah. Hopefully, by the time he is old enough to know about my racing career, people won't remember all the crashes. Hopefully they will just remember a few of the good moments. But I want him to have every opportunity, and if he wants to go racing I will support him. But today I would much prefer he would do something safe like tennis or golf or something like that.
Q. At the start of your F1 career there was a lot of pressure after Senna was killed, you were in with a legendary team ... did you sit on the grid and think, 'This is incredible?'
DC: I didn't. I am a great believer that the outside perception of the pressure on young drivers is very different to the reality, because for me, I was just doing what I always had done. Which was getting in a racing car and going racing. It's the same for Lewis last year, people were probably imaging that he under immense pressure in his first season, but he was just doing what he does. The pressure comes later in your career when you are no longer the rookie, you're no longer able to use up the credits of, 'you're young and you're learning'.
Suddenly you're established, so you have to deliver. I didn't feel any pressure in Formula One probably until the mid-1990s when I was at McLaren. Certainly through my two seasons at Williams, it was just jump in, have fun, go home. That's the reality of the situation.
Obviously it was a terrible time for Williams in 1994 and Formula One in general with Roland Ratzenberger being killed as well. Thankfully we've not had any fatalities in Formula One since that period but it is still a dangerous business, motorsport. Long may the safe times continue, but we have to remember that it is just around the corner.
Q. As a racing driver, you've got to assume that it's not going to happen to you. You are in a certain mindset and you just get on with it.
DC: Yeah, absolutely. I don't think that being a racing driver should be viewed any differently to being a non-professional sportsperson. When people drive here today they don't think they're going to be involved in a car crash. You just go about your business. You live your life. It's the same for a racing driver, and it's the same for a motorcyclist, or a pilot or whatever it happens to be.
You never think it's going to happen to you. And if you did ever really think something was going to happen to you, you would not live a normal, happy life. The reality is, not to put a damper on the situation, but the reality is that all of us will not be here one day, and it's about how you enjoy your days whilst you're here. I have been incredibly lucky in my 37 years so far, and I hope I continue to be lucky. If I get another 37 years I'd be delighted.
Q. Did you feel some sort of ambassadorial role as oldest F1 driver? People look to you, don't they?
DC: I think they don't look to you, they look at you a bit. 'Are you still here?'. No, I don't feel that responsibility. I love motorsport. I've loved motorsport since I was a little boy. I had a great opportunity to live my dream as a racing driver. I'll continue to have the same passion for motorsport now that I'm outside the car, but I understand that people will look at you differently.
If you're a grand prix driver, even if you are in the slowest car on the grid, you're an F1 driver and it's a certain kudos and a certain calling card. When you are an ex-driver you fall into a category with lots of other people who are ex-drivers. I don't have a problem with that. My motivation was not to be recognised publicly. I say that not because I want to diminish the importance of public support when you are involved in the sport.
I really appreciate the support that I've had. Earlier today I was given a book which was various photographs and messages from people that have followed me throughout my racing career, and it really means a great deal that you have touched people in a way that they are willing to give their time and effort to support you.
But back into the real world of being a normal civilian and no longer a sportsperson, I just want to try and fill the connection between what happens in the paddock and on the racetrack and communicate that to the public in a way which hopefully you can understand, and accurately reflect how good and exciting motorsport can be in spite of some of the ugly moments that can happen.
Q. (from the audience) Is your supporters' club finished?
DC: If there is a desire for people to still be involved with the fan club, then Alan will keep it going and I might have a bit more time now to spend time with it. But it's inevitable that whilst you're racing you have a certain level of support, and once you retire people naturally go onto the next driver, because you can't support me if I'm not actually out on the racetrack. If there is a desire for people to still be involved then I'll still be happy to keep going.
Q. (from the audience) We've noticed a ring on your finger. Did you get married?
DC: No, I'm not married but Karen and I have the same rings and we've engaged for a little while but I haven't gotten around to organising to get married, because I was quite busy. And she has been busy, and now she is doubly-busy because she has a daughter and she has a son to take care of as well as taking care of me. We live like a married couple as far as I am concerned and at some point down the line we will get married. But [the ring is] just symbol that ... it's to ward off evil spirits.
Q. (from the audience) As you have been in motorsport for more than five minutes, when are you getting your MBE?
DC: I'm not sure what the criteria is, other than winning a world championship is probably a good way to get some sort of recognition. I think from what I saw, somebody like Chris Hoy really deserves it. He's an amazing sportsman, and such a humble guy - I had an opportunity to meet him at Race of Champions.
What a grounded person, and a great ambassador for Britain. Lewis's achievements in F1 are remarkable for such a young guy, and I think it's absolutely fair and reasonable that it should be recognised. I think those awards should be for extraordinary performances. I had a long career in Formula One, I won a few grands prix, but ultimately I didn't win the championship. You can't just go handing them out to everybody.
Q. (from the audience) Would you ever drive at Le Mans?
DC: I raced at Le Mans in 1993 in the Jaguar XJ220 with David Brabham and John Nielsen in the GT class, and we actually won our class. We were disqualified a week or two later because Tom Walkinshaw Racing hadn't put a catalytic converter on the car. But I still have the photograph of me standing on the podium, I still have the trophy up in the museum, so as far as I am concerned I have been to Le Mans and won it.
I would go there [again], and the thing that would be important to me would be my teammates, you know, the relationship I'd have with the teammates. I had a good relationship with David and John when I went to Le Mans all those years ago, and if I was going back I would want to know the guys I was sharing the car with and I'd want to enjoy the experience as friends. And of course take it seriously, because ultimately you want to win.
But I have no plans to race anything as we speak, and actually my phone hasn't ever rung since I announced my retirement to invite me to go and race anything, so I guess I am not in demand. But I have a few things to keep my busy this year.
Q. (from the audience) What will you not miss about being a F1 driver?
DC: I'll still be in Melbourne. I'll be at the grands prix, I'll be travelling out there, I'll be doing the same routine. The only difference is, I won't be stepping in the car. So from a physical point of view that I won't be as physically challenged as I was before. I want to keep fit and I want to be healthy, but I don't have the same need or desire to do the last push up or the last five minutes of sprinting or whatever it happens to be.
I don't need that to live my everyday life. There will be less pressure of course. And also if you are involved in a sport like that and there are only 20 of you, it's a very public display of success or failure. When you have the success it is fantastic because you have all the support, when you have the failure it can be quite lonely at times because you know that if it is your mistake, you have let the team down, you have let your followers down, and those who don't support you, who think you are not very good anyway, think you are a complete idiot when you make a mistake.
So being in the public eye... other than the financial rewards, it isn't always as good as people may think. So when I watch these programmes, where people are really motivated to be in the public eye… it has a lot of negatives to go with the positives.
Sorry I am not really answering your question properly. But today I am not imagining I will miss anything. I had a fulfilling grands prix career. I had a fulfilling racing career. I don't feel I missed any opportunities. I was given a great chance to drive great cars and I loved every minute of it. In that respect the book is closed and there is no regret.
Q. You are very modest. I have some stats here – 246 grands prix, 13 wins, 62 podiums, 12 pole positions, 37 front row starts, 18 fastest laps and 535 points. That puts you fifth overall in F1 history. It's quite good, isn't it?
DC: Yeah, but you know what? If I'd won one grands prix and scored 80 points but I was a world champion, I'd be remembered much more!
I think I had a very fulfilling grands prix career and the best I managed in my career was to finish second to Michael Schumacher, who ultimately is the moist successful driver in the history of the sport.
So I don't have a problem with recognising that second as Ron Dennis would say is the first of the losers, but second was the best I managed with the opportunities I had. To finish second I had to finish in front of Mika Hakkinen, who was a great champion. And to finish behind Michael… he was better than me. I can live with that.
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