David Coulthard plane crash that claimed two lives put the brakes on F1 playboy lifestyle

Wales Online

25-05-2025

David Coulthard plane crash that claimed two lives put the brakes on F1 playboy lifestyle
David Coulthard was involved in a plane crash in 2000, just five days before the Spanish Grand Prix, but the F1 star decided to race and finished second
David Coulthard competed in a F1 race five days after a plane crash
(Image: AFP via Getty Images )
David Coulthard demonstrated immense resilience when he competed in a Formula 1 race just five days after surviving a devastating plane crash that left him with broken ribs and claimed the lives of two.
The incident occurred in 2000 when the 54-year-old, then racing for McLaren, was a passenger on a private jet bound for his home in the South of France.
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Alongside his then-girlfriend Heidi Wichlinski and trainer Andy Matthews, Coulthard was on board when the plane suffered engine failure en route to Nice, necessitating an emergency landing in Lyon.
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Tragically, the impact and subsequent fire claimed the lives of captain David Saunders and co-pilot Dan Worley, as the cockpit was torn from the aircraft.
Miraculously, Coulthard and Wichlinski escaped with relatively minor injuries. Despite the Spanish Grand Prix being just five days away and his own painful condition, Coulthard chose to push through and participate in the race, driven by his second-place standing in the championship at the time.
Reflecting on the harrowing experience in an interview with the Daily Star in 2023, Coulthard said: "It wasn't meant for me to depart on that particular day.
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"Obviously, it was tragic for the pilots and their families. My girlfriend and my trainer at the time were on board, and we were able to leave the aircraft relatively unscathed, with just a few broken ribs.
The ex-F1 driver suffered only broken ribs in the plane crash
(Image: Sygma via Getty Images )
"You then, like every major moment in your life, have decisions to make. I think the one thing with sports, irrespective of which sport it is, is that it teaches you to move on, to compartmentalise what happened and why it happened, and then you turn the page.
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"You've got to keep moving forward in life and in sport, particularly. That's what I chose to do: keep moving forward. I was physically capable of competing in that Grand Prix." Coulthard secured an impressive second place in Spain, completing a McLaren 1-2 alongside two-time F1 world champion and team-mate Mika Hakkinen.
"I did my best in terms of reaching out to the families and the pilot's family and informing them of my intention to race and do so in their memory," he continued.
"You're met with something that is obviously a major, major life-changing event; you can dwell on those moments and keep reliving them, or you can just move on, and that's what I've chosen to do."
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Despite the traumatic experience, Coulthard decided not to let it hinder him and confessed he still travels by air frequently. "I spend my life on aircraft, at least a month each year, in terms of hours," he disclosed. "I only spend 11 months of the year on the ground.
The Scotsman continues to fly despite the traumatic crash
(Image: Getty Images )
"The rest is spent in the air. I'm not a fan of worrying about things out of your control, I have to travel. If I wanted to be a control freak, then I would learn how to fly and get my own aircraft."
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The crash not only left Coulthard injured but also prompted a personal transformation, as he acknowledged that the loss of the two pilots spurred him to leave behind his playboy ways.
"Knowing that two families' lives had been changed forever – they were fathers, they were husbands, they were sons – it was horrible, absolutely horrible," he expressed on the Pitlane Life Lessons podcast.
"What that did do was make me grow the f*** up. I think I'd just turned 30 and I was living the comforts of being well paid as a Formula 1 driver, jumping on private planes and all the good things [...] I think I was getting a little bit spoiled without realising it.
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"That was a massive kick up the ass to slow down, not on the race track, be a bit more aware of decisions I was making and get rid of the 'I want this, make it happen now' attitude."