Hamilton pledge surprises Coulthard

DAVID COULTHARD has dismissed Lewis Hamilton’s pledge to see out his Formula One career at McLaren and urged the newly-crowned world champion to concentrate on his immediate future.

Coulthard, who brought his long career to a close at last week’s Brazilian Grand Prix, insists Hamilton’s loyalty could turn out to be misplaced if his team heads towards a dip in form.

Coulthard said: “In terms of trying to achieve wins it would be silly of him to stay there if the car wasn’t performing.

“He wants to win grands prix and you would expect him to say that right now because they’re on top of the world.

“But I don’t think he needs to talk about the future beyond enjoying this World Championship at this moment and the battle of retaining that Championship next year. None of us knows what the future holds.”

Coulthard leapt to the defence of Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone who has been criticised for dismissing an incident in which Spanish fans blackened their faces as “a bit of a joke”.

Ecclestone has subsequently cleared the air with Hamilton and Coulthard said: “I don’t think for one moment Bernie cares at all what colour the driver is or where he comes from or anything like that.

“It’s fantastic for Formula One that Lewis has won the World Championships, he’s the youngest driver and the first black driver. This just opens up new areas for Bernie to exploit in the long term.

“So I think he’s the wrong person to be singled out to try and make out as if he’s not sensitive to the issue.

“Bernie is just someone who doesn’t like to build issues up and make a big story out of it.”