The Emilia Romagna Grand Prix wasn’t the most exciting race of the 2024 F1 season, but there were moments there were a few moments that got David Coulthard off his seat.
When David Coulthard isn’t hosting a podcast his Eddie Jordan, he’s on commentary duty and was in attendance for Sunday’s race at Imola.
Speaking on the P1 with Matt and Tommy Podcast, Coulthard’s co-commentator Alex Jacques shared which driver got the Scot seriously excited.
Strategy played a key role during the first race of the European leg of the season, with Oscar Piastri leapfrogging Carlos Sainz after his pit stop with overtaking on track so difficult to pull off.
Lance Stroll and Sergio Perez managed to make their way through the grid after stopping later in the race but couldn’t catch the Mercedes ahead of them.
However, Jacques has said that McLaren star Lando Norris’s pursuit of Max Verstappen at the end of the race left Coulthard ‘terrified’.
The 24-year-old was racing in his 111 F1 race and fresh from his maiden victory in Miami he was determined to immediately double his tally.
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Lando Norris left David Coulthard ‘terrified’ during Imola Grand Prix
McLaren will be wondering just how close to Red Bull they can get this season with two drivers who look capable of challenging Max Verstappen with their newly upgraded cars.
Oscar Piastri had the same car as Norris for the first time since the upgrade package was delivered and over one lap looked even quicker than his more experienced teammate.
In contrast, Verstappen produced one of the best qualifying performances in recent times to secure pole position while his teammate Sergio Perez failed to reach Q3.
The race played out as expected with a shortened DRS zone making overtaking on the tight track even more difficult than last year.
However, in the final 10 laps, Norris realised he had an opportunity to put the hammer down and pressure Verstappen.
The Dutchman was one track limits violation away from a time penalty and he couldn’t fire up his hard tyres.
Jacques has now revealed that Norris’s pursuit of Verstappen at Imola left David Coulthard sweating.
The young Brit was pushing his car to its limits and had a couple of nervy moments.
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Reflecting on the final laps of the race, Jacques said: “I’ll tell you how you know he was pushing, a guy sitting next to me in the commentary box who’s won 13 times in Formula 1 was inching further and further back to the point where he basically had to open the door.
“DC [David Coulthard] was terrified he was going to bin it, that’s how you know a driver’s on the edge.”
F1 fans will be hoping that Norris and Verstappen can have plenty more battles like the one in Imola that had Coulthard on the edge of his seat.
McLaren CEO Zak Brown believes if the pair were in the same car then the Brit might be able to get the better of the triple world champion.
It’s unlikely that Brown or Red Bull chief Christian Horner will want that situation to arise if it means losing their star driver.
However, for the first time in years, it appears as though the 26-year-old has genuine competition on the grid.
Monaco will likely be a procession but once the tracks allow for overtaking and closer racing, Norris might fancy his chances in a wheel-to-wheel battle.
The post ‘I’ll tell you’: Alex Jacques says David Coulthard was ‘terrified’ watching 111-race driver during Imola GP appeared first on F1 Oversteer.