When 13-time Formula One grand prix winner David Coulthard returns to New Zealand in March, it won’t be his last visit.
As part of the F1 Legends Tour, Coulthard and former teammate Mika Häkkinen will treat fans to a night of stories of their storied rivalry, including winning the 1998 Constructors Championship with McLaren.
But for 54-year-old Coulthard – who drove for McLaren, Red Bull and Williams throughout his career – this visit to Aotearoa isn’t his first.
In mid-2025, Coulthard and ex-Red Bull driver Mark Webber ventured to New Zealand for the KTM Motorbike Adventure Rally. Originally hailing from Twynholm, Scotland, Coulthard didn’t need long to appreciate “the beauty of New Zealand”.
“It was just awesome,” he told the Herald. “It sadly ended with me breaking my collarbone on the day I found out my friend and colleague Eddie Jordan’s life had come to its end. I was upset by that, got distracted, fell off and broke a collarbone I’d broken twice before.
“The days before that, I was in awe of the scenery, the reception that we received as we went through different towns.
“A lot of it, and I don’t want to take anything away from New Zealand, reminded me of the southwest of Scotland, where I’m from. The rolling hills, beaches, farmland.
“It felt like a long way from home, but it felt like I was at home. I’m delighted that we’re going to be there ... [on] March 9, we’re going to be in Auckland.
“I’m going to bring my fiancee down, we’ll spend a couple of days on either side, then we’re going to continue on our tour. She’s going to get an express visit on her first time to New Zealand, but it won’t be her last.”
Those lucky enough to attend Coulthard and Häkkinen’s speaking tour will be able to hear about the rivalry the duo shared in their six seasons together at McLaren.
Motorsport is unique in the fact that a driver’s biggest target is always on his or her teammate, given that the shared machinery leaves teams able to easily compare who has the upper hand.
And while McLaren won the 1998 title, Coulthard had to watch as Häkkinen lifted the drivers’ championship that same year, and defended it a year later.
Now, approaching 30 years on, things are slightly different. Formula One’s class of 2026 don’t necessarily share the same hatred for one another as the drivers of the 1990s.
Seeing drivers boarding each other’s private jets isn’t uncommon, with rivalries on-track contrasted by friendships off it. And in Coulthard and Häkkinen’s cases, time heals all wounds.
“That’s the thing I’ve loved,” Coulthard explained. “As soon as we stopped being teammates, and especially since I stopped racing … we just started being at more and more events together.
“I’ve seen him go through every emotion. I’ve seen him with tears of joy, I’ve seen him with tears of disappointment, and vice versa.
“When you’re teammates, he’s your biggest rival. You don’t wish them well – you wish them all the bad luck the racing gods can deliver.
“What I’ve realised, and what Mika realised, is that we know each other better than some members of our families.
“We’re buddies, we’re mates. He knows where he’s better than I am, in racing terms. I know where I’m better in life. We don’t need to prove anything to each other any more, we just enjoy the company.”
On the pair’s tour, Auckland will be the first date after the first grand prix of the 2026 season, in Melbourne.
This year, Formula One is introducing the most drastic regulation changes in living memory.
And after 2025 was one of the closest seasons in history, won by McLaren’s Lando Norris, Coulthard’s predictions over who’ll lift the trophy in Abu Dhabi later this year might not please his former teams.
“Lucky dip, I’ll go with the previous engine manufacturer and say it’ll be a Mercedes-powered car,” he predicts. “Mercedes, the team as opposed to McLaren with a Mercedes engine, haven’t had a lot of success recently.
“I’ve got to believe they’ve been on this programme of the new regulations for longer, while McLaren had to keep developing their car to fend off Max [Verstappen] and Red Bull.
“I’m going to say Mercedes and George Russell.”
Mika Häkkinen & David Coulthard are in Auckland as part of their speaking tour on Monday March 9.
Alex Powell is a sports journalist for the NZ Herald. He has been a sports journalist since 2016.