OCTOBER 24, 2000
Coulthard hints at McLaren team changes as he calls for more risk taking
DAVID COULTHARD hinted that there will be behind-the-scenes changes at McLaren in the closed season as he called for the team to take more risks to ensure success next year.
Coulthard is desperate to avenge Ferrari's double drivers' and constructors' championship wins and has called for the team to be more daring if they are to claim back the titles in 2001.
"We need to be more risky and adventurous," said Coulthard. "But there is to be a change in the set-up within the team which I believe will strengthen us in that area.
"We can also improve our strategy. We were pretty poor in the second half of the season and I am part of the process. We cannot afford to make those wrong calls if we are going to get the points needed to win the championship."
Coulthard finished second in Sunday's Malaysian Grand Prix and reflected on a year that has seen him survive an air crash in mid-season.
He added: "When you consider all the things that have happened it has been a hell of a year. To be able to come through those things and still be able to perform shows that I have got the strength to be able to go out there and fight.
"I believe my career is still on the up. I don't think I've levelled out. I have improved in all areas this year, like qualifying, and I have shown I can race wheel-to-wheel with the other hard men of the sport."