David Coulthard has admitted that he would consider following
Juan Pablo Montoya and Jacques Villeneuve into NASCAR once the curtain has come down on his
Formula 1 career.
The
Red Bull Racing man, a veteran of 228 race starts since making his debut with
Williams back in 1994, is now one of the elder statesmen of the F1 scene but will continue to spearhead the Renault-powered team in 2008 as it looks to improve on fifth place in the constructors' championship this season – albeit a result only gained after
McLaren's expulsion following the F1 spying saga.
While he admits that he isn't yet thinking about departing the F1 scene, Coulthard did say that NASCAR would appeal in the future – with the stockcar scene providing a vastly different challenge to that found in single-seaters.
"I would consider something like NASCAR," he told
ESPN. "I don't think I would consider IRL. The only thing is, America, you have to commit to it absolutely. Which means you move out there, take your family there.
"But I'd certainly consider it. This will be my 15th season in
Formula One. After that ... I'll do this as long as I'm having fun, as long as they keep saying 'Would you like to continue?'"
Coulthard added that the high profile move made by both Montoya and Villeneuve in recent years had made NASCAR a more appealing option for drivers from outside the United States.
"I think it's checking the box of NASCAR," he said. "Generally, people in Formula One haven't really been that aware of NASCAR, and of what we have been aware of we've probably higher respect for NASCAR than what we have for the oval racing IRL.
"That may come as a surprise, but as a single-seater racer in Europe, the perception in Europe is if you're fast on a super speedway, yes there's tactics, but how is that more challenging than driving Monaco? That's a simplistic view, I know, and I've not done it. But Villeneuve's a friend of mine who's obviously won over there [in IRL], come over to F1 and won in
F1. I just know it's a different challenge.
![Start of the 2007 Daytona 500 [pic credit: Ford media]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/289389.jpg)
