David Coulthard critiques F1 for not ‘fully respecting history’ with cautious stance on rain
David Coulthard reacts to F1 2026's first proper experience of wet-weather racing.
David Coulthard believes Formula 1 does not “fully respect the history” of the sport by taking a cautious approach to racing in wet weather conditions.
F1 got a first proper taste of the new 2026 cars running in the wet at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, with qualifying taking place in treacherous conditions, before Sunday’s race was also affected by rain.
Despite being red-flagged for an hour and a half, qualifying was eventually completed as McLaren’s Lando Norris mastered the storm to claim pole position, which he converted into an excellent victory.
The race began in wet conditions but quickly dried out, before a late deluge caused chaos. Many observers, including former McLaren and Red Bull driver Coulthard believe Brazil demonstrated that F1 events can still run successfully in the rain.
“The FIA ultimately have the call on whether the track is open or not, and they take a decision based on, I guess, some feedback from the drivers over time, and also applying previous knowledge on races where there was a lot of standing water and cars were aquaplaning off,” Coulthard told the Up to Speed podcast.
“So, I do get it. I do get that in the same way, an aircraft is not a boat unless it's a flying boat. Therefore, you've got to take the vehicle the device into the intended environment. But we definitely are a lot more health and safety conscious. Which this is the modern world we live in.
"I don't want to see anyone getting hurt, of course not, but I do think sometimes we don't fully respect the history by we err on the side of caution rather than, 'Let's give it a go!'
“Now, as I'm saying that, I realise the problem in my very statement because if you give it a go and it goes wrong, then the question is why did you allow that to happen? Where if you like, if you go on the side of caution, you have people going, “Well, why don't we see wet running anymore?”
Brazil was hailed as being one of the best races of the 2026 season.
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