It was, by his own admission, not the way he wanted to end his illustrious Formula One career.

But the record books will show that David Coulthard's final grand prix out of the 246 he contested during his 15 years at the top ended on the second corner of the first lap in Brazil on Sunday.

"I'm pretty gutted," said the Scotsman who was given his chance in the sport's top formula after the tragic death of Ayrton Senna in 1994.

He has been ever-present since that day, during which time he won 13 GPs, finished on the podium 62 times and amassed 535 championship points to make him the highest scoring British points scorer in F1 history.

"I wanted to get to the chequered flag. I was going to do some do-nuts for the crowd," added DC. "I can't complain though. I've had a good career, so thank you to everyone who has supported me."

And he paid tribute to every member of his Milton Keynes-based Red Bull team for their efforts over the past four years, which he said had been a lot of fun.

"It means a great deal to me that so many people have taken the time to say 'nice career and good luck for the future'. In the absence of a world championship (the closest he came was runner-up in 2001) I think if I can leave with that then that's a good ending."

Milton Keynes has played a pivotal role in his life. He lived here when he raced for Paul Stewart Racing in the junior formulae.

His F1 career began at Williams, and then followed nine years with McLaren where he proved more than capable of taking on and beating Michael Schumacher on occasions. His 13 GP wins included two memorable 'home' victories at Silverstone and two at the hardest track of all to win – Monte Carlo.

But it's not the end of DC in F1.

The man respected by many for his profession-alism, dignity and wicked wit will be working for the BBC next year as well as working out of the cockpit with Red Bull – though he will be testing the car on
occasions.
You just can't keep a good man down.