After praising his Red Bull Racing teammate Christian Klien for some strong performances in the 2005 Formula One championship, David Coulthard reflected back over some of the less impressive members of the paddock, the Scot claiming that ‘rather than point out who has been a positive surprise this year, it is easier to point out who has been a disappointment.’

On David’s list was Renault racer Giancarlo Fisichella, who finished well behind his championship winning teammate, Fernando Alonso, and McLaren driver Juan Pablo Montoya, who won three races to his teammate’s seven. However, it wasn’t Giancarlo or Juan Pablo who won his ‘biggest under achiever award’….

“In that list is Giancarlo Fisichella, who has done much less with the championship-winning Renault than Alonso,” he told the Record. “There is also Montoya, who had a bad start to the year by missing a few races. He came back late on but is still a disappointment for me. But the biggest under-achiever for me has been Takuma Sato. He managed just one point in the BAR. Maybe it shows how good a package the BAR was last year. It also shows how well Jenson Button must have driven this year. He has all the ingredients to be a GP winner. I hope the turmoil of his contracts and personal relationships is behind him.”

Sato is yet to secure a drive for the 2006 season, but is rumoured to be joining the new Honda powered team as their number one driver, if it gets off the ground.