David Coulthard has admitted that he once consumed schnapps before qualifying for the 1995 Italian Grand Prix.
The iconic Brit, who was driving for Williams at the time, managed to secure pole position despite this race falling in his rookie season.
Despite the boozy adventure before the race, Coulthard managed to put his Williams car on pole position ahead of Benetton’s Michael Schumacher, as well as team-mate Damon Hill, who finished qualifying in fourth place, behind Gerhard Berger.
Addressing the incident with former Ferrari driver Berger on the Formula For Success podcast, Coulthard said: “You pulled me in and persuaded me that it was tradition in Monza before qualifying to have a schnapps.
“I was a young, impressionable driver and you were a grand prix winner. You’ve got Niki [Lauda] there. Of course, you guys had set this up and I didn’t want to say no so they bring out three little glasses that looked like schnapps.”
