Coulthard Gently Jabs Webber

David Coulthard has suggested that his Australian team mate, Mark Webber, only raises money for charity as a bid to self-promote himself. Recently speaking to the press, David is reported as saying that he does not feel the need to promote himself, and has called Mark Webber’s annual Charity Challenge a massage for his team mates ego.

Each year during the off-season, Webber organises the Mark Webber Challenge. It’s a sort of triathlon, and involves cycling, kayaking (instead of swimming) and hiking (instead of running). This all takes place in the rugged countryside in Tasmania, and Mark pits teams of fellow sporting ‘celebrities’ against each other. Of course, this all raises a fair bit of money of charity. You can read more about it on the website by clicking here. They do a much better job of explaining that I do.

This is what Coulthard had to say about his team mate.

I don’t feel the desire to want to promote me. It’s not like I do a David Coulthard Charity Challenge, which would be as much an ego massage for myself as it would be raising money for the charity. David Coulthard.

Now, I don’t know Mark Webber, so I’m probably not the best person to assess his character. But from watching and listening to him speak to the media, he seems pretty much down to earth. I also get the impression he is quite a blunt to the point kind of person. And while Webber is a Formula One racing driver, I don’t see him as an attention-grabbing, hype-generating, look-at-me type of driver. I could be wrong, very wrong, but that is my current impression of him.

So quite why Coulthard is saying these words I don’t know. Surely Mark is doing a good thing. For sure the Challenge generates media interest in Mark, and it also helps the driver to maintain his fitness levels during the months off from racing. But it also generates money for charity and raises awareness for the charities he is raising money for.

Do drivers do enough for charity? Was Coulthard right to say what he said? Or should DC start a ‘David Coulthard Charity Challenge’?

Photo courtesy of Mark Webber Challenge.