Scotland could’ve hosted an F1 GP at a purpose built track near Edinburgh – but plans had no local support, according to former star David Coulthard.
The ex Red Bull and McLaren ace, who was the last Scottish driver to win in F1, revealed that iconic triple champion Sir Jackie Stewart had pushed for the Ingliston Circuit near Edinburgh Airport to be radically redeveloped to allow it to host the biggest stars in motorsport. However he says that residents and the council were less than taken with the proposals – meaning they were shelved before they got a chance to become reality.
And Coulthard now believes Scotland will never have the chance again to hold a GP, with Ingliston have closed down in 1994 and the unique 1.3 mile Knockhill Circuit near Dunfermline the only race circuit for cars left in the country. F1 has enjoyed a huge revival in interest following the success of the hit Netflix series Drive to Survive, but thousands of fans across this country are unlikely to ever see a home race.
Speaking on his Formula For Success podcast, Coulthard said: “Many, many years ago, probably around 1990, Jackie Stewart was leading a consortium who had a plan to build what would be called New Ingliston. Ingliston was a small race track beside Edinburgh Airport that I raced at once. It was tiny, like Mallory Park or Brands Hatch Indy. It would never be able to host major races.
“In typical Jackie style this was going to be a huge facility. It was going to be something that could be used, not only for motor racing, but for car launches, test sessions. It would be something where you could wet the track, not that that would be a requirement in Scotland because it would probably be wet most of the time.
“It was going to be an incredible facility that would bring opportunity to that area of Scotland. But like in so many of these scenarios it didn’t get local support, it didn’t get council support and the whole idea died off. That was the last opportunity, I think, to have any major race track in Scotland.”
Coulthard now finds it unlikely that any other tracks will be built – despite soaring interest in motorsport – adding: “That leaves Knockhill, where I first drove a racing car back in 1988. It’s a great little race track. But that’s the last real race track in Scotland and I don’t see that changing anytime soon.”