David Coulthard has called upon those who criticise the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne to be more tolerant, describing them as “selfish”.
The event has attracted criticism lately due to the cost – estimated at £20 million for the race fee alone – and the inconvenience it causes locals due to traffic congestion and noise.
Coulthard believes the benefits far outweigh the negatives and those who dislike the event, should think about that before protesting against it.
“For the one week of inconvenience it may cause some local people, then I think they shouldn’t be so selfish quite frankly,” he said in a podcast for the race.
“They should think of the greater good, what it does for the local economy, what it does to inspire local children to be designers or engineers or whatever it is, engine design, tyres, whether they want to be drivers. You don’t inspire people by not giving them a taste of what is out there in the world.”
The Scotsman, who has won the race twice before, expects people to be more tolerant to others interests.
“If people want to be so narrow-minded and not look beyond their personal needs then that’s disappointing of course,” he added. “There are lots of things that I don’t appreciate but I don’t go campaigning against it because I understand that a lot of people do like it.
“I think you have to be tolerant in this world and I think for that one week that the people who don’t like the sport [they should] just tolerate the people who do. It’s a truly international event.”
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