"I'm not good at understanding the celebrity thing."

Between March and October it’s only points and seconds that count. After the last race it’s time to look at the madness of the Formula 1 circus from a critical perspective as well – like David Coulthard does in the following off-season conversation.

In an interview with the Guardian you recently asked yourself whether “it’s me who’s not normal or whether it’s the others.” What crazy things about the Formula 1 circus are you still amazed about after 14 years in the game?

I’m amazed at how individuals are put on a pedestal in Formula One. To see grown men and women swarming around one person and treating them like a demi-god is just totally unnatural in everyday life. There are lots of remarkable people in this world who deserve attention of course, but I’m not very good at understanding the whole celebrity-swarming thing.

In your recently released autobiography “It is what it is” we learn many new things about the professional and the private David Coulthard. What sides of this guy are shown in the book that you’ve kept secret up to now?

Nothing really. I’ve just spoken about my life as I’ve lived it. If there’s anything I’d kept secret all these years until I was 36, why would I want to tell it now? I think the bulimia thing took some people by surprise, but it was never a secret as such.

Rumor has it that you want part two of the book – which will be written when you retire – to tackle the really controversial topics. What can we look forward to?

The truth, because the first one is all lies … [laughs]

On the one hand it seems that you often had bad luck in your career and were only partly able to develop your full potential; on the other hand, the 13 GP victories, luxury hotels in Monte Carlo and having supermodels for girlfriends seems like not too bad a draw. How do you see that yourself – are you a glass-half-empty or a glass-half-full type?

Well, I love life, so I would say that makes me more a half-full rather than a half-empty kind of guy. I’ve got regrets of course. Everyone has – if you haven’t, you probably haven’t been pushing yourself and taking risks. But regrets are like yesterday: you know you can’t go back and have that bit again. So any regrets I have are fleeting moments in my mind, rather than things that throw me into deep depression. When you hear people saying they’d do exactly the same thing if they had their time again, I can’t say I really believe it. Why would you want to be in a bad situation again? You wouldn’t. I think it’s just a throw away line people use, as they know they can’t change the past.

Every year pieces of memorabilia from the finished season make their way into the David Coulthard Museum in Twynholm. What’s going to enrich the 2007 exhibition?

The race seat from my car.