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London - David Coulthard will return to motor racing in the German DTM touring car series at the Mercedes team after ending his long Formula One career in 2008, it was confirmed on Saturday.
Mercedes motorsport chief Norbert Haug said Coulthard signed a one-year deal for the 2010 season which starts on April 25 in Hockenheim, Germany.
"David will receive a one-year contract to see how it works out," said Haug. "David is a popular figure. He is one of the most experienced and best known Grand Prix drivers."
Haug said that Coulthard impressed in two tests but that no one should expect extraordinary things from him from the outset.
Coulthard, 39, raced in F1 for 15 years and won 13 races. He knows Mercedes from his seven years at the McLaren-Mercedes team. The agreement does not clash with his other engagements as a BBC F1 pundit and advisor for the Red Bull team.
"I always said I wasn't hanging up my helmet for good because I didn't believe I was over racing. I just knew my time as an F1 driver had reached its natural conclusion," he told the BBC.
"I didn't actively look to race anything through 2009 but at the final race of the DTM season I really got the buzz and the tingle again for the competition.
"But if I can do a championship which fits with my other commitments and I get the buzz you get behind the wheel of a racing car, then why would I not take it? I'm almost 40, I won't have that option open to me when I'm almost 50," he said.
Coulthard's former McLaren team-mate Mika Hakkinen also used to race in the DTM and ex-F1 driver Ralf Schumacher is an active driver there.
