DAVID COULTHARD DEFENDS KIM KARDASHIAN AFTER MARTIN BRUNDLE MONACO GP GRID WALK BACKLASH

David Coulthard has defended Kim Kardashian after criticism over her Monaco Grand Prix appearance

Kim Kardashian on the grid.

Photo by: Guido De Bortoli / LAT Images via Getty Images

Former Formula 1 driver David Coulthard has weighed in on the comments surrounding Kim Kardashian's appearance at the Monaco Grand Prix, defending the reality television star after she didn't speak to Martin Brundle.

Kardashian became a big talking point of the Monaco Grand Prix weekend after she turned down an interview with Brundle during his famous Sky Sports F1 grid walk and was later seen picking up race winner Kimi Antonelli's towel after the race.

The incident led to widespread online criticism, but Coulthard believes the online hate was unwarranted.

Speaking on the Up To Speed podcast, the 13-time grand prix winner revealed that Kardashian had been very polite to him during his own broadcasting duties on the grid. 

"Well, I'll go first as the least following of any of that social thing. I do a grid walk with Viaplay, which is I guess like Sky but more in the northern European countries, and she spoke to me," he said.

"So it feels a little bit like it's a set-up because Martin is as famous for people not talking to him as he is for people talking to him. So it actually helps perpetuate that. Taking a towel, that's maybe a bit not correct but does she actually understand that that's for the driver? She might have just thought it was a Monaco freebie."

When pressed on what he spoke to Kardashian about, Coulthard explained: "I said, 'Having a nice time in Monaco? To which she said, 'yes.' I wasn't going to ask, 'Who are you supporting?' because that would be quite clear. It would be funny if she said Kimi."

Coulthard added that the championship could be a new interest for Kardashian, so it would be unfair to assume she knows the ins and outs of the series. 

"I think also what we've seen when you've got big American celebrities coming into the sport, I think the worst thing you can do is put them on the spot," he continued.

"Obviously, it would be easy for her to say she was supporting Lewis, but why would we assume just because we're embedded in Formula 1 that this is anything other than just a new interest?"

- Lydia Mee