According to a spokesman for the Milton Keynes-based outfit, the 39-year old driver will replace both Daniel Ricciardo and Brendon Hartley in the reserve role for the race at Shanghai due to the fact that those two are starting their Renault World Series campaigns this weekend.
The Aussie and the New Zealander are both driving for French Tech 1 team in the aforementioned championship, that is scheduled to begin this very weekend at Ciudad del Motor de Aragón (Spain).
DC will therefore be much closer to the Red Bull garage than usual, assuring a back-up plan for Christian Horner in case something happens to one of their main drivers. At the same time however, the Scot will also have to attend the BBC desk for live commentary of the Chinese Grand Prix, together with his colleague Martin Brundle.
Last weekend, Coulthard fulfilled other Red Bull responsibilities, as he drove his former Grand Prix car, the RB4, on the streets of Bogota as part of a demonstration event organized by the Austrian energy drink company.
This won't be the first time DC will take on a reserve driver role with his former team, as the Scot was briefly in the same position about a year ago, when Hartley was waiting for his superlicense to be approved by the FIA.
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