David Coulthard on Michael Schumacher's retirement

Whatever the circumstances that led to Michael Schumacher's second retirement from Formula 1, it's the right time to make the decision to go. Nobody's power is eternal. That is just the reality of life and in sport it is proved constantly. It's an inescapable truth, even for the most powerful people, that things always come to an end eventually.

At the peak of his career, in a good car, Michael was unbeatable. Now, while he's not as good as he was, he's certainly not as bad as some make out. The perfect way to go would've been the fairytale ending in a title-winning car, but it wasn't to be so this is the memory we'll be left with.

We've seen a lot of incidents for Michael during his three-year comeback that we didn't see first time around. But he never spent much time in the pack and was usually at the front, so we could never really judge his racing ability.

We knew that he was incredibly quick, that he was an outstanding team leader and he could galvanise a team but he was always close to the edge when it came to wheel-to-wheel racing. When you put that type of racer into the middle of the pack, he comes unstuck. So, we've seen a different side to Michael. But, as far as I'm concerned, it doesn't take anything at all away from his incredible legacy.

Michael has said that he's fully motivated for the final races of his career, so you can be certain that he'll approach them in the same professional way that he always does.

After I announced my retirement at the British Grand Prix in 2008, I didn't have any problem with going to circuits for the last time. The only time that I felt anything like that -and thought about it at all - was when I was going to the grid for my last race in Brazil.

I did three or four laps through the pits because the car felt good and I was revelling in having that feeling for the final time. I didn't know then that I was going to crash at the first corner!

But I was mentally ready for retirement and completely focused. I knew that it was time to move on and Michael probably feels the same.

David Coulthard Red Bull 2008 Brazilian GP © LAT

Watch out for Alonso...

Never, ever underestimate the skills of Fernando Alonso and Ferrari. Just when they seem to be on the ropes, such as at the start of the year when nothing about that car seemed to indicate that it would be a winner, they are able to hit back.

The momentum is now clearly with Red Bull and Sebastian Vettel as the team has taken a step forward in performance, but it's still way too early to write off Fernando, who still leads the championship by four points.

After all, we didn't see a clear picture in the Japanese GP. Sebastian had a 20-second gap and he was utterly dominant. But we were missing Alonso and some of the other guys who you'd normally expect to be there. Sebastian was always going to win this race but there is still some fight in Ferrari yet.

Over 15 grands prix, the Scuderia has been the most consistent and now it's a straightforward five-race battle for the title.

...And for Romain Grosjean

It was clear that with Romain Grosjean fourth on the grid there was a potential flashpoint at the start. Mark Webber was his latest victim and there are too many incidents to say that the Frenchman is simply unlucky. He's done very well to get away with only a 10-second stop/go penalty considering that he was banned for causing a crash at the start three races ago.

None of us want to beat up on one individual and he's a nice guy who is seriously fast, but if you find yourself getting involved in lots of incidents, it's evidence that you are making errors of judgement.

It's clear that Romain's not made for close combat but instead for single-car driving. He has a lot of ability, but right now he is not a good racing driver. But he can still turn it around. Lots of people do things when they are young that they grow out of. He just needs to do that while keeping the speed.