It is a very significant weekend for British Formula One fans, even beyond Lewis Hamilton’s hopes of a Silverstone victory. With David Coulthard announcing his year-end retirement we are potentially down to just two Britons on next season’s grid. At the same time we have the good news that the future of the British Grand Prix is secure — albeit at Donington Park from 2010.

I should remind you that I have been Coulthard’s commercial manager for 11 years, but I do believe the way he is handling his retirement is very befitting of such a stylish sportsman. Whatever you do, the worst thing in the world is to be the last to recognise that it’s time to move on. This way DC gets to appreciate his last season and it becomes a celebration of his achievements. Early this year we saw Ralf Schumacher packaged off to touring cars, seemingly the last to realise his F1 career was over. Both Damon Hill and Nigel Mansell had uncomfortable departures, and I certainly wish I had known the season-ending Japanese Grand Prix was my swansong rather than heading off into a fruitless winter.

It’s quite hard to step away from the glory, the money, and the life. He won’t be giving it up completely as he has a testing and consultancy contract with Red Bull. F1 drivers are adrenalin junkies and you can’t just switch that adrenalin pump off; the energy has to be redirected or you risk going off the rails. He’s not hung up his helmet, he’s open-minded about competing in different categories in the future. He’s fit, healthy and wealthy. He’ll be able to pass on his experience to younger drivers and the team. It’s an elegant solution.

David will find — as I did — that he will learn much more about the sport with the driver blinkers off. Instead of being focused on your own little world of understeer, oversteer and personal performance, you stand back and absorb.

It’s a decision he made earlier in the year, but we crystalised it on the Saturday of the Canadian Grand Prix. The very next day he was on the podium and I went to see him immediately after to ask, ‘What now?’ He said, ‘Nothing’s changed’. It was simply a higher step from which to launch into a new career.

It’s been a pleasure being his former rival, manager, and long-time friend, although the relationship has had its tense moments because as a TV pundit I have to call things as I see them, which has resulted in a few fingers in my chest from him. If the BBC approaches him for their new coverage starting next year, he will find that you can say 100 positive things about somebody with little thanks, but utter one negative comment and they’ll come looking for you.

DC’s a funny and engaging man to be around, and also strong-minded and eloquent. F1 will do well to keep him fully engaged in the future.

It was amusing watching him, Hamilton and Jenson Button in the Silverstone press conference on Thursday, and it painted a very telling picture of where they are at in their respective careers. DC and Jenson rather ganged up on Lewis, perhaps realising this was their only opportunity of scoring points off him this weekend because it isn’t likely to happen on the track. They were like two cats with a ball of wool and Lewis’s youth and inexperience really showed.

Lewis had cheekily but inadvisedly challenged Jenson about his fitness and Jenson went for gold, saying, ‘Right, I’ll pay £10,000 to your charity if you beat me in a triathlon’. DC piped up with, ‘That’s a man’s challenge, you can’t not take that.' DC has forgotten more than Lewis knows, Jenson’s heading that way, and you could sense them both smelling blood. As much as they may say they’re pleased for his success, down deep inside there’s a bit of hurt to any competitive person when a young rival comes along with all the right kit and takes the results and the glory.

Lewis’s inexperience and lack of worldliness is why he’s tripping over the media at the moment. It will come with time and until then he’s just got to do the business on the track. He has a solid chance of a victory in what will probably be a rain- affected home race. Fourth place on the grid is not ideal but we have to wait to see specific fuel and car set-up strategies in anticipation of the conditions.

The move to Donington from 2010 is in principle good news for British motorsport. With Silverstone and Brands Hatch we will then have three circuits capable of handling international events. We can only presume the immense paper trail of planning applications along with environmental, architectural, engineering and highways reports are well under way at Donington because that race will be upon us soon enough.

The drivers will miss the ultra-high-speed challenges of Silverstone, but the reality is that whether it’s Australia, Japan or anywhere, we all simply travel to wherever the grand prix is held and do our jobs in the knowledge that we cannot influence such decisions.

More good news for the British GP is that FIA president Max Mosley has said “finally British Formula One fans will get the grand prix venue they deserve”, and so presumably the race will not have the perennial verbal lashings from some quarters.

The government must be happy too because their decision not to support the British Grand Prix financially is fully vindicated now this impressive commercial solution has been found.

I strongly suspect there will be an element of relief at Silverstone in not having to keep adding up scary numbers which won’t balance, and not having to compete with the governments of China, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain and suchlike for a place on the calendar.