Jul.1 (GMM) The strong rumour in the days before the British grand prix is that David Coulthard will announce his retirement from formula one this weekend at Silverstone.

The veteran of approaching 250 grands prix, 15 consecutive seasons and 13 wins - and at 37 the oldest active race driver - is out of contract at Red Bull at the end of 2008.

With German youngster Sebastian Vettel expected to claim his seat for next year, it is now strongly speculated that Coulthard, a Scot, will take the opportunity of perhaps his last home race to signal the impending end of his F1 career.

He said recently about the prospect of retirement as a race driver: "When that moment comes, there you go. That's the journey of life. You move on to the next thing.

"There are a lot worse things that can happen to you and you move on to the next challenge," Coulthard added.