I think the British public has put a lot of pressure on David Coulthard to be a world champion.
He has been a highly respected and very competitive racing car driver in nine seasons at McLaren with 13 GP victories.
He has been a Schumacher beater at times in his career and that has turned us into a bit of a frenzy.
And when it didn't happen, there was always another reason why he didn't and we would draw in a huge breath and say 'well, maybe next year'.
But this year was different because there were no expectations because he has not got on with the one-lap qualifying routine.
And when you have a lot of bad grid positions, you are struggling from the outset.
I still maintain he has a chance of racing out there next season, maybe a 20 per cent chance of leading a Dubai-based McLaren second string which is what has been talked about.
Or there are two parties still looking at reviving Jaguar and I know they have Coulthard in their plans.
That's because he is a great ambassador for the sport and he would bring a lot of technical know-how as he knows F1 so well.
I think out of the shadow of Ron Dennis, he may flourish again especially if he is the leader of a team alongside, maybe, an up-and-coming young driver.
He is not out of the equation just yet.
Tony Jardine was talking to Stephen Joyce.
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