MAGNY-COURS, France -- Michael Schumacher has welcomed David Coulthard's remorse for a 1998 collision that played a part in the German losing that year's Formula One championship.

Coulthard recognised publicly for the first time at the French Grand Prix that he caused the incident in Belgium in which Schumacher, leading in heavy rain, ploughed into the back of the Scot's McLaren.

"The reality is that I lifted to let him pass me, but I lifted in heavy spray on the racing line. You should never do that. I would never do that now," the Briton said in an interview.

The accident cost Schumacher 10 points, in a championship ultimately won by Coulthard's Finnish teammate Mika Hakkinen by 14 points.

"I'm glad he finally shares the same opinion as me on this incident," Schumacher's spokeswoman Sabine Kehm quoted the five- times champion as saying on Sunday.

"It happened a long time ago, so there is nothing more to say about the incident now. But it's nice, it's nice to hear him admit it. I'm glad we share the same opinion now." Coulthard spoke about the past after he nearly drove into the back of Fernando Alonso's slowing Renault at high speed in last weekend's European Grand Prix.

"The risk is that it could have been a very dangerous accident for Michael and Nuerburgring could have been a very dangerous accident for me," said Coulthard, who clearly suspected Alonso of lifting off the accelerator.

Team boss Ron Dennis supported his driver and criticised Alonso's behaviour.

"I think David has been very magnanimous in the Alonso situation," he said, commenting on the Nuerburgring and Brazil in April when the Spaniard ignored yellow flags and ploughed into crash debris.

"A driver has a responsibility to the other competitors and I don't think that was what was expected, either in Brazil or in that event (the European GP)," he said.

"It's important to remember that no one driver is on the circuit on his own at any one time. You have a responsibility to drive and race in a certain way and that's two times now, for whatever circumstances, that incidents have been caused."