David Coulthard claims Sebastian Vettel must leave Red Bull and win with another team if he is to achieve true greatness among his peers.
Whilst the German is a triple champion at the age of 25 and considered a ‘great’ by some, others believe he has had somewhat of an easy ride to the title.
Coulthard says he must prove his talent somewhere other than Red Bull to “cement his legacy.”
“I don’t think Seb has to do anything but keep winning to satisfy his own desire to be a winning grand prix driver,” he told the Guardian.
“Has he done an amazing job to be a multiple world champion? Yes, he has. But do I think he has to move to cement his legacy? Yes, I do. There is this thing about cementing a place in history and it does seem to mean winning championships with different teams.”
Coulthard believes some adversity in his career can only do him good in the eye of his critics.
“Seb is a good driver, a world-class driver. But he hasn’t overcome adversity yet in terms of being with another team or being up against a team-mate who was already world champion,” he added.
“But if he goes somewhere else and continues his winning ways, then to the wider public he will get a new-found respect. Because, if it appears as a magic carpet ride, none of us like to see that. We like to see people overcome a bit of adversity.”
