IT seems almost perverse that despite his almost complete dominance of Formula one for the last four years, Sebastian Vettel is still not regarded as one of the sporting world's greats, writes William Scholes.
More surprising, perhaps, is that he isn't even rated as the best driver on the current F1 grid. Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen are generally regarded as more complete drivers, Lewis Hamilton as a better seat-of-the-pants racer and Jenson Button and Nico Rosberg as more cerebral and superior tacticians.
Vettel, a keen student of F1 history, can counter with an astonishing record of achievement over the past four seasons. The just-concluded 2013 campaign was his most dominant yet. Nor can Alonso, Hamilton et al point to four world drivers' championships in a row.
But even five-in-a-row won't be enough to satisfy the doubters about Vettel's claims to sporting greatness; to be considered truly great he will have to win a drivers' title with another team, as did Juan Manuel Fangio with Alfa Romeo, Mercedes-Benz, Ferrari and Maserati and Michael Schumacher, with Benetton and Ferrari.
The worrying thought for his rivals is that, at just 26 years of age, Vettel has plenty of time on his side to do just that.
4TH CONSECUTIVE WORLD DRIVERS' CHAMPIONSHIP
13
WINS FROM 19 STARTS
11
POLE POSITIONS
12
FASTEST LAPS