Tuesday 8 July at 19:47 : David Coulthard has named Sebastian Vettel as his preferred successor at Red Bull Racing.

After announcing his impending retirement at Silverstone last weekend, the veteran Scot said German youngster Vettel, 21, "has everything a future F1 winner needs".

Vettel, under contract to the energy drink company and racing for sister team Toro Rosso, is already strongly linked with the 2009 seat.

Mark Webber, who has been confirmed as a continuing Red Bull Racing driver for next year, is also believed to have publicly named Vettel as a frontrunner for the ride at the scene of the British grand prix.

Coulthard, a 13-time winner who made his grand prix debut in 1994, told F1's official website of Vettel: "His maturity and approach shows me that he is the best man for the job.

"So I am very confident that he would be able to do a very good job for Red Bull Racing."

Coulthard also gave a big hint that, alongside his consultancy and occasional testing role at RBR next year, he may spend time in the F1 paddocks as a special television pundit.

"On the side of the media, I can contribute a lot, as I have the knowledge of what its like inside a team," he said.