Coulthard: Red Bull may Win in 2006

The Briton, who confirmed on Tuesday that he has extended his contract with RBR for another season, is adamant that the switch to Ferrari engines and progress on the chassis will lift the team nearer the front of the grid.

When asked by reporters at Silverstone on Thursday whether he could make the team winners in 2006, he said: "It's not beyond the realms of possibility.

"It has been possible this year to get the car on a genuine podium, at other races we have picked up fortunate points, but you have to get to the finish. I don't think the team will come out at the beginning of the year saying we will be expecting Grand Prix victories, but of course it is possible."

Coulthard believes that the fact he has inked his contract so early will give the team enough time to mould the design of the RBR2 around him - something they were not able to do for this year's car with his 2005 deal only being signed in December.

"This is a key time to develop next year's package so in the limiting testing we have I hope I can influence the engineers as to what suspension we run and so on," he said. "You cannot just turn up at the end of the year and not have the driver as an integral part of the design of the car.

"To maximise the packaging you want to take your biggest driver and form the car around him. This year we haven't done that, but you can shape the car to the profile of your driver and that allows you to package things better. I can start suggesting that and getting things in place from the inside out."