Coulthard stays positive despite problems

Red Bull did not manage to complete a Grand Prix distance in winter testing due to constant reliability problems with their RB2 machine.

Coulthard revealed on Thursday the team had covered only half the distance they had planned ahead of the winter.

"We lost a lot of time in winter with the cooling issues so we have done 7,000km in testing. The schedule was to do 14,000 and Honda have done 26,000, so that gives you an idea of how far we are behind," Coulthard said ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix.

"It is disappointing but it is what it is. We are here having not done a Grand Prix yet but we are very confident that we are going to finish this one.

"In McLaren, in 1998, we didn't do any Grand Prix distances until the first race and both cars finished 1-2, so it is just nice to have done it. It is like getting on a flight across the Atlantic: you would like to know it has been done before..."

Despite the problems, however, Coulthard says the team's goal for the season is to improve over last year.

"The goal is to see Red Bull move forward from where we were last year," he said. "We inherited a tidy package from Jaguar and managed to make more of it than they had done in previous years and we have to build on that otherwise the logical progression over the next few years is not there.

"Our winter testing last year was better than what we have done this year, so there is an uncertainty about where we are but that is the goal."

Coulthard and Red Bull were one of the surprises of the 2005 season, the Scot scoring 24 points and finishing in 12th place in the standings.