DC sure about Red Bull Racing

Although some have viewed Coulthard's switch to RBR as a step-back from the kind of form he has enjoyed at McLaren since 1996, Coulthard is confident that the new owners of the former Jaguar outfit, allied to its solid engineering-led management base, will help lift the team forward.

Speaking about his one-year deal Coulthard said: "What is important to me at this moment is that now I know I'm going to be racing with a competitive Formula 1 team in 2005. Everything I've seen has been very, very positive and with the developments I know the team has planned things are looking good for 2005.

"We've got a lot of testing to do before the first grand prix in Australia in March, but I know we can get the work done. I'm not going to make any silly predictions, except that we will be more competitive than many people think and I'm confident we'll surprise more than a few people on the grid."

The team's managing director David Pitchforth has made no secret of the fact that the outfit needed an experience star like Coulthard if it was going to have any hope of making progress in its first year under new ownership.

And although there are no wild suggestions that the team will instantly turn into a pace-setting outfit, Pitchforth has set his sights on steady progress to match some of its big-money rivals.

"My big goal is to get us back on the track of building the company," he said. "I'd like to think we're still in the fight there with Toyota and Sauber.

"The biggest thing that has affected the team has been the ability to hire the type of people we want in certain key roles. I want to build the team as far as getting those key positions filled."

And despite the fact that the team should be freed of the shackles of previous owners Ford, which severely restricted the team's operating budget, Pitchforth knows there will not be an endless amount of money thrown at it to make it competitive.

"We've done a budget which is basically similar to previous ones because I want to make sure we build properly. I don't want anyone to think we're flush with money.

"But Red Bull are committed to doing a good job in Formula 1 and building the team year on year and eventually being in there to contend for race wins. So we're going to have to increase the budget in some areas and in others see what happens to the sport."