Liuzzi targets podium finishes in 2006

The Italian, who competed in four races for Red Bull Racing next year, sees no reason why the new Toro Rosso outfit cannot be fighting near the front of the field following the buy-out of the Minardi team.

But he is adamant that the strong results from the team will come from the work that they are doing on their new car, rather than any advantage they may have from being the only team running V10 engines.

"For sure this is the biggest challenge that we can get," he said on the main stage at the Autosport International Show. "Red Bull bought Minardi and they are rebuilding everything from zero. It is a long term programme and it is really a big challenge for me and Red Bull and the whole team.

"But now they have got hope for the future. They have got the right budget and can push the team to the top of the league. It won't be easy but we are fighting hard already and we are working hard preparing the car for the new year. It will be ready in a couple of weeks."

Speaking about his specific targets for 2006, he said: "In our team what is good is that in Red Bull we are like a family. We want to work together to bring Red Bull on top of the world.

"It is usual that your teammate is your first enemy and my target is to finish on the podium. We don't know if we can win races, but we will push hard and try and do even better in 2007."

Toro Rosso are the only team that will be running detuned V10 engines next season, and there have been concerns that the power-units will have an advantage over the V8 engines that every other team are using.

But despite the worries, which are likely to result in V10 power being cut back before the start of the season, Liuzzi has downplayed any suggestions that Toro Rosso will have an unfair advantage from the situation.

"At the moment, everything is confused," he said. "Many teams with the V8 are worried by the V10. At the end of the day we can be reasonably competitive - but the V8 will get the maximum out of the engine and the detuned V10 will not be as strong as the V8.

"In the tests until now it seems that the V8s are already getting some good power out of them. Let's wait and see what happens in Bahrain."

Minardi never scored a podium finish in their 21-year history.