Red Bull target 'good step forward'

The Adrian Newey-designed car hit the track this morning, launching the Austrian squad's bid of a strong season following the disappointment of 2006.

The RB3 will be powered by a Renault engine instead of the Ferrari units used in 2006.

The team finished in seventh place in last year's championship, scoring only 16 points after a promising 2005 season.

Red Bull boss Dietrich Mateschitz has said the team should target occasional podium finishes and fifth place in the constructors' championship, and Smith believes their goals are achievable.

"Maybe I'm an eternal optimist, but I expect to see us make a good step forward," said Smith. "As an absolute minimum I believe we will reach the target area we have set ourselves.

"Technically I am looking forward to seeing how the car runs, because there are several different design philosophies in Formula One and Adrian has a different philosophy to the one I witnessed in my previous four or five years at Renault, so it will be interesting to see how that pans out.

"Although all the cars on the grid are quite similar, the way subtleties, such as aero performance, stiffness and mass, are traded off against one another at the design and concept stage can make a big difference when the car hits the track."