Red Bull want to get amongst 'big boys'

As Red Bull unveiled their Adrian Newey-designed car at the Barcelona circuit, the Austrian-owned squad also stated their revised ambitions following a disappointing 2006, when they finished in seventh position with just 16 points and one podium.

With their new car, new Renault engines, new tyres and one new driver in Mark Webber, Horner believes Red Bull are looking good to be fighting close to the top whenever possible.

"We want to get amongst the big boys whenever possible, we want to compete for podiums but there are some big opponents out there," said Horner during the launch of the new RB3 car.

"F1 is looking at a stellar year, there are so many little but significant changes that have gone on during the last few months, with Michael's retirement, Fernando moving, Adrian not at McLaren any more, there is a lot of significant changes that have happened, so hopefully we can get in amongst the big boys whenever possible."

And although Horner is optimistic that Red Bull can make a significant step forward in 2007, he has warned not to get carried away ahead of time.

"When you look at it simplistically, with Adrian Newey who has won 12 world championships, Renault who have just won two and Bridgestone everyone is on the same tyre and the driver line-up is one of the stronger in F1, it is very easy to draw simple conclusions from that," he added.

"However, obviously there is a lot more to it than that, and all the fundamental pieces are in place, Red Bull has only been in existence for something like 26 months from taking over Jaguar and what has changed in that period of time is massive.

"The company has grown, it has got bigger infrastructure, it has got strength in depth, it has some key people, notably Adrian, who have joined us in that time, and when you look across the board there is no one weak area, but it inevitably takes time for all that to synchronise and optimise and the important thing for us is continuity and we are expected to make a significant step forward from our 2006 performance.

"In some ways it was compromised after the early testing issues we had, with Adrian joining the company and his philosophy being somewhat removed from that of RB2.

"We halted development at a relatively early stage in order to focus as much energy as possible into RB3, and with a relatively late engine decision it has been a very, very busy period for the team but we expect to progress throughout the year and I think there is a very solid group in place now and we can look forward with a great deal of optimism."