06/03/2005
NEWS STORY
The Red Bull Racing team made a flying start to its Formula One career in Melbourne today. After running in the top three for much of the afternoon, David Coulthard took an encouraging fourth place – ahead of several highly-fancied rivals including Williams, BAR and McLaren. His team-mate Christian Klien also drove strongly to take seventh. Between them, the Red Bull Racing stars notched up seven points – enough to give the team a provisional third place in the world championship for constructors.
David Coulthard: I made a good start and managed to get into third place. I struggled a bit initially with a heavy fuel load, then had lots of trouble with traffic and lost chunks of time. I hit a Minardi at one point. A podium finish was achievable today – that would have been a dream start for Red Bull and at one stage I was beginning to dream a little, but I can't complain about fourth place. It is much more than we expected. With Christian scoring points as well, it is a fantastic start for Red Bull Racing.
Christian Klien: My start was OK, although I lost one position to Nick Heidfeld's Williams. Then I overtook Villeneuve and got back to sixth position, after which the whole race was pretty good. The car was consistent and the pit stops were OK, so it was a very positive race for us all. It is great that we have scored some points in our first race this season.
Christian Horner, Sporting Director Red Bull Racing: It was an unbelievable race for the team. To have David running up there was great. Although we couldn't quite keep a Ferrari and a Renault behind us, fourth and seventh gives us seven points. It is a fantastic start and gives us a great platform for the future.
Günther Steiner, Technical Director, Red Bull Racing: The whole team is so pleased! Our expectations were more than fulfilled. Everyone did a fantastic job and now we'll try to continue like this for the rest of the season.
David Prigg, Cosworth Racing: The TJ2005 engine was strong and trouble-free all weekend. This contributed to a fantastic debut result for Red Bull Racing.