Red Bull target podium places

Red Bull Racing boss Christian Horner is looking for podium finishes this season, claiming his new team have “potential there to be unleashed“.

Horner, the youngest team principal in Formula One, enjoyed a superb debut in charge of the new squad, with David Coulthard finishing fourth and Christian Klien seventh at the Australian Grand Prix.

Coulthard looked set for a top-three finish for much of the race before being pipped late on by Ferrari’s Rubens Barrichello and Renault’s Fernando Alonso.

Horner started the season hoping for occasional points but has rapidly altered his hopes for 2005 after Coulthard’s surprise pace.

Horner, who took over the team earlier this year after Red Bull bought it from Jaguar, said: “He was doing the times, he was competitive throughout the race.

“Unfortunately we didn’t quite have enough to contain Barrichello and Alonso, but to finish fourth on merit and seventh, with two McLarens, two Williams and two BARs behind us, is a great start for the team.

“It gives us a real solid platform on which to move forward from. We have achieved our initial target of respectability and now we have to build on that.

“Your targets always shift and we’ve got seven points on the board now. That target now has to be a podium. We’ve got a talented bunch of engineers and designers. We have focused on really developing this car and we will be aiming to do that through the remainder of the year.

“Considering we were reasonably late developing the car, the potential is there to be unleashed I think.”

Horner, who made his name as a championship-winning team boss in Formula 3000 after abandoning his driving career, could not hide his delight at Red Bull’s debut race.

Champagne was flowing in their garage afterwards and the Englishman was congratulated by dozens of well-wishers following a race he confessed was better than he dared hope for.

“It was an exceptional race for us,” he added. “It was Red Bull’s debut race and we couldn’t have wished it any better.

“For us to be up there in fourth, we’re more than happy with that. I thought we were in with a shout of a podium but it wasn’t to be. Our time will come.

“It was a great result for the team, for the guys, they’ve had a difficult winter and it was the most tremendous start we could have hoped for. Now we want to score points regularly, absolutely.”