Red Bull secures Renault V8s

By Jonathan Gill

10th November 2006

David Coulthard is set to enjoy world championship-winning Renault V8 power next season. His Red Bull Racing out-fit has confirmed its premier team, comprising the Scot and Mark Webber, will compete with the French engines in 2007. Meanwhile, the second-string Scuderia Toro Rosso squad will use less desirable Ferrari units.

Unless ruling body the FIA objects, both set-ups will benefit from near-identical Adrian Newey-inspired chassis, following the F1 design guru’s move from McLaren. It is great news all round for Coulthard, who spent the second half of last season becoming increasingly frustrated with the lack of progress at RBR – a fact acknowledged by team boss Christian Horner.

“When Adrian arrived in the summer, we faced the dilemma of splitting the resources and continuing with development of the current RB2 car, or putting the entire design team into next year’s RB3,” he said. “It made a lot of sense to go down the RB3 route and it meant that development on the RB2 inevitably stagnated. Standing still in F1 means that you go backwards. I understood David’s frustration, but do not regret that decision. While it gave us some short-term pain, we will have long-term gain, as next year’s car will be significantly better,” vowed Horner.

Meanwhile, Scott Speed might lose his drive in the Toro Rosso team for next year. There are rumours that the outfit needs to have at least one paying driver, so Vitantonio Liuzzi could be partnered by well heeled Dutchman Robert Doornbos instead.