Coulthard downplays Red Bull's pace

RED BULL RACING

Thursday 14th February 2008

David Coulthard has warned against unrealistic expectations in the build-up to the new season after his team-mate Mark Webber set the pace at Jerez.

Webber's 1:18.628 saw him lead the field of 16 on Wednesday at the Spanish circuit, prompting some suggestions that perhaps 2008 will be the season that sees Red Bull finally come good.

However, Coulthard has played down these expectations, saying one shouldn't read too much into the times set during testing.

"I've done lots of testing over the years and some of those tests have been fantastic and some of them have been shit," Coulthard told AAP.

"I wouldn't read anything into it - I think that anyone who expects anything different than McLaren or Ferrari to be setting the pace at the beginning of the season, I would be extremely surprised.

"What's not clear for us at the moment is where we fit into that mix, with BMW and Toyota and Renault and all those guys.

"And it might not even be completely apparent in Melbourne because it's a particular track.

"But I think by the time we're gotten through the first three grands prix, in Melbourne, Malaysia and Bahrain, we'll have a very clear picture of who are the pacesetters and what the pecking order is down the field."

The Scot, though, is confident that this year's RB4 is proving to be more reliable than last year's car. "I think that's the main thing that we're able to speak of with certainty," he said.

"The facts are the car is running more reliably, we don't have the gearbox issues that we've seen over the last couple of years.

"We're cranking out (the distance of) a grand prix and three-quarters every day per car.

"We were probably doing about 50 laps, so less than a grand prix, for most of the winter testing last year and that's just because the car's more reliable.

"So we go into the season with seven test days left in Jerez and Barcelona - before we go to Melbourne and we know we're not the quickest, we know we're not the slowest and we know we're more reliable than last year.

"The unknowns are where do we sit in that mix."

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