Coulthard raced and beat Williams' Mark Webber in Australia

The Scot admits he was helped by rain in qualifying, but insists his result was gained on merit.

"If you look at our race pace we were quicker than Williams and McLaren had some problems as well. We raced to get those points," he said.

Coulthard said he had been impressed by Red Bull's car and Cosworth engine.

The team were formed out of the ashes of Jaguar, after owner Ford sold its team last autumn.

Ford also sold its engine supply company Cosworth, which is now run by the bosses of the US-based Champ Car World Series.

Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz has hired a new management team and wanted Coulthard because of his vast experience of F1 after 11 years driving for Williams and McLaren.

The days of going for victories are probably not there any more for me but that doesn't mean I've lost the desire to win Grands Prix David Coulthard

Coulthard said: "[In] winter testing we had some good runs but I kept thinking maybe others are just being conservative with what they are doing with fuel or what have you.

"I knew the car felt an improvement on the Jaguar. I think Cosworth have done a good job.

"Power-wise I don't expect we are the best but we are certainly not embarrassing ourselves with horsepower. The car and engine are reliable."

Coulthard admitted his chances of adding to his tally of 13 wins were not great, but said he remained as committed as ever to racing in F1.

"The days of going for victories are probably not there any more for me but that doesn't mean I've lost the desire to win Grands Prix and do a good job.

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"There's no secret to what Red Bull have to do here if they want to get long-term success. It's going to take money and it's going to take time but we are already attracting people from other teams who see this as being something different.

"It's a small racing team that can react because we can get to the guy and make a decision, we don't have to go to a boardroom.

"We just have to come up with ideas to make it go quicker."