Grid Crasher rates the team that gives you wings

RED BULL
Drivers Mark Webber (Australia) & David Coulthard (GB)
Championship points 24

Read our verdict on Red Bull below:

The Austrian loopy juice manufacturers should be relatively satisfied after the first half of this season. The team has scored points in seven out of nine grands prix, a stat which proves that Adrian Newey’s RB4 is probably the strongest package outside of Ferrari, McLaren and BMW Sauber. The problem for Red Bull is getting both of its cars to the finish - not once have both Mark Webber and David Coulthard finished in the points in the same GP. That’s clearly not good enough.

So Red Bull should be several points clear of rivals Toyota, but instead they are one point behind them in the constructors’ championship. Frankly, much of the blame for that lies with David Coulthard, who has been involved in far too many racing incidents (or “crashes”, as we like to call them).

The veteran Scot is having a poor season. His problems usually start on Saturday qualifying, when he has only broken into the top 10 on the grid twice in nine attempts. Given the strength of his car, that’s a terrible record. Contrast it with the sterling quali efforts of team-mate Mark Webber, who has started from a top-10 grid position in seven of the nine GPs. DC just isn’t competitive enough and it’s only right that he retires at the end of the year. Webber has destroyed him, so far anyway.

Webber has been strong. He is consistently quick and error-free - although he struggled in the wet (like most drivers) at Silverstone, after a fine quali run. He will keep his seat for 2009, although he has said he would go to a bigger team, if the opportunity arose - we can’t see where that might be though.

Overall, the future looks bright for Red Bull. Webber will continue to deliver, while Coulthard can now relax - he won’t have to put up with rumours that he will be sacked - and do a better job in the second half of the season.

Grade B

Targets for the second half of the season? Move above Toyota in the table and claim fourth spot. Get both drivers into the points - in the same race.