Red Bull

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Red Bull is in effect Jaguar Racing rebranded, with the energy-drinks company buying the Milton Keynes-based team in November after Ford had put the outfit on sale at the end of the 2004 campaign.

However, before they'd even competed in their first grand prix Red Bull Racing had already courted controversy by sacking former bosses David Pitchforth and Tony Purnell when the pair apparently disagreed with the Red Bull hierarchy over the signing of David Coulthard.

Bereft of preparation time, Red Bull were also forced to use a car inherited from Jaguar and expectations were low ahead of their debut season.

New team boss Christian Horner was merely aiming to "lay solid foundations for the future." And what a foundation it was!

Coulthard's arrival proved to be what the team needed to give them wings' and, together with team-mates Christian Klien and Tonio Liuzzi, ensured RBR began the 2005 championship by scoring points in seven of the first eight races.

The team scored points in a further five races and finished seventh in the constructors' championship on 34 points - only four behind BAR.

Coulthard's influence was also felt away from the track as he played an integral role in convincing design guru Adrian Newey to leave McLaren and head to the team. It was the coup of the season and boded well for Red Bull's 2006 campaign.

Klien started the season well, bagging Red Bull Racing's first point of the season at race two, the Bahrian Grand Prix, while Coulthard added a further point to the team's tally at the following race in Australia.

However, it was already clear that the overheating problems that plagued the RB2 during pre-season testing had yet to be resolved and during the first six events of the season, the team suffered a total of seven retirements.

Coulthard, though, gave the team a huge boost when he claimed Red Bull Racing's maiden podium finish at the Monaco Grand Prix, soaking up the champagne while wearing a Superman cape.

The team began sliding backwards down the field as they called a halt to all development work on the RB2 by July's German Grand Prix, choosing instead to focus Newey's efforts on their 2007 car.

A month later, the team announced that Christian Klien was on his way out and would be replaced by Mark Webber for the 2007 season. Klien was later replaced by Robert Doornbos for the final three races of the season after he turned down the chance to race for Red Bull in the U.S-based Champ Car series.

Red Bull eventually finished the season down in seventh place in the Constructors' Championship.

However, in 2007 with Webber and Coulthard racing the RB3, a car designed completely by Newey and powered by Renault, the team expected a much-improved season. It was not to be.

Reliability issues dogged the team from the very start of the season with a total of nine technical or mechnical failures hampering any chance of progress.The team were also not helped by the five crashes either that Coulthard and Webber wracked up between them.

The team, though, did achieve one podium finish when Webber completed the German GP in third place and he could have had another in Japan, when he was in second place before being knocked out of the grand prix by Toro Rosso driver Sebastian Vettel.

And although the team improved to finish in the Constructors' Championship, 2007 is not a season that can be hailed as a success in any way for the Red Bull Racing outfit.

In 2008 the team has opted to retain Coulthard and Webber as their two drivers, but unless Newey can produce a reliable and quick car, expect another year of disappointments and watching from the sidelines.