David Coulthard believes Red Bull has the opportunity to steal a march on its competitors in 2009 due to the radical new technical regulations.

Next season will see the introduction of Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems (KERS), brand new aerodynamic parameters and the return of slick tyres.

Coulthard, who is working as consultant for the team after retiring from racing last year, believes the overhaul in the regulations will give Red Bull’s renowned chief designer Adrian Newey the opportunity to shine, as he did when he was at McLaren with Coulthard in the late nineties.

“We’re seeing a vast change in the regulations,” Coulthard said in an interview with itv.com/f1 at the Autosport International Show.
“The last time we had such a big change was in 1998 when we went to narrow track cars with the grooved tyres and it was Adrian’s design team that stole the march on the new regs back then, so this could well be one of those opportunities again.”

The Scot added that the team’s decision to launch the car later than its rivals could also play into its hands as it allowed Newey a longer gestation period with the new RB5.

“RBR has spent a bit longer in research and wind tunnel time and the car will be on track later than a lot of other teams [February 9], but that was a conscious decision to try and maximise the study [of the new rules],” said Coulthard.

“Time will tell whether that has been a successful exercise or not but I think there are a lot of positive things for Red Bull Technology that will have a knock-on effect for Red Bull Racing and Toro Rosso.”

Coulthard also believes RBR will benefit from the FIA's decision to allow its engine supplier Renault to make changes to its 'frozen' engines before the new season.

The French manufacturer lost ground to its rivals in the power stakes last year after failing to exploit the loopholes that existed in the homologation rules.

But Coulthard reckons an updated Renault V8 will help RBR reach its full potential next season.

“The FIA has allowed the equalisation of the Renault engine, they’ve allowed changes to be made there,” he said.

“We said last year there was a performance difference between Renault and Ferrari and that was why Toro Rosso were getting better results and some people said ‘they’re just looking for an excuse’.

“Well there is no way the FIA would have allowed only one engine manufacturer to make adjustments within the engine freeze if it wasn’t a fact that the performance wasn’t as good as it could be – so I think that is going to help the team.”

source[www.itv-f1.com]