Coulthard reveals Red Bull 'challenge' he was 'never a fan of'

David Coulthard admits he did not agree with Red Bull's decision to purchase a second F1 team, saying it made the early days for the Milton Keynes squad more "challenging".

The 53-year-old joined Red Bull for its debut F1 season in 2005 and the energy drinks giant went on to purchase the Minardi team, turning it into Toro Rosso for the following year.

However, the Scotsman, who had extensive experience in F1 with both Williams and McLaren, would have preferred the team invested in a works engine deal - or even the development of its own engine, as it has since done.

Speaking of the early days at the now six-times constructors' champions, which has converted the former Stewart and Jaguar team into an F1 powerhouse, Coulthard explained how hands-on and involved he was at the fledgling team.

“We’d go to Salzburg and meet Dietrich [Mateschitz] after the grand prix, explain what we’d achieved, what we needed, how things were evolving," the 13-time grand prix winner told PlanetF1.com.

"Things like tyre choices. Why we wanted Michelin or Bridgestone or wherever the choice was."

'I was never a big fan of the Toro Rosso acquisition and I made that very clear'

Red Bull, and Toro Rosso - which has since become AlphaTauri and more recently RB - used customer engines until it forged its relationship with Honda, a partnership that started in 2019.

When Honda opted to drop out of F1 for the 2022 season, Red Bull made the bold call to go it alone, becoming a true works team with the creation of Red Bull PowerTrains (RBPT).

Whilst Honda U-turned on its decision, re-entering its deal with the Milton Keynes team, it was only on a temporary basis, with Red Bull too far along in its 2026 power unit development to provide the same terms as before.

At the end of next season, Honda will team up with Aston Martin and Red Bull will start a technical alliance with Ford.

As Red Bull celebrates its 20th season in F1, it is a move Coulthard would have liked to have seen whilst he was still racing for the team prior to his retirement at the conclusion of 2008.

“[At the start] it was key steps, things that we needed back in those days. The engine, we were a customer to Cosworth and then we were a customer to Ferrari and then we were a customer to Renault," he explained.

"Being a customer, it’s not a great place to be when you’ve been used to being a works team."

Coulthard felt owning Toro Rosso got in the way of priorities the team should have had in the early days, detailing how open he was with Dietrich Mateschitz, who founded Red Bull, about the direction.

The 'junior team' has since become a proving ground for young Red Bull drivers and at times owning a second F1 team, in a paddock of just 10, has been a masterstroke.

“So that was one area that in many ways, they got to know where I would have liked them to have been way back," Coulthard added.

"Because I always felt like I was never a big fan of the Toro Rosso acquisition and I made that very clear to Dietrich at the time, because I was like, ‘It’s difficult enough to win with one team. Why would we want the distraction of a second team?’

“It was a marketing thing and it’s found its place. But in the early days, it was challenging to have those two resources when I would have preferred to invest in an engine.

"Buying Cosworth and making a Red Bull engine, something like that would have been my vision. But it turned out okay for the team.”