David Coulthard believes Red Bull could fulfill team owner Dietrich Mateschitz's wishes by finishing fourth in this year's teams' battle.

Having finished in fifth place last season, Mateschitz made it clear at the beginning of this year's campaign that he wanted his team to improve to fourth place in the standings.

At the time, though, there were some eyebrows raised as Red Bull's P5 the previous season was based largely on McLaren being excluded from the Championship.

This meant that technically if they hoped to achieve fourth place the team would need to outperform their three midfield rivals, Toyota, Williams and Honda.

However, at the previous race in Canada, thanks to Coulthard's third-placed finish, that's exactly what Red Bull did.

Asked if the team's position in the Constructors' Championship came as a surprise to Coulthard, the Scot told the official F1 website: "It's surprising only in that we are competing against such well established teams: Honda, Toyota, Williams and, of course Renault.

"It is a very optimistic goal, but on the other hand it is realistic because if we as a team are going to be a serious team in the future we have to be moving forward each year.

"One thing I am particularly proud of is that when I joined he team it was the challenge of trying to take the team forward. I believed in Mr Mateschitz's commitment financially to find the right people - and obviously I helped to bring in people like Adrian (Newey), and slowly but surely we have taken out those that don't fit within the organisation - and we are moving forward.

"It looks as if the team is building a solid foundation and that is especially satisfying as it shows that I influence the direction not only in the car but outside it as well.

"How long the fourth position will last? There is no reason why we should not be able to maintain that throughout the year. After seven races we've scored more points than Renault, Toyota, Honda and Williams.

"What we need to focus on is to have both cars continue to score points."