He has now been confirmed as a test driver for this week’s test at Jerez in Spain and will get a chance to prove his abilities against regular testers Vitantonio Liuzzi and Christian Klien.

“I am pleased to have the opportunity to join the team here this week and am really looking forward to getting back behind the wheel of an F1 car,” Coulthard said.

“I have spoken to Dietrich Mateschitz, the new team owner, and it has been good to hear the plans for Red Bull Racing’s future – it is certainly an exciting new team.”

Coulthard was believed to have agreed a move to Jaguar prior to Ford’s decision to sell off the team.

With Tony Purnell and David Pitchforth remaining in charge at the newly-named Red Bull outfit, Coulthard’s chances have always been high of landing one of the two vacant seats.

He insisted at the weekend he will definitely be on the Formula One grid in 2005 and Red Bull now looks his likely destination.

Coulthard, who made his debut for Williams in 1994, remains realistic over Red Bull’s chances, despite the soft drink giant’s cash injection into a team which was widely perceived as being among the best run in Formula One.

He said: “You don’t know until you work inside an organisation, it’s the old thing of saying if I had more money I could do a better job. Ferrari had a lot of money for a lot of years and did nothing.

“It’s not just about money, it’s the right people and spending in the right areas. It’s important for me to know if you add an extra drop of money if performance will pick up.

“You’ve just got to be realistic about what package they have and where they are aiming for.”