Dietrich Mateschitz said he wants the Scot and Red Bull team-mate Christian Klien to prove they deserve a place in the team in 2007 by finishing in the points at every race this season - starting at Sunday's British Grand Prix.
The Austrian, who is so rich he owns two Formula One teams, has forked out £3million to hire star designer Adrian Newey to draw next year's Red Bull racer.
And he reckons the new aero package and improved aerodynamics debuting at Silverstone will make the car fast enough to be a top eight finisher at every race.
"Clearly progress must come from our drivers," said Mateschitz. "So far they have been unlucky. They have had to live with technical failures we are not used to.
"But their performance was at some stage disappointing too. If they want to drive the Newey car next season they have to qualify for it."