Controversy surrounded the Red Bull and Toro Rosso teams during the 2007 launch season as a row over customer cars erupted.

However, the most pressing reliability issue was the introduction of a seamless-shift gearbox to the car, which resulted in numerous race retirements for both Mark Webber and David Coulthard, such as at the Monaco and Canadian Grands Prix respectively.

[5] Towards the middle of the season, after being frustrated by continuous retirements at the expense of championship points, team principal Christian Horner put into place a strict and thorough method to deal with and eradicate any mechanical unreliability,[6] which along with the appointment of Geoff Willis (formerly of the Williams and BAR/Honda teams), was expected to provide better results in the 2008 season.

The car's best result was in the hands of Mark Webber, when he scored a podium in changeable conditions at the 2007 European Grand Prix.

At the British Grand Prix, the RB3s sported a livery of fan-submitted images as part of a one-off event for the charity Wings for Life.