Formula 1
BMW targets 2008 victories
In its debut year as a fully fledged Formula One team BMW finished fifth overall in the standings and scored two podium finishes, something that motorsport director Mario Theissen had not expected this season. The aim had been to fight for podiums ...
Published: Nov 30, 2006, 12:30 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
In its debut year as a fully fledged Formula One team BMW finished fifth overall in the standings and scored two podium finishes, something that motorsport director Mario Theissen had not expected this season. The aim had been to fight for podiums in 2007 but Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica delivered a third place apiece this year, much to BMW's satisfaction.
Dr. Mario Theissen.
Photo by Nikki Reynolds.
It was a pretty good result overall for a first season but, naturally, BMW's long-term plans involve a lot more than the occasional visit to the podium. Theissen hopes the team will be fighting to be up there on a regular basis next season and come 2008 the top step is the goal.
"The target is to challenge for victories," he said at the Formula BMW World Final at Valencia. "You need a competitive car to win a race but then you need an experienced team on top of that to win a championship and that's a different matter. But in 2008 we want to be in a position to win races."
Theissen expects the teams that finished ahead of BMW this year -- Renault, Ferrari, McLaren and Honda -- to be the ones to beat again next season. The gap between BMW and fourth placed Honda was 50 points so it's evident that there's a lot more work to be done before BMW can join the fight for the title.
"You see the four teams in front of us, there is quite a big gap in terms of points, so these four will be hard to beat next year," Theissen commented. "They apparently have the resources and the position right now to be the top four again. I would expect these four teams to be the ones who fight for the championship."
One name missing from the list of those that could be title challengers is Williams. The team had a poor 2006 season, to put it politely, and only scored 11 points which left it three places behind previous engine partner BMW in the standings. From their years together Theissen knows Williams well, so can the team bounce back?
"They certainly can come back," he stated. "It was very sad to see what happened this year, I think almost everything went wrong and that will not happen again." He wouldn't speculate on the reasons for Williams' problems but conceded that losing a manufacturer partnership was one factor. "To a certain extent it probably was, but not only that."
BMW's own development for 2007 is something that Theissen is happy with and the new car is coming along nicely. "It's on track. Well, it's on schedule, not actually on track!" He laughed. "We'll only know then how it is but so far the numbers are right, the progress is okay. We're ahead of schedule compared to last year, so I'm confident."
With winter testing under way the previous Michelin teams now have the task of acclimatizing to the Bridgestone rubber. Sauber was formerly a Bridgestone partner but Theissen doesn't think that will give BMW a head start over the other teams.
"No advantage, no," he said about the possibility. "I think, I hope, that everybody has to learn from scratch. I hope the tyres will be significantly different from what Bridgestone had this year and it will be a learning period for everybody. It will certainly be the number one test item in the coming weeks."
BMW Sauber is currently on the test track at Barcelona and Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica were fourth and seventh fastest respectively of the 16-car field on the first day out.
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article USGP 2007 broadcast company named
Next article Renault interview with White
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Robert Kubica
Missing out on Ferrari F1 drive felt like "bleeding" to Robert Kubica
Formula 1
Formula 1
Barcelona-Catalunya GP
Missing out on Ferrari F1 drive felt like "bleeding" to Robert Kubica
You Ask The Questions: Robert Kubica
Formula 1
You Ask The Questions: Robert Kubica
What would you like to ask Robert Kubica?
WEC
What would you like to ask Robert Kubica?
More from
Ferrari
Charles Leclerc blames Mexico GP clash on track layout - Fred Vasseur disagrees
Formula 1
Formula 1
Mexican GP
Charles Leclerc blames Mexico GP clash on track layout - Fred Vasseur disagrees
Latest news
Honda names Jake Dixon as Joan Mir's substitute for Qatar GP
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Malaysian GP
1 min
Honda names Jake Dixon as Joan Mir's substitute for Qatar GP
2026 MotoGP Qatar Grand Prix – How to watch, session times & more
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Qatar GP
24 min
2026 MotoGP Qatar Grand Prix – How to watch, session times & more
Liam Lawson’s remarkable form is giving Red Bull a headache for 2027
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Mexican GP
14 h
Liam Lawson’s remarkable form is giving Red Bull a headache for 2027
Hanley Motorsports announces multi-class IMSA arrival with BMW support and DXDT deal
IMSA
IMSA IMSA 14 h
Hanley Motorsports announces multi-class IMSA arrival with BMW support and DXDT deal
Feature
Discover prime content
Top 10 F1 cars of the 1960s
Formula 1
By Kevin Turner
Top 10 F1 cars of the 1960s
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe