BMW adamant they will fight for '09 title

BMW Sauber insist their goal for the 2009 season will be to fight for the championship, although team boss Mario Theissen admits he is not comfortable with the idea

"I don't feel comfortable but it's my own goal too and we have clear targets. F1 is definitely no comfort zone," Theissen told reporters during a BMW motorsports event in Munich over the weekend.

Theissen's comment came following a bold statement from BMW board member Klaus Draeger, who said: "In 2009 we will fight for the championship."

The German squad scored their maiden victory this year, although they were unable to match the development rate of the top teams in the latter part of the year.

In the end, BMW finished in third place in the standings.

Despite the late drop-off, Theissen admitted the team have reached all their goals since taking over the Sauber squad.

"BMW kept its schedule that was set in 2005 after acquiring Sauber: to be in the points in 2006, to be on the podium in 2007, to be on the top podium 2008," said Theissen.

"We made the two-way title campaign a three-way battle in the first half of the season. We did not have the fastest car in 2008, but the overall package counts.

"Reliability was an issue in 2007 and our focus on this in 2008 paid off as we had no single retirement because of a technical failure."