BMW confident F1.08 issues will be solved

The German squad have endured a somewhat difficult start to their testing programme with the new F1.08, which has not proved as competitive as expected following a strong 2007 season.

Rampf says, however, that BMW are already hard at work in order to solve their problems and he is optimistic the car will have the expected pace by the Australian Grand Prix.

The BMW technical director was also positive about the car's reliability record so far.

"In terms of reliability the F1.08 is already very good," said Rampf. "We have covered numerous laps without any noteworthy problems to date. As far as performance is concerned, we are at the start of a comprehensive development phase.

"We have analysed the data from the test drives so far and identified the potential areas concerned.

"By the next test in Barcelona the car will already have received some relevant modifications. Following that, we will be using new components in all the other tests up to the start of the season.

"We have set ourselves an internal target which we aim to meet by Melbourne, and I am confident we will achieve that."