BMW confident on Villeneuve's form

The German car manufacturer, who only announced that they were keeping Villeneuve on-board for 2006 after months of deliberation, claim that he has already impressed them during winter testing.

And BMW motorsport director Mario Theissen is upbeat about the prospect for the Canadian, despite comments from former BAR boss David Richards who believes the team have made a mistake in not signing someone else.

"When it came to Jacques Villeneuve, we took our time in making a careful assessment of his performance," said Theissen. "The start of season 2005 was difficult for him for a number of reasons, but then as the year went on he made significant progress.

"He made a good impression during his first test in the Sauber C24B with the BMW V8 engine. We believe he's going to improve further."

Theissen has also confirmed that the team's number one target for their first year as team owners was always Nick Heidfeld, who is joining the outfit from Williams.

"Nick Heidfeld was our favoured driver," he added. "We got to know him at Williams this year as a fast driver with a strong analytical approach. He shows the necessary aggression on the race track when the situation calls for it, and he is able to provide the engineers with sound, detailed feedback."

BMW are launching their new car at Valencia in Spain on January 17 and, although testing with an interim model has not been without its problems this winter, Theissen is confident about the plans that are in place.

"There were several reasons why it was important to us to build a provisional car. On the one hand we wanted to test our P86 engine out on the race track, and on the other it was a matter of fine-tuning the entire engine environment - e.g. cooling, hydraulics and electronics. As expected, not everything ran entirely to order during our three tests in Spain, but there was nothing our engineers can't rectify in the time available.

"We are satisfied with the initial results - and I feel very positive about the way the people from Munich and Hinwil are working together. Everything's happening in an atmosphere that encourages efficient, target-led work. The new car will be rolled out on 17th January during the presentation of the new BMW Sauber F1 Team in Valencia. I am confident that we will have a technically well-functioning package."

But despite feeling confident about certain aspects of the package, Theissen is not letting himself dream that BMW are going to have an easy time in being competitive.

"Things are shaping up nicely at the first stage of assessment," he added. "But that doesn't mean we harbour any illusions. There's a long road ahead and we will negotiate it with perseverance and circumspection."