BMW rely on consistency to close gap

"I think performance wise McLaren and Ferrari are quicker than our car and this is unfortunately a fact," Rampf told autosport.com after the British Grand Prix.

"We are quite consistent, we are not far away, we are second in the world championship, Robert is two points behind the leading pack so they are not really gone, they are still in reach and we will do anything to keep the momentum and to gain back more positions.

"Our car is not the quickest, we are not far away, but we are not quickest. The level of points we have now is a combination of a well performing car and very, very few mistakes," added Rampf.

Nick Heidfeld finished in second place at Silverstone to allow BMW to keep second place in the standings, 10 points ahead of McLaren and 14 behind Ferrari.

Robert Kubica, who retired from the race when running in third, dropped from second to fourth in the drivers' championship, but the Pole is just two points away from the leaders.

Rampf reckons BMW's performance in Britain shows their poor form in the French Grand Prix was just a one-off.

"Yeah. It looks like Magny-Cours was something like a performance drip, but we have to be fair," he said. "Ferrari here was not on the pace they expected, they qualified a bit below, normally they are quicker - never underestimate Ferrari."

Rampf admitted the team do not have many more updates planned for this season, but insisted BMW will not give up on closing in on Ferrari and McLaren.

"Not plenty (of updates) because we have to do both cars," Rampf said. "We have to do the F1.09 and the 2008 car, but we will not give up to being close to the lead. But not leading is a huge motivation because we can still do it.

"We just have to reduce the amount of mistakes and make sure everything is running perfectly."