BMW stronger than expected, says Heidfeld

"It's better than expected after the winter time, of course," Heidfeld told reporters at Barcelona. "But it could also be better. It can always be better.

"We could have more points, but then again most of the teams can say that. For Ferrari and McLaren it has not been perfect and it's the same for us.

"We are leading the championship and I'm second, but I think it could have been a bit better," added the German.

BMW are leading the constructors' championship after having finished on the podium in all three races so far, and team boss Mario Theissen is adamant his squad are now a top team like Ferrari and McLaren.

The Hinwil-based outfit endured a troubled start to winter testing, with their F1.08 car having balance problems.

Heidfeld says that, despite their problems, he already knew BMW were on the right path before the start of the season in Australia.

"I already knew at the end of winter testing that we were quite good, but people somehow didn't listen," he said.

"They preferred to look at the first comments and the problems we had. But we already knew that we had made big progress. But we didn't expect to be this good.

"We have been the second best team and we are leading the championship. A couple of months ago I wouldn't have believed that."

The German driver reckons BMW do not have the pace to win on form yet, but he is hopeful the team will manage to close the gap during the season.

"Well, so far we haven't been able to win races. We have three races behind us and three podiums, but there were always cars that were quicker.

"But hopefully before the end of the season we can win a race in our own power. Right now we can't, but we are working hard on it."