Heidfeld hopeful BMW can fight for third

The German squad showed impressive form in winter testing and confirmed their pace in the season-opening race in Australia, with Heidfeld qualifying in third and finishing in fourth.

His teammate Robert Kubica was running strongly too until he was forced into retirement due to a gearbox problem.

BMW finished in fifth place last season, but they appeared to be the third strongest team in Australia behind Ferrari and McLaren.

Although the team admitted ahead of the start of the year that their goal for 2007 was to close the gap to the top four, Heidfeld is hoping they will be able to stay in the top three.

"Our goal before the start of the season was to reach fourth place in the championship... From my point of view that would have been already a success," Heidfeld told Auto Motor und Sport magazine in an interview.

"But now that we have had such a strong start to the season and we are fighting for third place of course I would like to stay there, and I very much hope that we can achieve that."

Heidfeld, who has been tipped by BMW boss Mario Theissen to be a world champion in the future, has a contract with the team just until the end of this season.

The German says, however, that he is not concerned about his future.

"Actually for me it doesn't make a difference because it's not a new situation," he said. "Firstly, I've been in Formula One for some years now, and secondly when I'm sitting inside the car I don't think about those things at all, I just try to do my best, as usual."