Heidfeld surprised by second row slot

The German driver confirmed BMW Sauber's winter impressive pace with a strong showing in Melbourne, being beaten only by Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen and McLaren's world champion Fernando Alonso.

Heidfeld admitted he was expecting his team to be strong, but was surprised to be so close to the front.

"It is the way we hoped it would turn out after testing, but I didn't expect to be here now in third position," said Heidfeld.

"I was sure we could make it into the top 10, but maybe fifth or sixth."

Heidfeld said he expected world champions Renault to be more competitive, and he believes Ferrari will be the team to beat in tomorrow's race.

"My view is that Ferrari are still ahead, we thought that before we came here, but I am a bit surprised Renault was not a bit quicker today, I expected them to be there as well," the German added.

"But we will see in the race tomorrow. We don't know what fuel other people are running but we can be pleased."

Although BMW have had their share of reliability problems during pre-season testing, Heidfeld is optimistic he will not have problems tomorrow.

"I am happier after speaking to some people in the team who assure me we have done the right thing," he added. "It was quite good, and with similar parts in the test it was a concern. We lost time in testing which wasn't ideal but tomorrow is what counts."

The team's strong day was completed by Robert Kubica finishing in fifth position.