Kubica: BMW not yet ready to win races

The 23-year-old, who has not finished off the podium in 2008 and took his first Formula One pole position in Bahrain, says he still thinks it is too early to expect BMW to be able to challenge Ferrari and McLaren for wins, without an element of luck intervening.

Talking about the possibilities of BMW's consistency allowing him to fight for the world title this year, Kubica said: "Let's put it this way: if every single race some of the top four drivers go off and have problems and you have no problems and are always consistent, there is always the chance."

"But pace wise, for now, we are not able to win a race," he added.

"But we have shown in Malaysia and Bahrain that we are not very far away, especially in Bahrain. But also in Bahrain there was quite a big difference between the pace of [Felipe] Massa and [Kimi] Raikkonen.

"I think the key of this season will be consistency to be always on top, and even if you will not win races then maybe you can achieve something very good."

Asked how far away he was from his maiden grand prix victory, Kubica replied: "I don't know."

"I was quite upset after Australia because I missed pole in qualifying, as I thought that the opportunity will not come so quickly again," he added. "But it came in Bahrain.

"Okay, we were lighter by four laps than Massa, but still we were able to use this opportunity and still did quite a good race.

"If we are talking about winning a race with pure pace then I think we are not ready, but we are working because this is the target of the team.

"But it can happen that there is a crazy race like in Fuji or the Hungaroring 2006 where anything can happen. So we will see."