Nick Heidfeld says it will be difficult for BMW Sauber to break the dominance of McLaren and Ferrari in 2008.
German ace says challenging top two "won't be a walk in the park"
Nick Heidfeld has conceded that it will be difficult for BMW Sauber to break the dominance of McLaren-Mercedes and Ferrari in 2008.
The German-Swiss constructor were the surprise package of 2007 as strong form in pre-season testing was backed up throughout the 17-race season, allowing them to emerge as Formula One's 'best of the rest' team.
Various members of the Hinwil-based squad have expressed their ambition of taking race victories in the near future and BMW Sauber hope to be in a position to mount a title bid in 2009.
Challenge
But Heidfeld believes the team faces a major challenge if they are to break the stranglehold that McLaren and Ferrari have on the top four positions on the grid.
"Looking ahead to the coming season you have to admit that the time gap still is a rather big one," the 30-year-old told the team's website. "We always held the position behind the two top teams while remaining ahead of the others.
"This was fantastic for 2007, but catching up half a second in 2008 won't be a walk in the park.
"We are positive about being able to realise the goals we have set ourselves."
Delight
The former Jordan and Williams ace also expressed his delight at outpacing 2005 and 2006 constructors' champions Renault during the season, as he expected to be slower than drivers Giancarlo Fisichella and Heikki Kovalainen.
"Never did I believe that such success would be possible," he said. "I expected Renault, in particular, to be more competitive. After all, they had won the two previous World Championships. I had hoped that we might finish fourth.
"Hence, it came as a big surprise to me that we could beat them and that we were clearly stronger than them in every single race."
