Q&A: Dr Mario Theissen - EXCLUSIVE.

by Russell Atkins

TO HEAR THE INTERVIEW IN FULL: CLICK HERE

BMW firmly established itself as the third-quickest team in Formula 1 in 2007, but with a gap ahead to Ferrari and McLaren and a similar gap behind to the chasing pack, drivers Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica occasionally found themselves with only each other to battle against during the races.

That is a scenario the German outfit's motorsport director Dr Mario Theissen hopes will not be repeated in 2008, as BMW bids to step up a gear and really take the fight to McLaren and Ferrari at the head of the pack. The 55-year-old spoke to Crash.net Radio about his feelings in the lead-up to the forthcoming campaign...

Q:
Mario, Happy New Year first of all. How excited are you about the new Formula 1 campaign?

Mario Theissen:
I'm really excited about the new car, I have to say. I've closely watched its development, but it was the first time for me to see it in its full livery [at the launch], and it looks fantastic.

Q:
With all the changes to the regulations this year - including the ban on traction control and the introduction of the new standard ECU transmission - has that meant more hard work than usual over the winter months?

MT:
On the powertrain side, definitely. One has to say we have had less work with the combustion engine itself, but a lot of work on the electronics and transmission, and we have started to work already on the Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS) for 2009.

Q:
How pleased are you with your two drivers, Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica? Obviously they both drove for the team last year too - how important is it to have that continuity?

MT:
Continuity is important; it's not just about talent in Formula 1 as a racing driver. It's also about passion, about experience, about professionalism, and I think we have two strong drivers. Nick is quite experienced already - he can do anything with the right car - and Robert has very good prospects. I hope he will have a strong season to enable him to really go for victories in the future.

Q:
BMW scored points in every single race in 2007. How tough will it be to emulate that in 2008?

MT:
It's always tough; you can never rest on what you have achieved the year before, but we are confident we have taken the next step. We're looking forwards, not backwards.

Q:
You talk about the next step. Back when you launched BMW's F1 programme the aim was for points in 2006 and podiums in 2007. You achieved all that, so surely the next step now is victory?

MT:
Yeah, that's true. We want to win our first race in 2008.

Q:
How difficult will that be with opposition of the calibre of McLaren, Ferrari and Renault..?

MT:
Obviously it will be very tough. Not only were these teams [McLaren and Ferrari] about half a second quicker than us last year, but they also have the strongest development capacity, so if we want to catch them it means we have to gain half a second more than them.

Q:
So the ultimate target for 2008 would be..?

MT:
To turn the fight between two teams at the front into a fight between three.

TO HEAR THE INTERVIEW IN FULL: CLICK HERE