MANAMA, April 6, 2008 (AFP) - A confident BMW team marched away from Sunday´s Bahrain Grand Prix filled with belief that they can build on their successful start to the Formula One season and challenge for the championships.

Team chief Mario Theissen celebrated drivers Pole Robert Kubica and German Nick Heidfeld´s third and fourth placed finishes respectively - and said his team would to exploit its potential and improve.

"A third podium in the third race!" he said.

"This was really a tailor-made start to the season for our team. Finishing third and fourth in Bahrain with Robert and Nick was a very good result.

"Our performance gives everybody extra motivation for the coming weeks. Both drivers lost positions at the start, the reason may be technical and must be analysed.

"But later on both drove excellent races and the pit stops went perfectly. In the end the gap to the Ferraris was really small.

"The car still has more potential for us to exploit, and we shall continue to do this carefully one step at a time."

BMW´s consistency has lifted them to the top of the Constructors World Championship for the first time.

Kubica, the first Pole to start a Grand Prix race from pole position, said: "I am happy with the result. This is my second consecutive podium and the team is leading the constructors´ championship.

"Unfortunately I had massive wheel spin at the start and hit some debris in the first corner of the second lap. When I drove through the oil I was sure I had punctured my tyre as at that point I didn´t have the information about the oil.

"But this was a great day for the team."

Heidfeld said: "I´m much happier than I was yesterday. Having finished fourth is a positive result after what was a difficult weekend for me. The car´s balance on this track was just not how I wanted it to be.

"I hope I won´t have such troubles again. Finishing the race just one position behind my team-mate, who started from pole while I was sixth, is a good result.

"I enjoyed overtaking Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen. Once again for us in the team everything went smoothly."