BMW Sauber boss Mario Theissen has vowed to continue an aggressive approach that has seen his team make a remarkable start to the new Formula One season.

For the first time in their history, BMW Sauber stand at the top of the constructors' championship standings, and are the only team to have been on the podium in the opening three grands prix.

BMW's consistency has so far not been matched by either Ferrari or McLaren as the two traditional powerhouses have had their ups and downs.

Yesterday's Bahrain Grand Prix was a miserable one for McLaren, and Lewis Hamilton in particular, whilst in stark contrast the Ferraris enjoyed a one-two finish spearheaded by Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen.

Although Robert Kubica failed to hold on to the first pole of his career, his eventual third place and fourth for team-mate Nick Heidfeld means BMW lead the way by a point from Ferrari.

Theissen was unaware of his team's breakthrough until informed of the fact some time after the race, yet whilst there was no hiding his natural delight, he was quick to put matters into perspective.

"It's true we are ahead of schedule - which concerns me a bit because if we go on like this we will get criticised for third or fourth place in future!" joked Theissen.

He added: "But I'm extremely delighted to see how close we were to the two cars in front of us at the finish.

"I would say throughout the weekend we were certainly second in terms of performance.

"The next race (Spanish Grand Prix) in Barcelona will be pretty interesting for two reasons.

"The track is very relevant to what we see for the rest of the year, and on the other hand, every team will have a development package for Barcelona.

"So after Barcelona we will be able to judge where we really are.

"But I can assure you we will still be as aggressive as we have planned.

"It doesn't change our overall plan because that is still to win our first race this year, and we haven't achieved that so far.

"I'm sure it will come, maybe not right away on merit, but anything can happen in a race."

Although McLaren were alarmingly off the pace in Bahrain, Theissen is refusing to believe the Woking-based team will not be strong again this season.

Dismissing suggestions of a two-way title fight between Ferrari and BMW, Theissen added: "I don't think so.

"If we look at the past three races, not one team has performed perfectly at all of them.

"In Bahrain, McLaren were not up to their real performance, whereas Barcelona has always been a McLaren track, so let's wait and see what happens there.

"Although over the weekend we were clearly quicker than McLaren, I would rather say it's a fight between three top teams.

"It all depends on the track or on the form you have at the weekend as to who is first."

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