BMW ahead of McLaren, Ferrari

(GMM) Felipe Massa says the BMW-Sauber team has got off to the best start of all in the 2007 pre-season. Ferrari's Brazilian ace suggested to an Italian newspaper that Nick Heidfeld and Polish rookie Robert Kubica could be about to join the usual 'big three' front runners including Renault and McLaren this year.

"The McLaren definitely looks quick but for me the BMW is the best of all at the moment," Massa, 25, told the La Gazzetta dello Sport daily.

At the Jerez and Valencia test tracks, Massa observed that Hinwil based BMW's new F1.07 might not be ultimately the quickest, but it boasts "impressive" consistency over long runs.

He said: "The McLaren is the quickest over a single lap but BMW are impressively consistent even if maybe they are not yet the most reliable.

"For now, I put them ahead of Ferrari and McLaren."

Massa also admitted that Ferrari, whose driver lineup for this year features Kimi Raikkonen in the place of Michael Schumacher, is having "a few problems" so far this winter.

"But we know how to fix them," he added.