Kubica was convinced he would have won - Theissen

After the season-opener at Melbourne, the Formula One teams will now travel to the hot and humid Malaysia, but not without BMW Motorsport director Mario Theissen has given us a debriefing on the Australian Grand Prix.

Mario Theissen said: "For nearly five months, all those involved in Formula One have eagerly awaited the start of the new season. And - as has often been the case in Melbourne - this weekend's season opener proved to be an extremely turbulent race.

"Nick Heidfeld for instance, lost his chance of securing a good result as early as turn one. Following a collision that was not his fault he had to continue the race not only with a big gap to the rest of the field but also was hampered by the damaged aerodynamics on his car. Consequently, making up the lost ground and battling his way back up the field was just impossible.

"Meanwhile, Robert Kubica drove an excellent race and by the closing stages he had closed in on the leaders. Our strategy worked perfectly. Following a short first stint, he contested the final third of the race on the harder of the two compounds available and had a good chance of passing the two cars ahead of him to win the race. Those two vehicles were racing on the softer compound at this point in time and were unable to match Robert's pace.

"The collision, with just three more laps remaining, cost Robert and Sebastian Vettel their podium finishes and a lot of valuable points. Indeed, Robert was convinced he would have won the race.

"Consequently, the entire team is extremely disappointed. On the other hand, it was positive that we were extremely quick on the harder compound. This performance was better than we had expected. At the same time, Williams and Toyota significantly benefit from their two-step diffusers, with Brawn racing in a class of its own. They demonstrated their true competitiveness in qualifying and during the opening laps of the race.

"KERS had its baptism of fire in Australian. The new Kinetic Energy Recovery system ran trouble-free throughout the weekend. In Melbourne, Nick raced with KERS and Robert without. It's our goal to provide both our drivers with the perfect package for each respective race track, and at Albert Park the KERS-equipped car was clearly faster for Nick while this wasn't the case for Robert.

"The current regulations represent a disadvantage for heavy drivers such as Robert. This, however, isn't a KERS issue but applies to Formula One in general. A situation demonstrated by the fact that many drivers dieted during the off-season. Therefore, as a general solution, we recommend increasing the minimum weight.

"We will continue deciding race by race which solution will represent an advantage for the respective driver. Furthermore, we have not yet succeeded in making full use of the new system's potential. We are currently working on creating a situation which allows KERS to represent an advantage for Robert.

"Following the season opener, which represents a first hint as to the balance of power on this year's Formula One grid, we are travelling to the second round of the season. We are now looking forward to contesting our first 'home' race of the year 2009. Since the founding of our team, back in 2006, we have witnessed year on year that our Premium Partner Petronas has an outstanding significance in Malaysia. And the fantastic way our team is welcomed in Malaysia, always represents an outstanding experience."