Norbert Haug reckons BMW could join the race for F1 wins this season after proving their competitiveness in the opening two races.

While McLaren won in Australia and Ferrari in Malaysia neither team was able to completely dominate, failing to secure the 1-2 and along with it maximum points.

But, surprisingly to some, it wasn't their rival outfit that finished runner-up in either race. Rather it was BMW who claimed back-to-back second places.

The German team's solid performances have put them firmly on the road towards victory, while Haug believes could be imminent.

"Both races were high class and interesting. The first grand prix saw a superiority of both McLaren cars, and the second race was dominated by both Ferraris," he said.

"However, neither Ferrari nor we managed to achieve the 1-2 victory, which seemed a possibility in both races beyond the halfway mark.

"In Melbourne, Heikki was hampered by the third Safety Car period; for Ferrari in Malaysia, it was a driving mistake, by their own account.

"BMW performed well in both grands prix, finishing second twice and without doubt belongs to those teams that are capable of fighting for victories by their own means."

Meanwhile Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali concedes BMW could be the key factor in this year's title race.

"We have seen that BMW also had a great weekend," he said.

"We need to respect them and we will for sure they will be in the middle of the field for sure in order to take points from us and from McLaren, so we need to have a lot of respect for them."

He added: "The Championship will be harder because they will be taking points from us."