Jun.8 (GMM) BMW-Sauber wants to keep on-form Polish driver Robert Kubica at the wheel of a Hinwil built formula one car, team boss Mario Theissen admits.
The natural term of the 23-year-old's contract expires this year, but it is believed that BMW have a one-sided option to prolong the agreement to include 2009.Asked whether the German squad wants to keep him on board, Theissen told the newspaper Bild am Sonntag: "I have no reason to want something else."The race may however be on to capture Kubica's longer term services, amid rumours in La Gazzetta dello Sport that Ferrari is actually keener on the Pole than it is on Fernando Alonso, who is looking to return to the front of the grid as soon as possible.The Italian sports daily reports that Ferrari has already made initial contacts with Kubica, who is apparently the Maranello based team's first priority should Kimi Raikkonen indeed decide to hang up his helmet."Yes, we will be talking with him later this year about a new contract," BMW's Theissen explained, amid speculation that Kubica currently earns 5 million euros per season.BMW could also become an option for Alonso, with Theissen hinting to Bild am Sonntag that Nick Heidfeld "must improve" his current form if he expects to continue to receive the team's loyalty.After hearing about Raikkonen's comments in Canada that retirement could be an option after 2009, Alonso insists that his only current target is to reclaim his winning ways."I have been through the same thing," Alonso said in an interview with France's L'Equipe."Two years ago I thought my career would not last so long -- I had won two titles and needed a new challenge."But now I know I will continue because I want to win again and prove that I am the best," the Spaniard said.
