SAO PAULO, BRAZIL - Poland's Robert Kubica said on Thursday that he would regard third place in this year's drivers world championship as a satisfactory result for the season.
The 23-year-old BMW Sauber driver had a chance of the title until the recent Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai, but is not battling to hang on in third. He said: "Ok, maybe I am not fighting for the title or for the win this week, but for me third place is still quite good. I am happy and my approach this time will be to lose as few points as possible to the others and to try and defend my position."
Kubica is currently six points ahead of fourth-placed Ferrari driver defending world champion Finn Kimi Raikkonen.
"I have to make sure I am ahead of him and don't let him catch me," said Kubica, tipped as a future world champion.
"This weekend, my approach is the same as always. Or very similar. It is an important race for me and for the team and we are fighting for important positions.
"I think the prize is a good one for me, from a personal point of view and it is pretty satisfactory. To finish fourth would be a disappointment. I see second as the first loser, but third is good."
Kubica said he had had suffered through lack of development in his BMW Sauber car in the second half of the season as the team switched their attention to a championship challenge in 2009.
