It must be admitted that as one looked ahead to 2009, Nick Heidfeld's seat at BMW was not one of the safest.

Other than the fact that his young teammate Robert Kubica has regularly outshone him, leading the way in the Drivers' Championship, and beating him 12-3 in the in-team qualifying battle, there was also the threat from a certain Mr Alonso, who despite his win in Singapore, knows that BMW is almost capable of giving him regular wins.

Though, since Canada, where Kubica scored the team's maiden GP victory, the German has been the third biggest points scorer, many believed BMW might seek some fresh blood for 2009, someone a little younger, someone who might take the team to the next level. That said, Sebastian Vettel and Timo Glock are both spoken for.

However, just days after Williams confirmed its unchanged line-up for 2009, BMW followed suit, confirming that even Klien's test role is safe.

"I'm very pleased about this announcement and about the confidence that the team have shown in me," Heidfeld told his website on Monday. "I've always said that I was happy to stay with BMW Sauber because we've managed to achieve what we set out to do at this stage and I really hope that we will be battling it out for the title itself next year.

"There have been times this season when neither I nor the team could honestly say that we were satisfied with the way things were going," he added, "but we have always pulled together and come through."