Only a few hours separated the presentations of their new cars, but the two German firms involved in Formula One are worlds apart.

For Mercedes and partner McLaren with newcomer and double world champion Fernando Alonso, only the title counts in 2007. For BMW, anything more than a podium place remains a dream.

The Bavarian carmaker concedes that it won't be ready for a championship challenge for another two years - unlike McLaren-Mercedes which is expected to be battling Ferrari and Renault for the main honours.

"Mercedes has a different level of expectations than BMW this season. This year it won't be a battle of equals," said BMW motorsport director Mario Theissen.

BMW, with an estimated budget of 330 million euros (436 million dollars) and a team of some 770, builds its own engine and chassis in Munich and Hinwill in Switzerland.

Mercedes, with 40-per-cent share, is the biggest stakeholder in the McLaren team after 30 per cent was bought by the Bahrain royal family.

A team of around 800 under team chief Ron Dennis is working hard to make sure that the 2006 season without a victory - the first for 10 years - is soon forgotten. With a budget of 375 million euros, Mercedes delivers the engines while McLaren builds the chassis.

The British-German partnership goes back to 1995, with the biggest successes being the 1998 and 1999 drivers' (Mika Hakkinen) and constructors' championship wins.

Dennis has promised to provide a "winner's car" for Spanish driver Alonso who brings the number 1 with him from Renault.

BMW-Sauber managed to finish fifth in the 2006 season, two places behind McLaren-Mercedes. However, BMW have done better in the past - as engine provider for Brabham when Brazilian Nelson Piquet won the 1983 title.

Four years later, BMW left Formula One and did not return until 2000, teaming up with Williams and the drivers Ralf Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya. The team was always in the running without managing to win the title, and the partnership broke up after the 2005 season.

On its own now, BMW wants to be challenging for the title in two years. It lacks a really top driver. German Nick Heidfeld is regarded as an excellent developer, while number 2 Robert Kubica from Poland is at 22 a highly-rated young talent who last season gave the team one of its two podium places.

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