From DE 10 2009 047 931 A1 is known a method for determining the distance and relative velocity of a distant object, wherein for the determination of these parameters a radar system has a transmitting unit, a receiving unit and a voltage-controlled oscillator. The transmitting unit emits a signal, wherein the echo on the signal is received by the receiving unit. By means of a distance analysis, the distance and relative velocity of a distant object can then be determined. In the event that the received reflected signal should be too weak for analysis, it is the state of the art to amplify this signal by a switchable reception amplifier. However, it has been found to be disadvantageous that the functionality of the switchable reception amplifier can only take place via a plausibility check of the received signal. This means that in case of an incorrect amplification of a sufficiently strong received signal, the signal will be distorted, which may lead to failures of the entire radar system. In the opposite case, i.e. if due to a defect the reception amplifier is not turned with in a weak signal reception, the range of the detection of a remote object by the radar system may be substantially reduced.