BMW to leave Formula One at end of 2009

[modbaraban]

Any word from Peter Sauber yet? I'd love him to come back. Unlike these 'new teams' his was a real formula one team and should be after BMW leaves.

[timbo]

Seems like a damn good chance for David Richards.
Although I'm not sure he would like to have separate business in Switzerland - but two windtunnels and our buddy Albert if price is right?

...oops, wasn't it Albert who made a decision?

[sticky667]

one of the driving forces behind FOTA suddenly realizes they have shot themselves in the foot and thus commits suicide?

sounds like another German with a mustache...

[sticky667]

Seems like a damn good chance for David Richards.
Although I'm not sure he would like to have separate business in Switzerland - but two windtunnels and our buddy Albert if price is right?

...oops, wasn't it Albert who made a decision?

great opportunity for Alex Wurz and Superfund as they are based in Switz.

full factory and state of the art gear with 2010 development already in the works.

[ESPImperium]

Seems like a damn good chance for David Richards.
Although I'm not sure he would like to have separate business in Switzerland - but two windtunnels and our buddy Albert if price is right?

...oops, wasn't it Albert who made a decision?

Albert 2 made the F1.09, Albert made the F1.07 and F1.08, both nice and competive cars.

I could be wrong tho.

Bear in mind, if BMW want to do a Honda and realease the team to do a Brawn, it will cost the in the region of $220 Million and a transference of ownership form that in the UK was only £10 to the new owner.

[ISLAMATRON]

Interesting analysis you got there Islam, one of the driving forces behind FOTA suddenly realizes they have shot themselves in the foot and thus commits suicide?

You should share this theory with a wider audience.

They were not one of the Driving forces of FOTA, it is still clear that Ferrari & ToyOTA were/are the head idiots in charge. Read the bullshit FOTA press release and it is clear that they have no vision for the future of F1.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/77406

And the idea of third cars being superior to more teams on the grid is absurd. Throughout the 60's, 70's, & 80's most of the cars on the grid ran the ford engines & hewland gearboxes, is that what made them "kit cars"? The Lotus 72 & 79 ran the ford, were those kit cars? How about the Tyrell P34?

[nudger]

Interesting analysis you got there Islam, one of the driving forces behind FOTA suddenly realizes they have shot themselves in the foot and thus commits suicide?

You should share this theory with a wider audience.

They were not one of the Driving forces of FOTA, it is still clear that Ferrari & ToyOTA were/are the head idiots in charge. Read the bullshit FOTA press release and it is clear that they have no vision for the future of F1.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/77406

And the idea of third cars being superior to more teams on the grid is absurd. Throughout the 60's, 70's, & 80's most of the cars on the grid ran the ford engines & hewland gearboxes, is that what made them "kit cars"? The Lotus 72 & 79 ran the ford, were those kit cars? How about the Tyrell P34?

bmw were certainly one of the teams that were going to quit the evening they announced the breakaway...they were thought to be quite hard line behind the scenes...just they kept it where it belonged, behind closed doors.
some kudos to them for not claiming it was due to the financial crisis though. I think a mclaren mercedes hybred winning a few days earlier was the death nail for them.

[WhiteBlue]

great opportunity for Alex Wurz and Superfund as they are based in Switz.

full factory and state of the art gear with 2010 development already in the works.

an interesting idea!! just a little side issue: Wurz and Superfund are Austrians, not Swiss.

[sknguy]

It's sad that BMW is also pulling out. And there's probably not one simple cause of explaining why. BMW's pullout is a symptom, not an isolated problem.

The KERS development is an after-the-fact technology. It’s the kind of technology the FIA should not have banned in the nineties. Heck, Formula One should’ve begun promoting green technology at the end of the eighties when environmental issues first captured the public’s concerns. However, I do think that both FOM and FIA are out of touch with most of reality anyway.

For my part, the FOM is out of touch because of its slowly changing Formula One from a road racing series to a street racing series. And it asks for ridiculously high sanctioning fees (which god-only-knows how it’s divvied up). Bye-bye Canadian GP, German GP, British GP, Japanese GP? I wouldn’t be surprised if someday Bernie negotiates an indoor race to be held inside some über, upscale shopping mall. A little over the top, but you catch my drift.

As for the FIA, it’s out of touch because they’re trying more and more to control what teams do away from the track. It’s not enough for them to simply control the regulations and races, but they want to control exactly what teams and personnel do off track too, all in the name of cost cutting. Just cap the damn budgets and be done with it already.

It may be true that world-wide viewership is up. But it seems much less about the actual racing these days. I don’t care if it’s Ferrari, BMW, campos or manor, I just want to see the best, build the best, do their best. It is after all the teams and drivers who are the bread and butter of the sport, not the regulators and promoters.

[DaveKillens]

Decisions like this come from the very top, corporate headquarters. The BMW brass looked at the present situation, and what it would be like in the future. It did not lend itself to BMW's involvement Formula One, and BMW will spend their advertising dollars elsewhere.
Personally, I believe the new, proposed Concorde Agreement was the straw that broke the camel's back. BMW took one look at it, and did not like what they saw.

[carvetia]

People are doing a lot of talking, but there's really not that many factors to their decision:
1. All the races in BMW's key markets have either gone, are going, or are very uncertain.
2. Even if those races were to remain, they're not getting the results, therefore...
3. It's a waste of money.

I think people getting nostalgic about the return of non-manufacturer teams are being very naive. There isn't the scope within the rules to allow for a new Williams or whoever it is you remember most fondly, and more importantly, even if there was the potential for innovation, the costs are so high that a small innovative team can't just come along and upset the big guns. It's not even remotely feasible any more.

The evidence is in the results - there hasn't been a succesful new team in years. If even Toyota with its massive budget and BMW with its experience as an engine supplier can't crack it, what hope do the rest have? The only team who did manage it, promptly pulled out prior to this season before having the chance to show what they had achieved. Yet you could argue that even the relative upset this year is only a result of the rule changes, but we can't keep changing the rules every year if there's any hope of reducing costs.

Frankly, i think F1 has peaked, and its formula is no longer viable when you have to introduce so many artificial limitations that weren't necessary previously. If the major teams can already make a car far faster than the driver can handle, were the rules relaxed, then making a car within such obviously artificial restraints is a false challenge.

I think what F1 needs most is to pose a real challenge again, where engineers are working against the limitations of their own ability to innovate, not 'innovating' through creative interpretations of the rulebook. The best way to do this is to challenge their ability to be efficient - give them a limited amount of fuel to finish the race with - then we'll see who is truly innovative... and the best thing of all is, it would actually be vaguely relevant to the real world.

[sticky667]

great opportunity for Alex Wurz and Superfund as they are based in Switz.

full factory and state of the art gear with 2010 development already in the works.

an interesting idea!! just a little side issue: Wurz and Superfund are Austrians, not Swiss.

close enough. just a hop, skip, and a jump!

[void]

Sad news
I hope that some other team like Prodrive or Lola or another team which is out from 2010 entry list buy the old BMW Sauber Team.

[paused]

Personally, I am greatly opposed to 3rd cars ever making up the grid.

I couldn't possibly think of anything worse than one team dominating (such as Ferrari did in 2002 & 2004) and filling the entire podium. To me the most excitement comes when two different teams are fighting for the win. Even 1-2's become ho-hum if too frequent.

[Conceptual]

This is a sad day. BMW has taken the same decision as Honda and will not supply engines.

Although he was not interested when interviewed some months ago (at the age of 66) Peter Sauber is widely expected to continue the team.

The decision is a surprise but one has to say that to a large degree it was caused by the chaotic politics of F1. BMW had the promise by the FIA that issues like environmental sustainebility and road relevance would be pursued. The politics of FOTA have ruined that aproach. The FiA decision to allow DDDs has distorted the 2009 championship and have put the team into a position where success was not possible any more.
It is expected that Toyota will follow BMW's exit very soon. Congratulations to FOTA for destroying Formula 1!

CAn you PLEASE stop crying about this one? Man! Every team has one now, and BMW still cant BUY a podium finish.

BMW stopped development on their 2008 campaign early, to concentrate on 2009, and look where that got them!

Bad decisions have a way of becoming terminal illnesses. KERS and the lack of innovative rule interpretation (DDD) has put them at the back of the pack.

Stop crying, and move on. I cannot tell you how sick I am of the crying over the DDD... But I can see how a BMW fan can manufacture a reality where it is the FIA's fault that their team sucks this year. IT is much easier than accepting the truth. Maybe Dr. Mario shouldn't have been so forceful about KERS, and more forceful about the budget cap? Ya, he might have been racing in F1 next year if he followed a different route. And possibly even have a Championship to his credit had he pushed on in the 2008 development race.