BMW has announced its intention to withdraw from Formula One at the end of the current racing season. Following a board meeting in Munich on Tuesday, the decision to quit comes on the eve of signing the new Concorde agreement, commiting all the existing teams to the sport until 2012.
The decision comes as a surprise, for BMW bosses were involved in the drafting of this agreement, which in large part moves to reduce costs and increase revenues for F1 teams.
All car manufacturers are tightening their belts in order to deal with the economic downturn. Chairman of the BMW board, Dr Norbert Reithofer, said the decision to axe F1 from its portfolio of racing and marketing activities was part of the company's "strategic realignment", and resources will be switched to developing new drive technologies and projects in the field of sustainability.
BMW bought the small Sauber team in 2006 and impressed immediately, finishing second in the constructors' championship the following year - thanks to McLaren's exclusion - and won what would turn out to be its sole victory last year in Canada. However, this year's car has raced at the back of the field. Hopes of fighting for the title were dashed, and while teams like McLaren and Ferrari started poorly but have now got up to speed, BMW-Sauber is still languishing at the bottom of the time sheets.
It is hoped that the team will either be repurchased by its original owner, Peter Sauber, who established the F1 team in 1993, or bought by new investors - such as Prodrive or Lola, both of which were prevented from entering the 2010 championship by the FIA, in favour of new teams Manor, Campos and US F1. Sauber himself says he was shocked by BMW's decision and thinks the team will struggle to survive. "The position we are now in makes it very difficult," said the 65 year-old.
There is now concern that the Toyota and Renault teams could follow BMW out the door, leaving only Mercedes-Benz and Ferrari as F1 manufacturers. A Toyota Motor Corporation spokesman said: "Through cost reduction we will continue our Formula One activities. Our situation remains unchanged."
If BMW's decision was made to cut costs, it does vindicate Max Mosley who had campaigned for a £40 million budget cap, which was opposed by eight of the teams - including BMW - for being too restrictive. However, there is speculation that BMW's withdrawl may have more to do with F1's increasingly unsavory image, promoted by Mosley's S&M scandal and Bernie Ecclestone's recent comments about Adolf Hitler, which was vilified in the German press. Also, the BMW-Sauber team's performances this season have been disappointing, though to quit after one season's hiccup would be very short-term thinking.
With the highly-rated Robert Kubica now on the market, it seems very likely we will see him racing for Ferrari soon, replacing the injured Felipe Massa.
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