BMW about to pull out of F1?

vikiradTG2007

vikiradTG2007

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http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/77398


F1 braced for BMW exit announcement

By Jonathan Noble and Dieter Rencken Tuesday, July 28th 2009, 21:26 GMT

BMW's future in Formula 1 is in serious doubt tonight amid mounting speculation that the German car manufacturer will announce its withdrawal from the sport at the end of this season, on Wednesday.

An emergency press conference has been called at BMW's headquarters in Munich, where it is suggested that the car company may reveal that it has decided to end its involvement in F1.

The invite to the press conference said it had been called because of 'current developments in motor sport.'

The press conference will be hosted by Dr. Norbert Reithofer, the chairman of the BMW board, Dr. Klaus Draeger, the director for development, and Mario Theissen, BMW motorsport director. The presence of such senior management figures suggests that the announcement will be very significant.

Officials at BMW refused to comment about what the press conference was about, but they did confirm that it was 'important' news.

BMW had hoped to fight for the world championship this year, but instead the F1.09 has fallen short of expectations. Its struggles, allied to the abandonment of its KERS, that BMW had pushed hard for in F1, are likely to have played a part in any decision about the future of the team.

Although BMW Sauber had a difficult start to the season, Theissen has made it clear on several occasions that the team's form had not changed the BMW Board's commitment to F1.

"We analysed and evaluated the situation and the F1 programme with the board prior to the start of the season in February," said Theissen in May. "It was overall a very positive evaluation and judgement, and that hasn't changed.

"Apparently everybody is disappointed about the sporting results, but other than that there is no news and we have not discussed it since."

However, sources suggest that a review meeting was planned for July to decide the future of the team - and this may be behind any announcement planned for the morning.

Should BMW confirm it is pulling out of the sport, it will be the second car manufacturer to do so in eight months - with Honda having announced last December that it was to leave the sport.

The announcement will be more of a surprise, however, because BMW Sauber was on the verge of signing a Concorde Agreement that would have committed the team to F1 until the end of 2012.
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This is gonna throw a whole new spanner in the works...
 
Crap news if this comes to pass. Maybe I'm jumping the gun a bit but "emergency press conference" doesnt sound promising.

It was pretty inevitable the manufacturers would pull out as soon as the going got tough. I reckon Toyota and Renault won't be far behind if BM leaves. And what of Kubica? He must be fuming that the team gave up on last year in order to fail epically this year.

If the team was based in the UK perhaps, at a long shot, Prodrive or Lola or one of the other teams that were turned down for next year could have taken over, but with the team based in Hinwil I imagine finding someone to take over could be difficult. Unless Peter Sauber comes back.

Then again it may be a good thing. Lose some of the manufacturers for more privateers like Williams whose sole business is to go racing.
 
It's really not THAT surprising that BMW might leave F1, they've been spending loads of money and now they are at the back of the field. There was actually a discussion about this in Swedish TV a few weeks ago... So lets hope for the best and prepare for the worst i guess...
 
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So they have one bad season and they quit?

I don't believe that the "emergency meeting" is for this reason, still look at it as a rumor. I wont believe it.
 
Some stuff from twitter:

Murray Walker
Murray_Walker: Just received a telephone call from a moustachioed German, who's name I can not reveal. It's not good news. Keep an eye on the news tomorrow
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F1 Fans
f1_fans: Rumors I heard the other day were, 2 of 3 (BMW, Renault & Toyota) will pull out this year, never thought BMW would/could be the first!
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F1 Scoop
f1scoop: Mutterings from Munich suggest BMW pullout result of board level decision & lack of potential support to automotive sector from German Gov't
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Does not sound good.
 
If this is true, Alan Gow should be thinking long and hard about his new BTCC regulations, as a works team in the series seems far more likely should this pullout occur.
 
Thanks Mario you could have gone out with a bang in 2008, but noooo 2009 was our year. Now get the f*ck out.
 
If this is true you'd think Kubica would either be at McLaren or Renault next season.
 
Not sure why this is such a shock.

They've seen the leadership at FOM and FIA, even w/ the pending change of FIA presidents, that still leaves the little Ceasar running the show. Disjointed, the pending concorde agreement and no hope of stability at any leadership level. Get out while you can.

Add to that the marketing power of F1 is going down the crappers, half full stands at races, millions spent to get to the middle of the grid and a still soft economy, you can't afford to be spending shloads of money on F1 which hardly has the "Win on Sunday sell on Monday" capture...

IMHO, Toytoa should call it quit sooner rather than later as well. I wish Mercedes and Renault would pull the plug too so there could be some semblance of getting F1 back to a privateer sport not a corporate pocket liner for Bernie.

That and I'd rather see a Renault, BMW, Benz and a Toyota banging doors in a BTCC / WTCC series or even an FIA GT2/3 series.
 
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Looks like I'm gonna have to change my username. Is ForzaFerrari taken?
 
According to the schedule, the press conference starts now. Brace yourselves people... we might have a shock in the next hour.


EDIT: http://twitter.com/noblef1

Jonathan Noble(Autosport journalist)'s Twitter:

BMW has confirmed it is quitting F1 at the end of 2009
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EDIT 2: Officially confirmed by the team's website. :(
 
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I liked the BMW alot :(

i really really hope that Kubica can get a seat somewhere else.
 
The team's official statement:

The BMW Group has this morning issued the following:

The BMW Group will not continue its Formula One campaign after the end of the 2009 season. Resources freed up as a result are to be dedicated to the development of new drive technologies and projects in the field of sustainability. BMW will continue to be actively involved in other motor sports series. The landmark decision to restructure BMW Motorsport?s activities was made at the Board of Management?s meeting yesterday.

"Of course, this was a difficult decision for us. But it?s a resolute step in view of our company's strategic realignment," explained Dr. Norbert Reithofer, Chairman of the Board of Management of BMW AG. "Premium will increasingly be defined in terms of sustainability and environmental compatibility. This is an area in which we want to remain in the lead. In line with our Strategy Number ONE, we are continually reviewing all projects and initiatives to check them for future viability and sustainability. Our Formula One campaign is thus less a key promoter for us. Mario Theissen has been in charge of our motor sports program since 1999. We have scored a large number of successes in this period, including some in Formula One racing. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Mario Theissen and his team for this," said, Reithofer.

Dr. Klaus Draeger, the member of the Board of Management responsible for development, said: "It only took us three years to establish ourselves as a top team with the BMW Sauber F1 Team. Unfortunately, we were unable to meet expectations in the current season. Nevertheless, our ten years of Formula One experience have had a major impact on our development engineers. We have racing to thank for numerous technological innovations as well as the competitive spirit that drives us to develop mass-produced cars." Possible redundancies in Munich and Hinwil cannot be quantified at present. Says Draeger: "Since we only made this decision yesterday, we cannot provide any more precise information. We will develop and assess various scenarios and do our best to find a solution for the employees in Hinwil and the staff members involved in the Formula One project in Munich. We are aware of the responsibility we shoulder and will inform the staff as soon as we can make a clear statement."

Says BMW Motorsport director Dr. Mario Theissen: "Of course, we, the employees in Hinwil and Munich, would all have liked to continue this ambitious campaign and show that this season was just a hiccup following three successful years. But I can understand why this decision was made from a corporate perspective. We will now focus sharply on the remaining races and demonstrate our fighting spirit and put in a good result as we bid farewell to Formula One racing."

BMW will continue its programs in a number of motor sports series: BMW will appear on the starting grid in the touring car series and young driver promotion program in Formula BMW. This will be supplemented by BMW?s participation in ALMS, the American Le Mans Series, endurance races and close-to-production customer sports. Furthermore, BMW Motorrad Motorsport will continue its campaigns, with the super bike world championship leading the way.
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A lot of PR-speak and not much substance. More importantly, they didn't emphasize the true reasons behind the decision.
 
vikiradTG2007 said:
The team's official statement:




A lot of PR-speak and not much substance. More importantly, they didn't emphasize the true reasons behind the decision.
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i think the actual reason can be summed up using 2 words: Bad results.
 
vikiradTG2007 said:
There is more to this than meets the eye, I think.
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I think you're right. It's one bad season. Surely they'd be given a second chance to bounce back? Though maybe they don't want it to become like Toyota, constant mediocrity.
 
vikiradTG2007 said:
There is more to this than meets the eye, I think.
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Agreed. The decision will be simple economics - they don't feel they're getting value from being in F1. The bad results will have played a part, but I doubt they're the major reason behind it.

The big question now is where to for the team itself - seems a good opportunity for one of those aspiring F1 entrants to snap up a decent operation.

Very sad to see BMW go though.
 
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