Motorsport/Racing BMW to Exit Formula One at End of 2009 Season

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.

BMW looks back on a long track record of success in the field of motor sports
BMW achieved eight Formula One victories from 1982 to 1985 with Brabham. In 1983, BMW won the driver's championship with Nelson Piquet (Brabham BMW). The last win with the legendary turbo engine followed with Benetton in 1986. Ten victories were scored during the partnership with Williams (2000-2005). BMW had a total of 19 grand prix wins and 33 pole positions before the BMW Sauber F1 Team era.

In its debut season in 2006, the newly established BMW Sauber F1 Team wound up fifth in the constructor's championship. In 2007, the German-Swiss team came in second after McLaren-Mercedes' exclusion from the points standings. The 2008 season saw the team in the hunt for the world championship until the end of the season, winding up third. Polish-born Robert Kubica achieved the first and hitherto only GP victory in Canada on June 8, 2008. So far, the BMW Sauber F1 Team has taken one pole position (Kubica in Bahrain in 2008) and 16 podium finishes. The BMW Sauber F1 Team occupies the eighth spot in the manufacturer's standings in the season presently underway.

Hopefully Aston Martin under LOLA will buy or be able to take their spot... F1 is the best racing series. They definately quit because of how bad this season was going... they've been absolutely stuck at the back end

This is bad for more then just F1….this is bad for motorsport and performance car enthusiasts in general.

As one of the excuses for quitting the sport and deserting its fans, BMW has stated that "Premium will increasingly be defined in terms of sustainability and environmental compatibility." Sounds to me like the ultimate driving machine is on track to becoming….well, a nice Toyota (and don't we already have those? I believe they're called Lexus). BMW seems to be losing focus of what makes a BMW a BMW. Traditionally that has been smooth as glass inline sixes, telepathic steering feedback & second to none handling….in recent years it has also included rev happy V8s, SMG transmissions, driver selected multiple electronic traction control and suspension settings. Do they need to look toward the future and develop more environmentally efficient vehicles, YES, of course, but not at the expense of their soul.

Clearly Mario saw the writing on the wall during the off season. You don't have to read too far between the lines to see that they were given an ultimatum to win and make KERS successful. The failure came when those two goals started to conflict. They pushed for KERS because the brass wanted "environmental compatibility", but when the system they developed didn't win races….well we now know what happened….such a shame.

I am very disappointed .........that BMW is leaving formula one because I wanted to see them compete and one day beat the likes of Ferrari and Mclaren for constructors championship. One of the biggest reason I had watched formula one for last 9 years or so was to see BMW compete at the highest level of Motor sport.


I am hoping that in future BMW decides to change its mind and enter the series once again

Do they mean to exit completely or are they going to supply their engine to another team, if there is demand?

From what I understand they are out completely. I wish they had at least supplied their engine to other teams.

Originally Posted by bl335i08

Do they mean to exit completely or are they going to supply their engine to another team, if there is demand?

It's about time. F1 is a dead-end. It sucks so much money for relatively little gain. I hope to see BMW re-enter DTM and LMS now that they have left F1.

This is great news for BMW! One newspaper estimated that BMW spent $330M on it. $330M could be better spent on making the cars more reliable, safer, perform better, etc. Maybe they could use that money to put side moldings back on the cars!

This is really bad news for F1, though!

If Mercedes Benz leaves F1, F1 is in deep do-do. I know Toyota and Renault will be one of the remaining ones. However, low to medium prestige companies running F1 will not help them. A company like Renault, if they lose, really hurts them.

wel i hope they take it back to dtm and toering car and gt1's and such

Originally Posted by bl335i08

Do they mean to exit completely or are they going to supply their engine to another team, if there is demand?

I doubt there would be too great a demand. Kubica's engine blew up during qualifying which forced the team to get off-pace with their engine usage for the season. And, frankly, with such abysmal results I don't see teams clamoring to buy their engines. Contrast that to Mercedes' engines which are performing very well for other teams (Brawn). I don't think leaving F1 will result in the death of BMW's racing development or the loss of racing technologies making their way to us in production cars, it just means they'll develop them in other leagues. And with F1 in such utter chaos, maybe it's a good time to exit and possibly re-enter in the future if/when F1 or whatever spinoff it becomes gets its act together.

Its a bad news. but have full faith we will get some more fantabulous cars.

great, now they can build reliable cars, where the rubber gaskets dont fail prematurely. or the bushings.

Originally Posted by mujjuman

great, now they can build reliable cars, where the rubber gaskets dont fail prematurely. or the bushings.

. . . or where radiators, coolant reservoir tanks and transmission pans don't crack, or . . . [the list goes on] . . .