Rut-Roh! BMW may exit F1
#1
07-28-2009, 06:06 PM
Rut-Roh! BMW may exit F1
As usual I found this on autosport.com
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.
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.
#2
07-28-2009, 08:21 PM
BMW to leave F1?
The BMW Sauber team may not be seen on the Formula One grid next year, it has been revealed. The German manufacturer is believed to be engaging in emergency talks at the manufacturer's Munich base on Wednesday with regards to the marque leaving F1 due to financial reasons.
Having bought out Peter Sauber's independent team ahead of its first full season in 2006, BMW's constant run of general improvements - which includes top three end-of-year results in the past two seasons - has come to an abrupt halt this year and the outfit currently lies eighth in the Constructors' championship.
Tuesday night rumours in German indicate that the name may be out of the sport completely in 2010, however, with key company figures plus F1 team principal Dr Mario Theissen due at Wednesday's meeting.
With Japanese giant Honda having pulled the plug on its Formula One programme at the back end of last year, the potentially imminent F1 exit from BMW would be the sport's second loss of a manufacturer within eight months. The white cars of Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica have scored a total of eight points after ten races, which compares with leader Brawn GP's sum of 114.
#3
07-28-2009, 08:31 PM
It'd be a shame but I wouldn't be at all surprised if they pulled out this year. It's really hard to get back on the pace when you start off the season with a slow car and everyone else is constantly pushing forward.
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