- Title: GERMANY: MOTOR RACING: BMW to leave Formula One at end of 2009
- Date: 30th July 2009
- Summary: MUNICH, GERMANY (JULY 29, 2009) (REUTERS) EXTERIORS OF BMW HEADQUARTERS IN MUNICH HEAD OF BMW NORBERT REITHOFER AND OTHER COMPANY REPRESENTATIVES ARRIVING FOR NEWS CONFERENCE PHOTOGRAPHER TAKING PICTURES REITHOFER ON PODIUM SIDE SHOT OF PODIUM NEWS RELEASE IN PERSON'S HAND READING "BMWFORMULA 1 INVOLVEMENT AT THE END OF THE 2009 SEASON" (SOUNDBITE) (German) NORBERT REITHOFER, HEAD OF BMW SAYING: "We decided yesterday at the board meeting to redirect our motorsports involvement. The BMW Group will end its Formula 1 involvement at the end of the 2009 season. We will continue to actively participate in motorsports and we will concentrate on the series motorsports and the support of young talents. We will combine our expertise and our financial resources in the areas of sustainability and the development of new technologies." CAMERAMAN FILMING
- Embargoed: 14th August 2009 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Germany
- Country: Germany
- Topics: Sports
- Reuters ID: LVAB6HA5XH6D5T2GXLLI9SEJUWTE
- Story Text: BMW has said in Munich on Wednesday (July 29) that it would leave Formula One racing at the end of 2009 for image reasons as the maker of sporty luxury cars wants to focus on sustainability and the environment.
"We will continue to actively participate in motorsports and we will concentrate on the series motorsports and the support of young talents," Chief Executive Norbert Reithofer said during a hastily arranged news conference.
"We will combine our expertise and our financial resources in the areas of sustainability and the development of new technologies."
The exit is the first prominent withdrawal from the series since Honda said in December tough business conditions forced it to pull out of the sport and close down its team if no buyer could be found within a month.
It also comes on the heels of a bitter dispute between motorsport governing body FIA and eight of the Formula One teams that nearly led to a breakaway championship, plunging the sport into its biggest crisis in 60 years.
The departure of BMW puts an end to the carmaker's hopes of winning a title, after it decided in mid-2005 that supplying engines to former champions Williams was not enough and bought a majority stake in Swiss-based Sauber.
BMW's decision will likely trigger renewed debate over the heavy costs to manufacturers posed by motor racing, something that also led Kawasaki to yank its MotoGP team in January from the motorbike equivalent of F1.
BMW FACTBOX * BMW made their Formula One debut in 1982 as an engine supplier to Brabham. Brazilian Nelson Piquet started the first race in South Africa on the front row but did not finish.
* Their first win as an engine supplier came in 1983 with Piquet in Brazil. He ended up as champion that same year.
* BMW pulled out as an engine supplier in 1987 at the end of the sport's turbo era.
* The carmaker returned in 2000 as engine partners to former champions Williams, winning races in 2001 and ending as championship runners-up in 2002 and 2003. In their six-year partnership, they won 10 grands prix and took 17 pole positions.
* BMW took over Swiss-based Sauber in mid-2005 and entered with their own team for the first time in 2006. They took their first race win with Poland's Robert Kubica in Canada last season.
* In 2007 BMW-Sauber were second overall after McLaren were stripped of their points for a spying controversy.
* This season BMW have scored just eight points in 10 races and are eighth of the 10 teams. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
