Comments on: BMW F1 exit anouncement expected

By: Jon Wakham

Jon Wakham — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 20:35:58 +0000

discussions, have you seen

By: Dougie

Dougie — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 07:17:34 +0000

Open regulations and a budget cap is what is best for the sport (IMO) just as Max wanted.

It won’t stop the manufacturers leaving (nothing will) but it will allow the privateer teams to keep doing what they exist to do… race! Manufacturer support? fair enough, engines? sure, but privateer teams like McLaren, Williams, Sauber etc is what makes F1.

By: toncho

toncho — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 06:25:41 +0000

This is awful, and open the door to others teams like Toyota or Renault willing to leave… Would the FIA admit an extra team now? Or we are on for three cars teams??…

My bet: KUB to Renault (to take ALO’s place) and HEI to BRAWN

By: Prisoner Monkeys

Prisoner Monkeys — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 01:54:20 +0000

You know, I’m not too surprised to see BMW go. It’s a shame, because the name Sauber is a lot like that of Williams, if considerably less famous. It should be saved if it can, though I suspect someone like Epsilon Euskadi will take their spot.

Hopefully, Robert Kubica will be saved. I don’t care much for Nick Heidfeld – he’s always been all over the place, where in a Prost, Jordan or BMW – but I think Kubica is race-winning material if he has a good car under him. If not (like this year), he tends to lose confidence.

As unsurprised as I am, I’m also a little disappointed. I think Formula One needs manufacturers just as much as it needs the privateers; a balance between the two is pretty good. But with the departures of BMW and Honda, we’re down to four. I was also hoping Toro Rosso would disappear at the end of the year – they’re little more than a glorified GP2 team, who aren’t allowed to perform and whose drivers are snatched away as soon as they come good … at least when they were Minardi they were allowed to compete rather than play second fiddle – but if too many teams withdraw, FOTA isn’t going to be too solid.

By: Tom L

Tom L — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 01:12:25 +0000

Taking some inspiration from Aguri Suzuki, how about Super Mario?

By: The sri lankan

The sri lankan — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 00:21:02 +0000

in all faireness, the right thing to do is to make sure the Sauber name doesnt disappear. BMW should come up with an exit plan that allows Sauber to continue operations even with a BMW engine for next year.

By: The sri lankan

The sri lankan — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 00:17:04 +0000

yes, unless they figure a solution bring the currypowder/biofuel Fart India f1 hybrid, they will be out too

By: Martin

Martin — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 23:40:41 +0000

You make an excellent point ther as all the German companies are sensitive to this area and comments like that.

By: Martin

Martin — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 23:35:57 +0000

That was the part I liked about World Endurance racing in the mid eighties to early nineties. Porsche would come in with a car(962) and race it for 1 year and then privateers took over and all you saw were 962′s with corporate or individual sponsors, the only Porsche emblem was at the front, and it was small.
The only pure mfg should be Ferrari because it is Ferrari. They have stuck it out thru good and bad.

By: Martin

Martin — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 23:30:40 +0000

@DMW well said especially this part.

Second, and more to the point, these competitors’ cars race in the biggest races in the world, and they race in America. The world is changing, but you can still sell a heap more $100K sports sedans between NY and DC than in all of China. So who cares that there is a new race in China, Turkey, and, ahem, Abu Dabi?
This is the part the FIA and Bernie are miossing out on.