BMW quits F1 at end of season

[Massive Lee]

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/77400

[Erick]

Not surprising, but sucks to see it. I'm curious as how the season of 2010 will look like with all of these teams unsure of whether they are going or staying.

[YAN-3]

are you serious? one crappy season? what about all the talks of Vettel coming back to BMW in the future and taking note from McLaren and bla bla blah.... im almost speechless

[z31maniac]

Check the F1 thread noob, haha.

But yeah that's pretty lame.

[YAN-3]

Check the F1 thread noob, haha.

But yeah that's pretty lame.

dude honestly WTF? just last year they were so close and so good! and with half a season there gonna quit>

is it like were quitting for sure or is there a chance that they might come back?

[Erick]

Did you read the article Yan? :p

[z31maniac]

Did you read the article Yan? :p

Sounds like they are trying to appease the "greenies" by not wasting resources doing stupid things like advancing development and technology of the most common form of transportation on Earth, oh I mean just stupid 'ol racing.

[YAN-3]

no im still drying my tears from reading the thread title. i guess i can read it now

[YAN-3]

just finished reading it. how gay! realignment blah blah blah. im bummed out! honestly! with all the turmoil thats going on in F1 and now BMW pulling out, its gonna blow if another teams leaves.

[YAN-3]

hang on check this out. is there a spark of hope... even if without the BMW logo

Following the news that they are to pull out of Formula One racing at the end of the season, BMW have revealed they are yet to decide on the future of the team’s facilities and employees.

Since taking over the Sauber team in 2006, the team’s operations have been split between a factory in Switzerland at Hinwil and the car company's headquarters in the German city of Munich. At the start of 2009, over 400 staff were employed in the Swiss facility and 250 were working for the Formula One team in Germany.

“Since we only made this decision yesterday, we cannot provide any more precise information,” said Dr Klaus Draeger, the member of the BMW’s board of management responsible for development. “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."

Although he made it clear it was too early to quantify the number of redundancies, Draeger was quick to reassure staff that they would make further announcements in the near future. “We are aware of the responsibility we shoulder and will inform the staff as soon as we can make a clear statement," he concluded.

[Dirtbleed]

Here is the first casualty of all that BS talk of splitting into 2 series.

[Charlie]

are you serious? one crappy season? what about all the talks of Vettel coming back to BMW in the future and taking note from McLaren and bla bla blah.... im almost speechless

Welcome to manufacturer-run teams, and why Max/Bernie are trying like hell to get away from it.

BMW is hurting financially, so a 700 mill/yr budget is gonna be one of the first things to get cut. Look at Honda, and soon to be Toyota.

-Charlie

[Dave]

They'd probably get more marketing value out of running NASCAR. They could call their car a 650i, and it would be the only one whose production "sibling" is actually a V8 rear drive car . . . ;-)

Especially with GM and Chrysler in such poor shape.

Cheaper to run a team, and huge exposure in their largest market.

No, I am not saying it would or could ever happen.

[YAN-3]

Welcome to manufacturer-run teams, and why Max/Bernie are trying like hell to get away from it.

BMW is hurting financially, so a 700 mill/yr budget is gonna be one of the first things to get cut. Look at Honda, and soon to be Toyota.

-Charlie

I guess your right. its just sucks to have to take this in as a fan of the team. thats like if the Patriots were gonna leave the NFL just after one bad year and the absence of Tom Brady.

I hope more teams dont follow in BMWs steps, as it would ruin F1. then again if a large team such as BMW pulled out, who is really safe?

[Dave]

Sauber might keep a team alive.

Rumor mill is that Renault is next - may be selling.