BMW in Formula One
Full name | BMW Sauber F1 Team (2006–2009) |
---|---|
Base | Hinwil, Switzerland Munich, Germany |
Noted staff | Mario Theissen Peter Sauber Willy Rampf Willem Toet Andy Cowell |
Noted drivers | Ernst Klodwig Marcel Balsa "Bernhard Nacke" Rudolf Krause Juan Pablo Montoya Nick Heidfeld Jacques Villeneuve Robert Kubica Sebastian Vettel |
Formula One World Championship career | |
First entry | 1952 German Grand Prix |
Races entered | 72 |
Engines | BMW |
Constructors' Championships | 0 |
Drivers' Championships | 0 |
Race victories | 1 |
Podiums | 17 |
Points | 308 |
Pole positions | 1 |
Fastest laps | 2 |
Final entry | 2009 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix |
BMW Sauber | |
---|---|
Constructors' Championships | 0 |
Drivers' Championships | 1 (1983) |
Race victories | 20 |
Podiums | 86 |
Points | 1,021 |
Pole positions | 33 |
Fastest laps | 33 |
BMW decided to return to Formula One in the late 1990s by signing an exclusive contract with the
The
Entries in the 1950s and 1960s
The early years of the post-war World Drivers' Championship saw private BMW racing cars, based on the pre-war BMW 328 chassis, entered in the 1952 and 1953 German Grands Prix. BMW-derived cars were also entered by the Alex von Falkenhausen Motorenbau (AFM) and Veritas companies in occasional races from 1951 to 1953. The entries occurred during this period because the championship was effectively run to Formula Two regulations, allowing the BMW cars to take part. Amongst the modified 328s was one driven by an engine in the rear of the car (known as the "Heck", the German automotive term for "back" or "rear"), a design feature which became standard in Formula One in the early 1960s after later success by the Cooper team.[1]
In the 1960s, the Formula One German Grand Prix was often held concurrently with a Formula Two race on the same circuit, allowing BMW F2 cars to take part. In 1967, BMW entered Hubert Hahne in a Lola F2 chassis powered by an enlarged BMW engine which meant that it conformed with the Formula One regulations, while David Hobbs was entered by Lola in the same combination with the standard smaller BMW engine. For the 1968 race, Hahne returned with the previous year's combination and finished tenth, BMW's best result up to this point in its Formula One history. BMW then entered three of its own 269 F2 chassis for the 1969 race, for the trio of Hahne, Gerhard Mitter and Dieter Quester, but Mitter was fatally injured in a practice accident and the remainder of the team withdrew from the race.[2]
Engine supplier
Brabham, ATS, Arrows, Benetton and Ligier (1982–1988)
Following the commencement in
Initial discussions were held with double World Champion
Testing of the M12/13 got underway in late 1980 with a Brabham BT49 chassis converted to accept the engine. The team's designer, Gordon Murray, designed a new car, the BT50 for the engine, but it was not completed until well into the 1981 season. The BT50 featured a longer wheelbase and a larger fuel cell than the BT49 to accommodate the requirements of the more powerful turbo engine, and was also one of the first Formula One cars to feature onboard telemetry as a means of monitoring the engine's fuel injection.[5] The team's lead driver, Nelson Piquet, tested the BT50 throughout 1981, but the car proved chronically unreliable until Bosch introduced a digital electronic management system at the end of the year, which immediately improved the situation.[3] The BT50 made a solitary race weekend appearance at the 1981 British Grand Prix, where Piquet set a qualifying time 0.7 seconds slower than his effort in the Cosworth DFV-powered BT49. The BT50 handled poorly but recorded 192 miles per hour (309 km/h) through the speed trap, some 15 miles per hour (24 km/h) faster than the BT49.[6] Meanwhile, Brabham won the Drivers' Championship with Piquet, who drove the BT49 throughout the season.[7]
Brabham began the
BMW's fortunes suddenly improved, however, at the next race in Canada, where the cool conditions suited the turbocharged engines and allowed Piquet to lead home Patrese (still in the BT49), to record BMW's first Formula One victory. For the remainder of the season, both drivers raced with the BT50, and used Murray's radical strategy of a planned pit stop for refuelling midway through the race to run at the front of the field on numerous occasions. The car was still unreliable, though, restricting Piquet and Patrese to just four further finishes before the end of the season. The BMW engine's competitiveness was shown by the fact that Piquet retired from the lead of the British, French and German Grands Prix, whilst Patrese likewise retired from the lead of the Austrian Grand Prix. Patrese also secured BMW's first fastest lap at the French Grand Prix, whilst Piquet took the marque's maiden pole position at the Austrian race.
In
For
In 1985, Brabham switched to Pirelli tyres, which had previously not been very competitive against the established Goodyear and Michelin suppliers, in the hope that the Italian company could provide bespoke tyres that would especially suit the new BT54 chassis. This proved to be a misjudgement, as Piquet only won one race—the French Grand Prix—and the team dropped from fourth to fifth in the Constructors' Championship. The team again had a clear number-one driver policy, with the second seat again being shared, this time between François Hesnault and Surer. Arrows, by contrast, had a much improved season, scoring 17 points with Berger and Boutsen, including a podium finish for the latter at the San Marino Grand Prix.
For the
BMW reduced its full works commitment to the sole supply of Brabham in
For 1989, the technical regulations were changed to ban turbocharged engines, outlawing the M12/13 engine. During its time in F1, the engine had won the 1983 Drivers' Championship and nine Grands Prix. It also took 14 pole positions and set 13 fastest laps.
Williams (2000–2005)
After a ten-year absence from
BMW's E41 engine was ready to compete in the
After the relatively conservative E41, BMW designed the more aggressive P80 engine for
For 2002, the reliability and consistency of the FW24 chassis was much improved, but Ferrari made a more significant step forward with its own F2002 chassis and dominated both championships. The team scored twelve more points than in the previous year and beat McLaren to second place in the Constructors' Championship, but only won a single race with Schumacher at the Malaysian Grand Prix. Moreover, Montoya was unable to win a single race, despite taking seven pole positions.
The Williams team was more competitive in 2003, as both drivers won on two occasions and Montoya remained in contention for the Drivers' Championship until the penultimate race of the season. However, he ultimately fell short, as did the team in the Constructors' Championship, as although the FW25 was often the car to beat in the second half of the season, it took too much time to reach this point.
For 2004, the team produced the FW26 chassis, which featured a radical nose section designed by Antonia Terzi. This design proved ineffective, however, in another year of Ferrari dominance, and Williams slipped to fourth in the Constructors' Championship, with Montoya's victory in the Brazilian Grand Prix its sole win in the 2004 season. Before this result, the team had suffered the embarrassment of a double disqualification from the Canadian Grand Prix due to brake duct irregularities, and then Schumacher sustaining spinal injuries as a result of a high-speed crash at the United States Grand Prix, which caused him to miss six races until he recovered. Both drivers left the team at the end of the season.
The final year of BMW's association with Williams,
BMW Sauber
2008) | |
Race victories | 1 |
---|---|
Podiums | 17 |
Pole positions | 1 |
Fastest laps | 2 |
Final entry | 2009 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix |
BMW bought Swiss team
The team scored two podium finishes and came fifth in
2006
For the
Villeneuve scored the team's first points with a seventh-place finish at the Malaysian Grand Prix, after Heidfeld retired from fifth with an engine failure late in the race. Over the first two thirds of the season the drivers picked up points with a succession of seventh and eighth-place finishes, plus a fourth-place finish for Heidfeld at the Australian Grand Prix. The team ran a radical "twin towers" aero enhancement on the front of the car for the French Grand Prix, which was meant to improve the flow of air over the top of the chassis.[9] The parts were promptly banned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) as they were adjudged to impede the drivers' vision and thus compromise safety.[10]
Heidfeld scored the team's first podium finish at the Hungarian Grand Prix from tenth on the grid. This race also saw the début of Robert Kubica, who replaced Villeneuve after the latter had crashed heavily at the preceding German Grand Prix. Kubica finished seventh, although he was later disqualified after his car was found to be underweight. The official reason for Villeneuve's absence was that he was recovering from his previous accident, but the team later announced that the driver change was permanent.[11] Kubica scored BMW Sauber's second podium finish of the season at the Italian Grand Prix, after running in third place for most of the race and leading briefly during the first round of pit stops while Heidfeld finished in eighth. The team scored a total of 36 points to finish fifth in the Constructors' Championship, an improvement on Sauber's eighth position with 20 points in 2005.
2007
On 19 October 2006, BMW announced that
The new car showed promising form throughout winter testing, topping the times sheets on occasions. However, team principal Mario Theissen declared some reliability concerns before the season's opening race in Australia. Kubica retired from fourth place with a gearbox problem, but Heidfeld took over the position and held it to the end of the race. In the early races of the season, Heidfeld and Kubica scored a series of points finishes and established BMW Sauber as the third-fastest team, behind Ferrari and McLaren. Theissen also made the point that the performance gap between BMW Sauber and the two top teams was less than the gap between BMW Sauber and the teams behind it.[14]
The Canadian Grand Prix brought mixed fortunes for the team. While Heidfeld scored BMW Sauber's best result thus far with a second-place finish, Kubica suffered a huge crash that resulted in a long safety car period. The media was initially told Kubica had broken his leg, but it later proved that he had escaped with only a sprained ankle and concussion.[15] Vettel took his place in the United States Grand Prix, finishing in eighth place and therefore becoming the youngest driver to score a Formula One World Championship point. Later in the season, Vettel moved teams to take a race seat at the Toro Rosso team.
Kubica returned to racing action at the French Grand Prix and proved his recovery by finishing in fourth position. Over the remainder of the season, he and Heidfeld continued their form to score a total of 101 points, which secured the team second in the Constructors' Championship after McLaren's disqualification. Heidfeld scored another podium finish at the Hungarian Grand Prix and scored 61 points to Kubica's 39, while Vettel's sole appearance produced an additional point.
2008
On August 21, 2007, BMW confirmed its driver line-up of Heidfeld and Kubica for the 2008 season.[16] Their 2008 car, the F1.08 was officially launched in Munich at BMW Welt on January 14, 2008. It made its track debut at Valencia the next day, with Robert Kubica driving. Team principal Mario Theissen set the target of the team's first win.
BMW Sauber started the season well with Kubica narrowly missing out on pole after a mistake in his main qualifying lap in Melbourne. He later retired after being hit by Kazuki Nakajima but Heidfeld finished second. Kubica took second in Malaysia, with Heidfeld in 6th setting the fastest lap of the race. The team's points total of 11 was their largest score up to that time. In Bahrain, Kubica scored his and the team's first ever pole position, beating Felipe Massa by just under three hundredths of a second. The team went on to finish 3rd and 4th in the race, equalling their highest round points total and promoting them to first place in the constructors' championship for the first time.
The team also attained a second-place finish in the Monaco Grand Prix with Robert Kubica, beating both Ferraris and only trailing the McLaren of Lewis Hamilton by three seconds.
BMW Sauber's first race victory came in the 2008 Canadian Grand Prix, the team achieving a one-two finish with Robert Kubica's first race win and Nick Heidfeld taking second place. The victory came after Lewis Hamilton collided with Kimi Räikkönen in the pitlane, ending the race for both drivers. Kubica was on a different refueling strategy from Heidfeld, who also briefly led the race before securing the one-two finish for BMW Sauber in comfortable fashion.
After the team's breakthrough win, development was switched to the 2009 season where new regulations come into play. This greatly annoyed Kubica, (who was leading the championship after the Canadian Grand Prix), as he felt they could have had a realistic chance of taking at least one title. The lack of development was reflected with a drop of form throughout the second half of the season, causing BMW to be outpaced by Renault, Toyota and even Toro Rosso (who started the season as one of the slowest teams) by the end of the season. Despite this, Kubica remained with an outside chance of taking the drivers championship until the Chinese Grand Prix, the 17th round out of 18.
In October the team confirmed that they would stick with Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld as their drivers for the 2009 Season.[17]
2009
Although BMW Sauber targeted the
Following a meeting of the BMW board on July 28, the company held at press conference the following morning in which it confirmed the team's withdrawal from Formula One at the end of 2009. Chairman Norbert Reithofer described the decision as a strategic one.[18] The Formula One Teams Association released a statement in response pledging its support to help the team remain in F1.[19]
On 15 September 2009 it was announced that BMW Sauber had secured a buyer,
On November 22, Swiss newspaper SonntagsZeitung revealed that Qadbak's attempt to purchase the team had failed as it did not have the necessary funds. Qadbak turned out to be a
Formula One customer engine results (1952–2005)
Entrant | Season(s) | Total wins | First win | Last win | Pole Positions | First Pole | Last Pole |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Frazer Nash | 1952 | 0 | - | - | 0 | - | - |
Ernst Klodwig | 1952–1953 | 0 | - | - | 0 | - | - |
Rudolf Krause | 1952 | 0 | - | - | 0 | - | - |
"Bernhard Nacke" | 1952 | 0 | - | - | 0 | - | - |
Willi Krakau | 1952 | 0 | - | - | 0 | - | - |
Marcel Balsa | 1952 | 0 | - | - | 0 | - | - |
Dora Greifzu | 1953 | 0 | - | - | 0 | - | - |
Hans Klenk | 1954 | 0 | - | - | 0 | - | - |
Bayerische Motoren Werke | 1967–1968 | 0 | - | - | 0 | - | - |
Lola Racing Ltd | 1967 | 0 | - | - | 0 | - | - |
Brabham | 1981–1987 | 8 | 1982 Canadian Grand Prix | 1985 French Grand Prix | 13 | 1982 Austrian Grand Prix | 1985 Dutch Grand Prix |
ATS |
1983–1984 | 0 | - | - | 0 | - | - |
Arrows | 1984–1988† | 0 | - | - | 0 | - | - |
Benetton | 1986 | 1 | 1986 Mexican Grand Prix | 1986 Mexican Grand Prix | 2 | 1986 Austrian Grand Prix | 1986 Italian Grand Prix |
Ligier |
1987† | 0 | - | - | 0 | - | - |
Williams |
2000–2005 | 10 | 2001 San Marino Grand Prix | 2004 Brazilian Grand Prix | 17 | 2001 French Grand Prix | 2005 European Grand Prix |
Total | 1952–2005 | 19 | 1982 Canadian Grand Prix | 2004 Brazilian Grand Prix | 32 | 1982 Austrian Grand Prix | 2005 European Grand Prix |
* Excludes factory team.
† BMW engine re-badged as Megatron in 1987 and 1988.
Formula One results
See also
References
Books
- Bamsey, Ian; Benzing, Enrico; Lawrence, Mike; Staniforth, Allan (1988). The 1000 BHP Grand Prix Cars. London: Guild Publishing. ISBN 978-0-85429-617-0.
- Hamilton, Maurice, ed. (1981). ISBN 978-0-905138-17-6.
Journals
- Doodson, Mike (November 2009). "Piques & troughs: BMW in Formula 1". Motor Sport. 85 (11): 42–51.
- Straw, Edd (July 2008). "Reaching for the Ultimate Goal". Autosport. 193 (5): 32–38.
Footnotes
- Haymarket Publications). Retrieved 2010-03-27.
- Haymarket Publications). Retrieved 2010-03-27.
- ^ a b Doodson (2009), p. 44.
- ^ Bamsey et al (1988), p. 49.
- ^ a b c Bamsey et al (1988), p. 50.
- ^ Hamilton (ed.), p. 161.
- ^ Bamsey et al (1988), p. 51.
- ^ "BMW nets Intel sponsorship". news.bbc.co.uk. BBC Sport. 2005-12-15. Retrieved 2008-04-14.
- ^ "Villeneuve sets Magny Cours pace". news.bbc.co.uk. BBC Sport. 2006-07-15. Archived from the original on 11 March 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-14.
- ^ "BMW ordered to remove nose fins". news.bbc.co.uk. BBC Sport. 2006-07-26. Retrieved 2008-04-15.
- ^ Robertson, David (2006-08-07). "It's the end of the road for Villeneuve". timesonline.co.uk. London: The Times. Retrieved 2008-04-15.
- ^ "Glock signed as BMW second driver". Grandprix.com. 21 December 2006. Archived from the original on 3 January 2007. Retrieved 2006-12-21.
- ^ "The new BMW F1.07". Grandprix.com. 16 January 2007. Archived from the original on 20 January 2007. Retrieved 2007-01-16.
- ^ – Interview with Mario Thiessen. Archived April 22, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Kubica escapes injury after crash". BBC. 10 June 2007. Archived from the original on 18 June 2007. Retrieved 2007-06-10.
- ^ "Heidfeld and Kubica stay at BMW". BBC News. 21 August 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-21.
- ^ Kubica and Heidfeld stay with BMW BBC Sport'.' Retrieved 8 October 2008.
- Haymarket. Retrieved 2009-07-29.
- ^ Perillo, Simone (29 July 2009). "Statement by FOTA Secretary General". teamsassociation.org. Formula One Teams Association. Archived from the original on 2012-03-20. Retrieved 2009-07-29.
- ^ "BMW F1 team secures Swiss buyer". BBC News. 2009-09-15. Retrieved 2011-08-10.
- ^ "BMW expects team to race in 2010". Autosport.com. 2009-09-15. Retrieved 2011-08-10.
- ^ SonntagsZeitung, 2009-11-22
- ^ Pablo Elizalde (27 November 2009). "BMW sells F1 team back to Peter Sauber". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Archived from the original on 30 November 2009. Retrieved 2009-11-28.
- Haymarket Publications. Archivedfrom the original on 6 December 2009. Retrieved 2009-12-03.
- ^ Jonathan Noble and Matt Beer (24 September 2009). "Theissen confirms Ferrari engine deal". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 2009-09-24.