F1 F1 braced for BMW exit announcement ?!

[klier]

Good!!!

Time to spend the money wisely again. F1 was a big waste. I'd much rather see them go the VW route then, and use the money to make something much more meaningful and special, like the Veyron....

 

[Imhotep Evil]

I never liked the BTCC and WTCC tintop series. Contrary to popular belief, they do nothing to improve the breed. The only WTCC element that BMW has ever put into the road-going 3 series is a WTCC-inspired bodykit..................and some WTCC special edition 320i's.

I wished BMW would go back to DTM and go up against Mercedes-Benz and Audi. Let's have some exciting racing!!

People, don't forget it, motor racing is a marketing tool. It provides the buzz around the brand. It's like a BBQ; sell the sizzle, not the steaks!!

DTM is essentially a spec series with some different bodywork. The WTCC/BTCC are really any good.
Apart from the Le Mans type series and Darpa Challenge there's no real motorsport series anymore.

 

[coolraoul]

Yeah, or a 3er GT and 1er GT and maybe an X3 GT too, if it's porky and heavy enough to suit the current BMW aspirations...

I don't think BMW will "earn" money by quitting. It can be more expensive to breach a contract than to fullfilling it to the end. They are engaged with several-years contracts, that will end in big damages to pay.

They bought the Sauber team and squad and so on, and will surely loose the hell by trying to sell it to smbdy else.

Wth the budget cap, the F1 will be less expensive than it was. That, added with the sponsors' money, will make the F1 less expensive than it seems.

They also invested a lot for KERS, yet won't see it come to becoming interesting, so waste of money there too while Mercedes or Ferrari will work on it and apply what they learned to their cars...

 

[klier]

Yet another nail in the coffin for BMW's image as being a 'Sporty' brand. What with this and the M SUV's and the cancellation of the M3 CSL, BMW are doing their best to destroy their 'Ultimate Driving Machine' image.

BBC SPORT | Motorsport | Formula 1 | BMW to quit F1 at end of season

old, lock, delete

 

[NarutoRamen]

Don't worry, if F1 didn't kill BMW. The 5-series GT (aka BMW R Class) would finish the job.

I'm not a fan of the 5erGT but I hardly doubt it will kill BMW. The R-class didn't kill MB so I doubt 5erGT could accomplish that, especially considering that the R-class is uglier than the 5erGT.

 

[Betty Swollocks]

old, lock, delete

How is this old? It's only been officially announced in the last few hours?

EDIT: Now I see there is a separate forum.

 

[klier]

 

[bmwownage]

F1 afterall is just a marketing project. With all the negativity in the sport lately (making it less popular? or increasingly less popular?) but it makes you spend as much as before on it, it's sensible to quit in this respect alone. Seriously I've started watching since 2001 and it was all good and exciting, then a few years later cars couldn't pass each other, but it still wasn't bad, then the new FIA rules tried to solve that but I never observed any impact at all on overtaking activity.
And I don't think any manufacturer "needs" to be in F1 to attain superior road car technologies. I've always found that nothing more than a beautiful lie. Having motorsports like F1 does have an impact on ALL road cars innovations though.

 

[Human]

Don't worry, if F1 didn't kill BMW. The 5-series GT (aka BMW R Class) would finish the job.

F1 was not going to kill BMW and so will the 5er GT not kill BMW!

It's not about killing the most succesfull luxury carmaker but in strengthening it!

 

[Betty Swollocks]

All these people approving of BMW leaving F1 so they can now make proper sports cars for the road need to have a reality check. Straight from the horses mouth, BMW are going to be focusing on "premium" cars and "efficient dynamics". Not M3 CSL's.

"Of course, this was a difficult decision for us, but it's a resolute step in view of our company's strategic realignment," said Dr Norbert Reithofer, chairman of the board of management of BMW.
"Premium will be increasingly defined in terms of sustainability and environmental compatibility. This is an area in which we want to remain in the lead."

BBC SPORT | Motorsport | Formula 1 | BMW to quit F1 at end of season

 

[gnx]

I never liked the BTCC and WTCC tintop series. Contrary to popular belief, they do nothing to improve the breed. The only WTCC element that BMW has ever put into the road-going 3 series is a WTCC-inspired bodykit..................and some WTCC special edition 320i's.

I wished BMW would go back to DTM and go up against Mercedes-Benz and Audi. Let's have some exciting racing!!

People, don't forget it, motor racing is a marketing tool. It provides the buzz around the brand. It's like a BBQ; sell the sizzle, not the steaks!!

Dude, motor racing is not a marketing tool. It is being used by marketeers. Motor racing improves the breed. And if they took it more seriously they would have probably designed better brake cooling for my car as opposed to just deleting the fog lights, so I wouldn't have to throw away my front brakes at 9800 kms.

 

[Imhotep Evil]

Motorsport was both a marketing tool and a way to improve the breed, in the beginning.

Now it's just marketing, at best.

 

[Centurion]

It's a tragic way to exit given that last year BMW won their first and had the pace to challenge Mercedes and Ferrari. The improvements were impressive. But this year the team has been a disaster and are now the 2nd or third slowest team on the grid. BMW have failed to make any of the advancements that Mclaren have made this year. This in combination with the recession have probed the board members to pull the plug.

Kubica has a lot of potential and I pray that he ends up in a good tea and not one of the newcomers entering F1 next year.

 

[NarutoRamen]

I remember when it used to be "Race on Sunday, sell on Monday," now the best we can hope for is "Race on Sunday, sell something completely different on Monday or wait a few years and hope you will be able to buy even a tenth of the original," or something or other. LOL

 

[Centurion]

Renault executives are likely to be mumbling on withdrawal from F1 too. But given their two championship victories they don't want to be remember as the team that got lucky two years in a row and never won again.

Richard Branson has been flirting with F1 lately and space too -- and is a likely guy to join in with someone and salvaging a team like BMW. On the down side their is not much to be gained from BMW as their KERS has not been working and given that refueling will be banned next year, the balance of the cars will undergo drastic changes. Thus what ever good there is in this years bimmer, cannot be passed on to the successor.

 

[Wunderkind]

F1 was not going to kill BMW and so will the 5er GT not kill BMW!

It's not about killing the most succesfull luxury carmaker but in strengthening it!

I have not known more optimism than that shown by you.

BMW has killed the traditional 5-series touring to accomodate the 5-series GT. This is a bold move and one that probably won't pay off. As Mercedes had found out, the traditional E wagon buyers didn't even consider switching to the R Class.

 

[Zafiro]

I hate the 5-series GT so much and I dont even want BMW to build one BUT its a different time now and I dont think BMW expect the GT to be a big seller but I think BMW has done some calculations and markeeting survey to see there is people actually want to buy one. X6 isnt a big seller either but still you see them on the streets so if BMW can sell X6 they probably sell a 5-series GT as well. And I dont think the sales of R-class is relevant to the 5-series GT.

 

[martinbo]

^ ^ No, they haven't killed the F11 5er Touring.

 

[Deleted member 25]

What a waste, what loosers. They built an extremely interesting and promising team, they invested so heavily in it, they earned the respect of everyone and always got their targets met,they ****** up only one year and that's it ? FFS you are supposed to be the team that care about motorsport, the team that proves that constrctors are not only here for marketing, that role was supposed to be Toyota's role and look how it has turned out ? What about all this repeated "F1 is cheap for what it offers" ? I am telling you, i am done with THIS BMW.

 

[SKY]

What a waste, what loosers. They built an extremely interesting and promising team, they invested so heavily in it, they earned the respect of everyone and always got their targets met,they ****** up only one year and that's it ? FFS you are supposed to be the team that care about motorsport, the team that proves that constrctors are not only here for marketing, that role was supposed to be Toyota's role and look how it has turned out ? What about all this repeated "F1 is cheap for what offers" ? I am telling you, i am done with THIS BMW.

This is it. After months and months of hearing them talk about the KERS, they even though in having Alonso as a drive for this year. What a shit german menthality, they do have to acomplish some objetives and if not? Out? First year they are not doing well and they get out.

This doesn´t deserve any respect, even when surely from the enterprise point of view is a wise decision.