Will BMW ever return to Formula 1... 2013?

How do you guys feel about a BMW man. return to Formula 1?

Maybe 2013? 👍 👎

Are they more likely to be an engine supplier or constructor?


Any news or articles on this topic would be great.

I would love to see them back.

Shouldn't you know?

Fairly sure they are focusing on touring, rally and sports car racing, don't see them going back to throwing money away anytime soon.

corporatesteve

Any news or articles on this topic would be great.

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I'm a little bemused as to why you've created this topic. There hasn't been a single word from BMW on whether they'll come back, and given that they're focusing on their DTM campaign with the M3, I doubt they'll have much interest. The only people talking about BMW coming back are the fans who think they'll find the next generation of engine formula attractive.

For now, it seems like BMW will not turn around back into Formula 1. As a former fan of the BMW Sauber F1 Team for 4 years straight and a BMW cars fan myself, it was a pain to see them out of Formula 1. Currently they are concentrating a lot on GT, Endurance and Touring Car but things could still change though.

The 2013/2014 engine regulations is definitely easy on budget but I doubt if BMW will gain any from this. Finger cross!

I'm a massive BMW fan, but I wasn't too sad when they left, F1 had become a bit of a tired joke in my opinion, and it was a massive waste of money. I was more gutted when they decided to stop full factory support for national and international Touring Car series to be honest.

It would be good to see them with a bigger presence in GT racing globally, and of course I'd like to see the return of a BMW LMP, but it seems their focus is now on DTM and other series which share the DTM regs..

.. either way, I wouldn't bet on BMW returning to F1 before 2015/2016 at the earliest, they'll commit to the GT and DTM programs for a minimum of 3 years, which is going to mean developing an F3x M3 race car(s) to replace the E92 M3 currently being used for GT/DTM, and I doubt they'd give that any less than 3 seasons to be competitive... that's due in 2012 at the earliest.

... hopefully, in that time F1 will have pulled it's head out of its own donkey-hole and start to earn it's moniker of the 'pinnacle of motorsport' again.

With Mario Theissen retired (if I remember correctly?), its very unlikely, other than as perhaps an engine supplier.
As with all car manufacturers, who knows when they will grace F1. Its normally only when a F1 fan becomes a senior figure in such companies.

Most manufacturers are seeing Le Mans racing as a much more profitable type or racing, that will give their brands much more in terms of revenue for less money than Formula 1. For now, Le Mans, and everything else is where it's at.

I always wondered why BMW wasn't one of the initial contenders for top Diesel racing. After all, long before Audi or Peugeot, it was BMW that made diesel engines go fast on the roads and be accepted in cars belonging to segments where driving a "diesel" was embarrassing.

I guess they had their sights on F1 ... And they must have been so surprised with their outright win at Le Mans in 1999 that they decided not to push their luck anyway

Hun200kmh

I always wondered why BMW wasn't one of the initial contenders for top Diesel racing. After all, long before Audi or Peugeot, it was BMW that made diesel engines go fast on the roads and be accepted in cars belonging to segments where driving a "diesel" was embarrassing.

I guess they had their sights on F1 ... And they must have been so surprised with their outright win at Le Mans in 1999 that they decided not to push their luck anyway

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Indeed it was a 320D that BMW won the 1998 Nurburgring 24 hour with, but I'm fairly sure BMW had no intention of sticking around at Le Mans once they'd entered F1, and pretty much all the car manufacturers pulled out of LM after 1999, IIRC it was only Audi that stuck around. BMW had already become BMW Sauber F1 before Diesel started to dominate at Le Mans.