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Well..... the rumors were true and now we have to wait and see what engines Williams gets (Honda, Cosworth or stay with BMW). In any case it does not look pretty for them. As for the drivers, Heidfeld might end up going back to his old team now batched as BMW. Jenson will have room to go to Williams but now the question is whether he wants to be there.....
The FAN590 in Toronto is reporting that Jacques Villeneuve will have a seat in a Williams F1 racer next season.
What's interesting in this is that Peter will step down as team principal. That, I can imagine, must be difficult for him to do. Also BMW still desires to supply Williams next year. Will they stay or will they go ?
Looks like there will be a LOT of people moving around. I'm interested in just who will be designing the chassis of the new BMW. Obviously it won't be the Sauber people, with the little success they have had in the last few years...
L.O.L. I think you are probably closer to the truth on the whereabouts of Jacques beginning this November, or earlier.
Makes the whole GPWC look like more of a bluff... After Mercedes, BMW is probably the #2 power team that might defect. I doubt BMW is gonna pump $400M+ per year into a program that they intend to only run in 2006 and 2007. Looks like they have intentions of staying in F1... It's odd though, all the GPWC hype tends to suggest the manufacturers (BMW, Mercedes, Honda, etc.) are looking to leave. It always seemed to me that they would exit, leaving behind McLaren, Williams, and BAR to decide if they wanted to stick in F1 as independents. But if the manufacturers are sticking around, well, it seems pretty simple that the GPWC is nothing more than an idle threat.
the heart and soul of F1 is the privateer gargeists such as Peter Sauber, this is sad for me. Real racers getting replaced by boards of directors and marketing budgets. May BMW's bottom line remain strong, so they don't pull a Ford and just leave in the middle of the night.
Peter Sauber is a very competent team manager. He did a good job with the resources available to his team but F1 has reached a whole different magnitude in terms of funding requirements. Sauber won everywhere he went except for F1. He did a superb job in the sport prototype championship with the Sauber Mercedes team.... back when he was employing M Scumacher. I'm sorry too to see him go but I guess he's weighted his options and does not want the team to go down the drain... nobody needs another Jordan
Wonderful news, I applude BMW for entering F1 as a complete manufacture. Wonder if MB and other major car manufactures worldwide will follow.
I'm sad to hear the Sauber Petronas team is over. I'v always loved this team.. Quick Nick and Kimi driving for them back in 2001, Frentzen having another chance in 2003, Villeneuve back for a full year in F1 thanks to Peter. 2001 was Sauber's best year...(4e in WCC) I have no problem seing BMW taking over. I can't wait to see this new car + new colors and new drivers (hope JV will still be in the team).
Same here except for the JV part. He can't even stay with Massa for the most part. His best days were gone when he left Williams. And he's been struggling since he came back. And if nothing else in all this BMW won't able to play the blame game anymore if they're not winning like they want to.
Before Imola he was off pace... Then came Imola where he had a very good race. Monaco = great qualifying lap and was faster than Massa the whole race before he messed up. Germany= poor race, stuck behind Narain because of that accident between MW, JPM. In Montreal ...Great qualifying lap (8e), he had the same amount of fuel on board as Massa. If it wasn't for that race incident (JV/ TS) he would had finished 4th or 5th. I find he is getting better every race + he doesn't eat his tyres like Felipe. JV deserves his drive right now. Maybe you will disagree but I'm okay with that.
On the money... I don't see these moves being healthy for F1. As soon as the tank top wearing, hair gel clad marketing types notice they're getting their arses whooped on the track and it's (perceived to be) buggering up sales of the latest 1 series/Clio/Prius, the budgets will move to glossy women's magazines or "design clinics" and the F1 budget will get slashed.
BMW could have just bought out Sauber simply so that they would have the facilities needed to prepare for a true manufacturers series starting in 2008. Maybe the just want some f1 chassis building experience in advance of that date.
I believe that Williams has a multi-year contract in place with BMW, but if I am incorrect, I have no idea.
