BMW is out from F1

Will the Formula One bites the dust...

BMW to pull out from Formula One at end of the season

MUNICH: BMW rocked Formula One yesterday by announcing their exit as a team and engine supplier at the end of 2009.

The Munich carmaker’s abrupt decision, after a dismal season on the track and with the industry in crisis, leaves the glamour sport with just four manufacturers — Fiat-owned Ferrari, McLaren’s partners Mercedes, Renault and Toyota.

However, three new teams are due to enter next year with others on standby.

“The BMW Group will not continue their Formula One campaign after the end of the 2009 season,” the Munich carmaker said in a statement issued before a news conference at their company headquarters.

“Resources freed up as a result are to be dedicated to the development of new drive technologies and projects in the field of sustainability. BMW will continue to be actively involved in other motorsports series.”

Team boss Mario Theissen told reporters that the natural scenario would be for a partner to take over the team that BMW bought from their Swiss founder Peter Sauber in 2005.

BMW’s exit is the first prominent withdrawal from the series since Honda quit in December due to tough business conditions.

That team was resurrected as Brawn GP, the current championship leaders who now use Mercedes engines.

BMW’s decision, taken at a board meeting only on Tuesday, came just as the teams were on the verge of signing a new commercial agreement that would have committed them to at least the end of 2012.

It also follows a standoff between the governing International Automobile Federation (FIA) and eight of the teams that nearly led to a breakaway championship, plunging the sport into its biggest crisis in 60 years.

“Of course, this was a difficult decision for us. But it’s a resolute step in view of our company’s strategic realignment,” said board of management chairman Norbert Reithofer.

The departure ends the carmaker’s hopes of winning a title with their own team.

The carmaker decided in mid-2005 that supplying engines to former champions Williams was not enough and bought a majority stake in Swiss-based Sauber, renaming the team BMW-Sauber.

They won their first race last season when Poland’s Robert Kubica triumphed in Canada, and challenged for both titles.

This season, however, they have scored just eight points in 10 races and are eighth overall. — Reuters

Ferrari's Felipe Massa

Felipe Massa...Get well soon

Massa takes first steps since being near death

BUDAPEST: Formula One driver Felipe Massa took his first steps yesterday since a high-speed crash at the weekend left him near death.

Ferrari said Massa was set to leave AEK hospital’s intensive care unit later in the day as his condition continues to improve.

“Felipe speaks, can sit upright and was even able to take his first steps,” the Italian team said in a statement.

“From the clinical and radiological point of view, everything is going extremely well.”
Brotherly love: Eduardo Massa is seen after visiting his brother Felipe at Budapest’s AEK hospital on Tuesday. — Reuters

The 28-year-old Brazilian was hit in the helmet by a loose part from another car and crashed into a protective tire barrier at 190kph during qualifying on Saturday at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Ferrari said Massa would remain at the Budapest hospital for the next few days.

Massa’s father, Luiz Antonio, said his son still doesn’t remember anything about the accident.

“If it continues like this, maybe on Thursaday (today) Felipe can be transferred to the hospital in Paris, where he would continue his recovery until he can return home,” Luiz Antonio told Brazil’s GloboEsporte.com on Tuesday.

“But we still have to obey what the doctors say. The most important now is to know that his life is not at risk.”

Yesterday, Brazilian driver and friend Popo Bueno said Massa had asked about his chances of racing in Valencia in three weeks, the next race on the F1 calendar.

“Friends and relatives want to see him well, at home, healthy. But the driver always wants to return to racing soon,” Bueno said.

“But only the doctors can know if he will be able to return this year or the next.”

Ferrari also said company chairman Luca di Montezemolo would visited Massa yesterday. — AP