Munich-based manufacturer BMW will compete as BMW Sauber F1 in Formula One next year. However, the team has not yet confirmed its driver lineup, fuelling speculation that Jacques Villeneuve’s standing contract with Hinwil is anything but cast in stone.
Munich-based manufacturer BMW will compete as BMW Sauber F1 in Formula One next year. However, the team has not yet confirmed its driver lineup, fuelling speculation that Jacques Villeneuve’s standing contract with Hinwil is anything but cast in stone.
BMW, which bought Swiss Peter Sauber’s team earlier this year, registered its new team with the FIA on Monday.
“The new team name more or less chose itself,” BMW motorsport boss Mario Theissen said. “It reflects the makeup of the team, run by BMW but with a core of 300 Sauber employees. Plus, the 2006 car was developed by Saubers proven engineers”.
Sauber’s technical director, the German Willy Rampf, will continue in his post at the Hinwil location. Heinz Paschen, meanwhile, remains technical director in Munich, where not just the engine but now the entire powertrain will be built. Walter Riedl will be responsible for coordination between the two locations in his capacity as the team’s project manager.
“It’s nice to see that the Sauber name will continue in F1. I’m particularly pleased for Saubers many loyal fans, who I’m sure will support the team with unbowed enthusiasm in the future. The new team’s name is also an expression of the huge respect which BMW has for the employees in Hinwil,” Sauber commented.
The BMW Sauber F1 team will be officially presented on January 16 and 17 in Valencia, where the new car will embark on its first round of testing. Meanwhile, the team will start winter testing with an interim car and the new BMW P86 V8 engine on November 28 in Barcelona.
Nick Heidfeld has been confirmed as one of the team’s two race drivers, but there is much speculation about the identity of the second. 1997 F1 World Champion Villeneuve insists that he has a valid contract, having signed a two-year deal with Sauber earlier this year, but the new team’s also been linked with Antonio Pizzonia and IRL champ Dan Wheldon.
The most persistent rumour is that Finnish GP2 star Heikki Kovalainen, who won last year’s Race of Champions, may find himself in a BMW F1 cockpit next year. It’s been reported that Renault, which earlier moved tester Franck Montagny aside to make room for Kovalainen as a permanent test driver, has devised other plans.
Reports suggest Kovalainen has been released to sign a two-year race deal with BMW and Montagny claims the Enstone-based team has asked him to return and test for the team in December. In fact, the Finnish newspaper recently reported that Kovalainen, who is managed by Renault F1 boss Flavio Briatore, had already signed a two-year contract with BMW.
It is believed that the BMW Sauber F1 team would buy out French-Canadian Villeneuve’s Sauber contract for R90 million. Kovaleinen in and JV out? Watch this space!
