BMW Sauber’s last dance

In what seems a pathetic move, a la knee-jerk fashion by BMW AG, sadly the BMW Sauber F1 Team has now run its course with its 70th and final Grand Prix race at the inaugural Abu Dabi Grand Prix.

With “Quick Nick” Heidfeld’s fifth place finish, the Team was able to leapfrog Williams for sixth in the Constructor’s Championship, as the German has been a part of Peter Sauber’s various Formula 1 incarnations for seven years and in thanks for his loyal service, Heidfeld will be presented with a current spec Sauber racecar.

Meanwhile Heidfeld’s teammate Robert Kubica, nee the “Krakow Kid” who’ll be moving to Renault next year is set to take part in his very first Rallying event in France at the end of November, where Kubica will partake In the Côte d'Azur aboard a Clio R3 (Nov. 26-29) purely for fun, claims the Pole…

Heidfeld finds it a difficult farewell

Ferrari to power reborn Sauber Team

And missed while Out ‘N Aboot in Maryhill was the news that the recently sold BMW Sauber F1 Team, which changed hands with the mysterious Swiss Holding Conglomerate QADBAK for a cool $80m Euros, has confirmed that it will run customer Ferrari “Lumps” beginning in 2010, with a supply deal rumoured to be for 3yrs. Now all they’ve gotta do is connive their way back onto the grid…

Oh Bernie, you’re such a Comedian!

Don’t know if Y’all saw Uncle Bernaughties coyish comments about how his good buddy and business partner… On how the recently disgraced Flavour Flav (Briatore) should fight his infinite ban from FIA Motorsports activities… Oh Bernie, you’re such a Hoot! Hmm? Wonder if this is little more then window dressing to appease their long standing friendship or open the door for future enterprise?

Ecclestone urges Briatore to appeal life ban

Meanwhile you’ve just gotta “LUV” the comments from fellow drivers in relation to “Nielsen Ho’s” (Piquet Jr.) getting off “Scot-free,” especially the “Krakow Kid’s” zinger…

Robert Kubica:
“Normally, if you go the police and you say you killed someone but you know someone else who killed three people, you will still go to jail."

And that about pretty much sums up the whole tawdry affair, with whispers now reputedly hypothesizing that the FIA’s “Witness X” could be none other then Fred Alonso? As I’d like to think we’ve heard the last of this matter, unless Nelson Piquet Jr. somehow miraculously shows-up upon the 2010 F1 grid, eh?

BMW Sauber Quitting F1!

Holy Wienersnitzel Batman! Talk about “The Ultimate Bombshell!” As I awoke this morning from a fretful night ‘O Sleep to the AP Newswire report that BMW has decided to QUIT Formula 1 at the end of the 2009 season… SHEISA!

As the Munich Companies Management Board Chairman Dr. Norbert Reithofer, has claimed that the current Economic conditions in F1 are simply too great and that the Firm will utilize the financial resources of the team to concentrate instead on Sustainability and Environmental compatibility, as BMW re-aligns its priorities… As its awfully hard to swallow the thought that some Old Codger with an infinity for Kraut Fralein’s was correct over the possibilities that Honda’s shock withdrawal wouldn’t be the last of the big Auto Manufacturer’s, Zieg Heil!

Yet, most pundits seemed to think that Toyota was the most likely candidate to follow its Honda rival out of the sport and I for one certainly didn’t see this coming from BMW Sauber, especially with the current rumours making the rounds that Renault is potentially on the chopping block and a sell of the team to a Russian Tycoon is immanent. Albeit the team’s dismal performance this season; as obviously, this will put BMW Sauber’s lead driver, the “Krakow Kid” (Robert Kubica) to the head of the line in the 2010 Driver market, either as Felipe Massa’s or Heikki Kovalainen’s replacement, or perhaps Barrichello or Trulli’s? As you’d have to say that BRAWN, Ferrari, McLaren and Toyota are the top teams available, as Renault is a wild card at the moment.

Things probably aren’t quite as rosy for “Quick Nick” (Heidfeld) who is getting a bit long in the tooth and seems to be mostly out shadowed by Kubica. Yet, with the arrival of three new Constructors next year, an experienced F1 Piloto would be of great value.

And with the lightly reported signing of a new Concorde Agreement just concluded, how does BMW’s decision affect this, will an attempt be made to sell the team and will BMW incur any monetary repercussions? Stay tuned, as the Formula 1 landscape continues its bumpy ride.

And never fear Meesh, your man Bobby Rahal’s ALMS GT2 program isn’t affected, nor is the Formula BMW and all other Motorsports activities not associated with F1…

BMW Sauber F1.09

And while rivals Renault and Williams were busy debuting at Portimao the day before, BMW Sauber launched its newest contender, the F1.09 at Valencia on January 20th with Robert Kubica getting the honours of first drive.

As BMW Sauber enters its fourth season, Team Boss Dr Mario Theissen was quick to drone on about the requisite Launchspeak; “We’ll be better this year, we’ll fight for the title and our car will jump over the Moon!” Blah-blah-blah...

Yet, the F1.09 is a strikingly good looking chassis and according to BMW Sauber managing director Walter Riedl:
"The development of the F1.09 centered on three key areas: aerodynamics, optimum tyre utilization and the integration of KERS."

As I’ve read somewhere on le internets... (So it must be true, eh? Thanks Al Gore) that it reportedly features a novel sidepod design, of a wedged shape a la early 1970’s F1 design. *Think of Gordon Murray’s wonderful Brabham BT44) Yet, as I’m a visually impaired pundit, I’ll leave the keen technical scruntinizing to Messer Collantine over at F1 Fanatic, whom as “Hobbo” would say; Has the eyes of a certain type ‘O rat!”

2009 F1 Car comparisons: BMW

Launch notes

BMW Sauber up next

Before tomorrows BMW Sauber unveiling, the team's YouTube channel is giving an exclusive insight into the F1.09, which is still a closely guarded secret. The first sneak preview went online just a few minutes ago and this video is titled:

Titel: BMW Sauber F1.09 - The countdown is on. (Part 1/3)

This will be followed by another video at 10:00 CET tomorrow, before the video of the actual unveiling of the car goes online at 10:00 CET on Tuesday...

Kudos to Andreas for sending me the Youtube link

BMW still playing third fiddle

Just-in-time for the Holidaze’s... The Bavarian backed Swiss team’s major sponsor Credit Suisse also appears to not be immune to the current global economic crisis and has just announced that it plans to lay off up to 11% of its workforce, although its not known what effect, if any it’ll have upon the team.

Meanwhile in Mexico City, the Formula BMW World Championships were held and surprisingly, BMW America series champion Alexander Rossi was victorious, ahead of Michael Christensen and “Home Boy” Esteban Gutierrez, with Team Boss Dr. Mario theisman and “The Krakow Kid,” a.k.a. Robert Kubica attending the festivities.

Kubica, “Quick Nick” (Heidfeld) and tester Christian Klien have all since taken their respective turns testing various incarnations of BMW Sauber’s next race car, the F1.09 with KERS at Jerez alongside their fellow rivals...

BMW Sauber F1.08

Finalizing the triumberant of Formula 1 launches in “Der Fatherland,” BMW Sauber debuted its 2008 challenger, the F1.08 at the companies new Delivery Centre in Munich.

BMW claims to have made a radical evolution with the new ’08 chassis and is targeting its first Grand Prix victory this season…

More on Kubica’s shunt

I still cannot believe that BMW Sauber F1 driver Robert Kubica walked away from his monstrous shunt in Canada with nothing more than a concussion and sprained ankle.

That’s why it’s even more impressive upon learning that Kubica’s impact with the concrete wall registered 75G’s! After launching himself over Jarno Trulli’s rear wheel, Kubica slammed into the wall at 143mph! Yet even more impressive is the fact that Kubica will return to the cockpit for this weekend’s French GP…

Kubica stands down

Although Robert Kubica deemed himself fully recovered from his massive shunt at Montreal. Doctor’s felt differently upon the matter and decided on not giving Kubica the green light to compete in this weekend’s USGP.

Therefore BMW Sauber has decided to call up Sebastian Vettel, the 19 year old “Wunderkind” as Kubica’s replacement. The young German has impressed in the past as a Friday test driver. Yet Vettel remains a Red Bull contracted driver, who hold first option upon his services while he test drives for BMW Sauber…

Kubica walks away

I still cannot believe that Robert Kubica suffered nothing further than a concussion and sprained ankle from the horrific accident he suffered at Montreal! Apparently this goes to show once again how impressive the chassis are constructed and the peak physical conditioning race drivers maintain. Even more surprising to me is that Kubica is eager to race at this weekend’s USGP…

Heidfeld to run Nordschleife

Interestingly Nick Heidfeld is set to run a BMW Sauber F1.07 around the famed “Green Hella” next month. This will be the very first time a Formula 1 car has circumnavigated the 14.7 mile historic track since Niki Lauda’s fiery crash…

BMW Sauber F1.07

BMW-Sauber has just launched the teams newest challenger, the F1.07 at Valencia’s expo center where the team’s 4 drivers were on hand for the unveiling of BMW’s first all new Formula 1 race car…

To read about McLaren-Mercedes 2007 Launch, see: McLaren MP4/22

Super Albert

BMW-Sauber’s team principal Dr. Mario Theissen, who was responsible for enticing BMW into purchasing Peter Sauber’s Formula 1 team, continues looking for alternative strategies to lead his team to the forefront…

And I find Theissen’s methods refreshing, since he seems determined to reach the front of the grid. Although he uses all the right buzz words like “thinking outside the box.” Theissen is the ultimate taskmaster, keeping his staff’s noses to the grindstone…

The BMW-Sauber team has quietly gone about the business of marching to the front by leapfrogging Formula 1 giant Toyota in the Constructor’s championship during its debut season…

While the simple answer in Formula 1 is to add another wind tunnel, BMW has instead completed installation of Albert 2.

Not to be confused with Fat Albert… Albert 2 is one of the world’s most powerful super computers and BMW-Sauber will utilize it to run CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) for Aerodynical computations…

Although Theissen says that outright race victories aren’t BMW-Sauber’s target for 2007, the team would like to continue vying for podiums and be ready to pounce if any of the “Big Four” falter…

In regards to the team utilizing Albert 2, I surely hope Theissen. won’t be heard saying “Open the Pod Bay Doors Albert!”

BMW’s new Glock

BMW-Sauber F1 has confirmed Timo Glock as its second test driver for 2007. Glock will partner the teams test and reserve driver Sebastian Vettel. Glock will continue competing in the GP2 Championship along with his BMW-Sauber testing duties…

Zanardi drives BMW

Alex Zanardi made his long awaited return to a Formula 1 cockpit over the weekend at Valencia, during the Formula BMW World Finals. A change in Zanardi’s schedule allowed the Italian to test drive the modified BMW-Sauber C24B earlier then planned. Zanardi tortured his wet weather tires during a three laps spin on Thursday…

Car modifications included using Jacques Villeneuve’s steering wheel and moving the brake pedal to the opposite side of the cockpit to enable better braking. Villeneuve preferred doing all his shifting with his right hand…

On Saturday, after the engine stalled during the first session, Zanardi completed 17 laps. Zanardi nearly matched current BMW-Sauber F1 test driver Sebastian Vettel’s times after shaving 8 seconds off his lap times, less then 1 second behind Vettel…

Red Bull really does “Give you Wings”

While the majority of the media spotlight focuses on his fellow countryman Michael Schumacher, another German is making waves. BMW-Sauber’s new Friday third driver Sebastian Vettel became the youngest driver ever to take the wheel of an F1 car at age 19 in Istanbul, Turkey. Vettel also became the fastest to ever be fined by FIA for speeding through the pit lane in his haste to be first onto track during Friday’s practice session.
Although Friday third drivers have unlimited rev’s, light fuel tanks and multiple sets of tyres, Vettel has made the most of his opportunity by topping the time sheets on his first two Friday practice sessions.
(Friday-Practise 2)
Vettel made his name in Formula BMW, winning the rookie title in 2003. The following season he easily captured the championship while winning 18 of 20 events. In 2005 he moved up to Formula 3 Euroseries where he claimed another rookie title. Vettel won the Hockenheim & Nurburgring rounds this season prior to joining BMW-Sauber. Currently under contract to Red Bull, expect Vettel move to BMW-Sauber full time next season…