BMW has once again made it clear that it has no plans to return to Formula 1, citing the difficulty of transferring technology from the track to road cars. This decision comes despite the presence of several major rivals, including Audi and Mercedes, in the series.
Since selling its majority stake in Sauber back in 2009, the Munich-based manufacturer has stayed away from F1. In recent years, the sport has attracted a wave of new manufacturers, including Cadillac and Ford, while Sauber itself has now been taken over by Audi.
Frank van Meel, head of BMW M, explained to Motor1 Germany that F1 doesn't align with BMW's philosophy of transferring technology from racing to production vehicles. "Formula 1 is too far removed for us; it's too much of a laboratory and doesn't translate well enough to production cars," he said.
According to Van Meel, BMW customers and fans do enjoy F1, but they also appreciate motorsport that is more directly connected to the cars they drive. "The story behind M is that we bring motorsport into production cars. And Formula 1 simply doesn't fit into that for us," he added.
Instead, BMW is focusing on endurance racing, such as the WEC and IMSA, where it competes with the M Hybrid V8 for Team WRT. Van Meel highlighted the importance of the US market, which accounts for around 40% of BMW M's sales. "IMSA is extremely important for us because of the direct technology transfer," he noted.
He also gave concrete examples of tech transfer, like design elements from the M4 GT3 used in the M New Class concept, and the V8 hybrid technology shared between race cars and road models like the M5 and XM. "In some cases, the same engineers work on these powertrains, allowing us to test things faster and in a more production-ready way," Van Meel explained.
With this stance, BMW seems committed to its path, staying away from the glitz of F1 while remaining true to the DNA of the cars it sells.
Baca Juga
BMW menegaskan tidak akan kembali ke F1 karena F1 terlalu jauh dari mobil produksi. Fokus BMW M adalah WEC dan IMSA untuk transfer teknologi.
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