BMW Sauber team reach end of the F1 road

BMW Sauber today confirmed they are to withdraw from Formula One at the end of the 2009 season.

Klien linked with BMW Sauber race seat

Austrian reports claim an F1 return is a done deal Christian Klien's contract means he could make his return to the Formula One grid next year at BMW Sauber...  

BMW to sell team back to Sauber

• Company's plan involving Qadbak Investments collapses• Confirmation depends on Sauber being granted place for 2010BMW has agreed to sell its Formula One team back to its founder Peter Sauber after four years of ownership, changing its mind over an original plan to conclude a sale with Qadbak Investments, the company which served as a vehicle for the purchase of the Football League club Notts County.BMW said that the deal "will not be completed". A spokesman added: "Negotiations were terminated recently. The combination of no legally effective contract and no starting place [on the grid] ultimately led to a dead end."BMW's planned sale of its 80 per cent stake in the team back to Peter Sauber is conditional on the Sauber squad being granted an entry into the 2010 world championship.When BMW originally decided to leave Formula One at the end of the season, it neglected to sign the Concorde agreement which binds all participants into contesting the world championship until 2012. As a result of this, the BMW team looked an unattractive proposition for potential buyers, without a ticket to compete and a full grid of 13 teams already promised for next season.With the other competitors unwilling to agree to expanding the field to 14, BMW's prospects for survival appeared bleak. However, when Toyota decided to quit the sport immediately after the Abu Dhabi grand prix, a potential place in the field opened up to accommodate Sauber.The FIA has not yet formally deliberated on the matter but it is expected to agree to Sauber's 2010 participation at the World Motorsport Council meeting on 9 December and confirm that the team will switch to using Ferrari engines instead of BMWs."I am very happy we have found this solution," said Sauber, who originally founded the team in 1993. "I am convinced that the new team has a very good future in Formula One, whose current transformation with new framework conditions will benefit the private teams."Sauber was referring to the recent round of cost reductions which should slash budgets by 40 per cent from next year, although he admitted that this would include a reduction in the team's workforce from 388 to around 250. "This [contract] fulfils the most important requirement for a successful future for the team," Dr Klaus Draeger, a member of the BMW board told Autosport.com. "Our relationship with Peter Sauber has always been excellent and marked by absolute respect. We would like to express our thanks for the excellent co-operation for the recent four years."SauberFormula OneMotor sportAlan Henryguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Sauber conditionally buys back BMW team

BMW have yesterday agreed to sell back to original owner Peter Sauber, with the condition that the team receives an entry for the 2010 F1 season. The original deal with Qadbak Investment will not happen. A statement from the team is below.

BMW pull out of Qadbak deal

• Sauber back in control at team he previously owned• FIA still to award BMW-Sauber a grid positionBMW have pulled out of a move to sell their Formula One team to Qadbak Invesment, the company involved in Notts County, and instead have agreed a new deal with Peter Sauber. It means that Sauber, who already owns a stake in the BMW-Sauber team, will be back in control at the company he owned before BMW's involvement.However, the move still relies on the sport's governing body, the FIA, allowing the team to have a slot on next year's starting grid. BMW-Sauber are not guaranteed a place as BMW failed to sign the new Concorde Agreement whose deadline passed shortly before the manufacturer pulled out of the sport. Sauber, though, is confident his team will be given the vacant slot created after Toyota's departure from Formula One."I am very relieved that we have found this solution," said Sauber. "It means we can keep the Hinwil location and the majority of workplaces. I am convinced that the new team has a very good future in Formula One, whose current transformation with new framework conditions will benefit the private teams."Our staff here are highly competent and motivated, and I look forward to taking on this new challenge together with them. I would like to thank BMW for four shared years that have in the main been very successful.""Our relationship with Peter Sauber has always been excellent and marked by absolute respect," said Dr Klaus Draeger, a member of BMW's management board. "We would like to express our thanks to Peter Sauber and the whole team for the excellent cooperation during the recent four years."The move does mean, however, that the team will be restructured and staff will be cut from 388 employees to 250.BMW, who bought an 80% in the Swiss-based Sauber team in 2005, announced in July that they were pulling out of Formula One. In September, they agreed a deal to sell the team to Qadbak, which was described as representing unnamed Middle Eastern interests.Qadbak had also bought the League Two team Notts County, England's oldest Football League club, through its Munto Finance Company.SauberFormula OneMotor sportguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Brazil Quali Review: BMW

Interlagos (BR). After a wet qualifying session lasting two hours and 42 minutes the Brazilian crowd cheered local hero Rubens Barrichello for his pole position. The BMW Sauber F1 Team was left rather unhappy. Both drivers ended up below expectations in qualifying. While Robert Kubica made it into Q3 and finished eighth, Nick Heidfeld was already out in Q1, mainly because the ride height proved to be too low for the amount of water on the track.