(Motorsport-Total.com) – Formula 1 is booming: The stands are full, fan interest is growing, and more and more manufacturers want to compete in the top class. Cadillac, Ford, and Audi are new this season, and BYD has already expressed interest in joining. Only BMW continues to stay away after its Formula 1 exit at the end of 2009.
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And this will remain the case in the coming years despite the new regulations that have successfully attracted new manufacturers. “Formula 1 is too far away for us, too much of a laboratory and too little transferable to production cars,” says BMW M CEO Franciscus van Meel in an interview with the German platform of Motor1.com.
“Our customers and fans do like Formula 1, but they also like the more direct, production-based motorsport,” adds the Dutchman. Currently, BMW is involved, among other things, with the M4 GT3 in customer racing as well as with the M Hybrid V8 in the World Endurance Championship (WEC) and in the American IMSA championship.
These series currently fit better with the philosophy. “The story of M is that we transfer motorsport into the series,” van Meel reminds. “And Formula 1 simply does not fit into that for us.” In plain terms: Although the upcoming Formula 1 powertrain regulations are not yet finalized, BMW continues to focus on endurance racing.
Formula 1 does not allow direct technology transfer
“And for us, it’s not just about the WEC, but also about IMSA,” says the BMW M boss. “The USA is the most important single market for BMW M with around 40 percent of our volume. BMW grew big in the USA through motorsport. That’s why IMSA is extremely important to us.”
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“WEC and IMSA also suit us because there is a direct technology transfer. For example, in the M Concept Neue Klasse you can see elements from the M4 GT3, such as the vented hood and the diffuser. The light graphic comes from our LMDh race car.”
“There are also transfers in the powertrain,” reveals van Meel. “We run a V8 hybrid in motorsport and have V8 hybrids in the M5 and XM. Some of the same engineers work on these powertrains. Certain topics we can test closer to production and faster through these racing series.”
That would not be possible if the Munich-based company were to engage in the top class in the future. “In Formula 1, that would be a completely separate technology center, detached from the rest,” says van Meel. And that is exactly why a Formula 1 comeback by BMW is currently almost out of the question.
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