BMW and Formulation One have an inextricable historical past. Most regularly, the connection will get decreased to BMW’s historical past of supplying engines. Removed from an unfair categorization. However there’s one other means BMW “provided” Formulation One within the early 2000s: Formulation BMW. A separate entity with beforehand restricted OEM involvement (though BMW did provide engines), the OEM took the reigns with sights set on growing even higher drivers.
Formulation BMW: Fast Modifications and New Faces
As we talked about, Formulation BMW already acquired its engines straight from the mothership. With BMW Motorsport’s intervention in 2001, issues modified a bit. BMW now supplied whole vehicles for the collection. Secondly, the automaker reconfigured how the ADAC (Allgemeiner Deutscher Automobil Membership, actually “Common German Vehicle Membership”) labored. It prioritized drivers aged 15 or older with no worldwide racing expertise aside from karting.
The Formulation BMW program is touted by BMW as being “excess of merely a step up from karting.” Formulation BMW gave drivers entry to distinctive training alternatives that different junior racing collection didn’t. A bodily health coach, PR coaching and entry to manufacturing facility drivers and F1 bosses made Formulation BMW stand out. An actual paddock — full with a hospitality tent for socialization, consuming, and entertaining — gave Formulation BMW an much more genuine really feel. “It actually set a brand new benchmark by way of what a junior race collection might present,” Alex Schmuck, who was Formulation BMW USA Motorsport Supervisor.
Crossing the Pond
After two years, BMW started eying the UK and US markets. Formulation BMW USA grew to become a factor, debuting on the Lengthy Seashore Grand Prix on April 13, 2003. This system represented a chance for youthful drivers to get behind the wheel of one thing extra akin to an actual F1 automotive, as BMW’s ADAC rides pushed the boundaries for the category. Carbon-Kevlar and composite tubs have been used together with a Motorsport-derived seat. Weighing simply over 1,000 kilos, the 140-horsepower four-cylinder motorbike engine mounted behind the driving force was greater than sufficient for motivation. However, after all, these developments got here at a value. BMW themselves estimated prices for a typical driver to be round $200,000 per race season, considerably greater than different junior race collection.
Whereas a tricky promote, BMW did handle to snag some huge fish. Bobby Rahal, who doubtless wants no introduction, and Tom Milner, who ran a factory-backed M3 within the American Le Mans Sequence, have been onboarded, which could have cajoled different smaller groups to get entangled. Additional blessings got here from a sanctioning take care of Championship Auto Racing Groups, or CART, the then-leaders of open-wheel racing. Even Roger Penske and Rick Hendrick, dealership and race group homeowners, acquired concerned, buying vehicles however permitting BMW to select the driving force.
Formulation BMW’s Finish
From the collection debut at Lime Rock in 2004 till the ultimate races of the collection in 2009 — when it was then generally known as Formulation BMW Americas to point the inclusion of a brand new race weekend added in Mexico — Formulation BMW formed a technology of F1 drivers and hopefuls. All races ultimately led to a world collection that pit one of the best from all over the place towards one another. Winners acquired to check out a full-fledged F1 automotive.
This system developed a number of drivers that later ended up on the F1 grid, together with Nico Rosberg, a future F1 world champion, and Ho-Pin Tung who raced with each Williams and Sauber BMW groups. In the end, 2009 noticed the tip of Formulation BMW as the worldwide recession worsened and BMW pulled out of all Formulation One efforts.
