BMW and Formulation One have an inextricable historical past. Most regularly, the connection will get diminished to BMW’s historical past of supplying engines. Removed from an unfair categorization. However there’s one other manner 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 creating even higher drivers.
Formulation BMW: Speedy Modifications and New Faces
As we talked about, Formulation BMW already obtained its engines straight from the mothership. With BMW Motorsport’s intervention in 2001, issues modified a bit. BMW now offered whole automobiles for the sequence. Secondly, the automaker reconfigured how the ADAC (Allgemeiner Deutscher Automobil Membership, actually “Common German Car Membership”) labored. It prioritized drivers aged 15 or older with no worldwide racing expertise apart 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 schooling alternatives that different junior racing sequence didn’t. A bodily health coach, PR coaching and entry to manufacturing unit 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 sequence 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 turned a factor, debuting on the Lengthy Seaside Grand Prix on April 13, 2003. This system represented a possibility for youthful drivers to get behind the wheel of one thing extra akin to an actual F1 automobile, 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 bike engine mounted behind the motive force was greater than sufficient for motivation. However, after all, these developments got here at a worth. BMW themselves estimated prices for a typical driver to be round $200,000 per race season, considerably greater than different junior race sequence.
Whereas a tricky promote, BMW did handle to snag some huge fish. Bobby Rahal, who seemingly wants no introduction, and Tom Milner, who ran a factory-backed M3 within the American Le Mans Collection, have been onboarded, which could have cajoled different smaller groups to become involved. Additional blessings got here from a sanctioning cope with Championship Auto Racing Groups, or CART, the then-leaders of open-wheel racing. Even Roger Penske and Rick Hendrick, dealership and race group house owners, obtained concerned, buying automobiles however permitting BMW to choose the motive force.
Formulation BMW’s Finish
From the sequence debut at Lime Rock in 2004 till the ultimate races of the sequence in 2009 — when it was then often called 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 finally led to a worldwide sequence that pit the most effective from all over the place towards one another. Winners obtained to check out a full-fledged F1 automobile.
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. Finally, 2009 noticed the tip of Formulation BMW as the worldwide recession worsened and BMW pulled out of all Formulation One efforts.
