Formula 1 is booming and attracting more and more manufacturers, but BMW continues to stay away: BMW M chief Franciscus van Meel reveals why the company has no interest at this time
Formula 1 is booming: The grandstands are full, fan interest is growing, and more and more manufacturers want to compete in the premier class. Cadillac, Ford, and Audi are new entrants this season, and BYD has also already expressed interest in joining. Only BMW continues to stay away following its withdrawal from Formula 1 at the end of 2009.
And despite the new regulations, which have successfully attracted new manufacturers, that will remain the case in the coming years. “Formula 1 is too far removed from us—too much of a laboratory and not transferable enough to production cars,” says BMW M Managing Director Franciscus van Meel in an interview with the German edition of Motor1.com.
“Our customers and fans certainly like Formula 1, but they also like motorsports that are more direct and closer to production cars,” adds the Dutch executive. Currently, BMW is competing with the M4 GT3 in customer racing, as well as with the M Hybrid V8 in the World Endurance Championship (WEC) and the American IMSA Championship, among other series.
These series currently align better with the company’s philosophy. “The story of M is that we bring motorsports technology to production vehicles,” van Meel recalls. “And Formula 1 simply doesn’t fit into that picture for us.” In plain language: Even though the upcoming Formula 1 powertrain regulations have not yet been finalized, BMW remains committed to endurance racing.
Formula 1 does not allow for direct technology transfer
“And for us, it’s not just about the WEC, but just as much about IMSA,” says the BMW M boss. “The U.S. is the most important single market for BMW M, accounting for about 40 percent of our volume. BMW grew in the U.S. through racing. That’s why IMSA is extremely important to us.”
“The WEC and IMSA are also a good fit for us because there’s a direct technology transfer. In the M Concept Neue Klasse, for example, you can see elements from the M4 GT3, such as the airflow-optimized hood and the diffuser. The lighting graphics come from our LMDh race car.”
“There are also transfers in the powertrain,” van Meel reveals. “We race a V8 hybrid in motorsports and have V8 hybrids in the M5 and XM. In some cases, the same engineers work on these powertrains. Through these racing series, we can test certain technologies more quickly and with a closer focus on production applications.”
That wouldn’t be possible if the Munich-based company were to compete in the premier 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 precisely why a Formula 1 comeback by BMW is virtually out of the question at this time.