It appears that the deal with Qadbak has fallen through and BMW has agreed to sell its Formula 1 team back to Peter Sauber. This is, of course, contingent upon the team being allowed back onto the grid by the FIA, since BMW failed to sign the new Concorde Agreement before they announced that the team would not compete in 2010. Since Toyota later announced its intention to quit F1, leaving an open spot in the 2010 lineup, this will hopefully be only a formality and not a problem. Surely Frank and Patrick wouldn’t oppose allowing Sauber back in, would they?
Good for Peter and the members of the team who now won’t have to worry about losing their jobs. There will apparently still have to be some cuts, but nothing like if the team had just folded.
Yet more confirmation that Max was right about at least one thing – privateers like Peter Sauber are more stable than manufacturers (except Ferrari) when it comes to Formula 1. And one less team in the hands of an investment group that couldn’t care less about the sport doesn’t hurt my feelings at all.
Voodoo Bob
Max may be right but he would be even more right if he were to admit that he needs everyone and anyone desperately! The budgets for teams have been like California real estate: long in need of a “adjustment”. Which of course benefits privateers, always a good thing.