Buzzin F1 – Formula One Blog

BMW Sauber 2008

BMW Sauber sponsors Credit Suisse have announced that they will not be continuing their partnership with the F1 racing team this season. The news comes on the eve of the new BMW Sauber car launch, although the agreement is said to have ended last year.

Credit Suisse, Switzerland’s second largest bank has backed the BMW Sauber team since 2001 but has said that it is no longer interested in sponsoring international events and is to turn instead, to regional institutions and events. The BMW team had their best F1 results during last season, winning their first Grand Prix, in Canada, and finishing third in the constructors championship, with Robert Kubica in particular showing outstanding form.

BMW Sauber have yet to make any comment on the withdrawal, but will continue with the launch of the 2009 car tomorrow, probably in a similar low profile way as the other teams that have so far unveiled their cars, in keeping with the cost cutting measures that have been agreed across the grid.

As talk of further tightening of the purse strings in F1 continues to make headlines, there has been some recent talk about the possibility of introducing a salary cap on drivers. This F1 news has met with various responses from team principle’s and drivers, with Frank Williams showing support and as usual taking a sensible stance on the matter.

While in favour , Williams concedes that it may be difficult to implement, suggesting that, “If McLaren don’t want to pay Hamilton £15m, someone else will. How do you stop that?”

Last season’s runner up in the championship, Felipe Massa meanwhile has no intention of taking a pay cut, the Ferrari driver who is reported to earn around £7m a year, suggesting that in such a competitive sport the drivers are a fundamental part, and the cost of the driver’s is small compared to the total budget of the teams. That is true of his wages, but with team mate Kimi Raikkonen reportedly taking £34m a year from Ferrari, something has to give.

Personally I liked Massa’s view that despite his reluctance to take a salary cut, “The more people work to reduce cost’s, the better it is going to be for everybody.”

“We just need to work hard because in Formula One we know we have a lot of engineers and people. First we have to look at areas where we can cut the money, not kicking people out. This is a priority.”