The BMW name looks likely to remain in Formula One next season.
Peter Sauber bought the BMW Sauber team back from BMW in November and he told Swiss paper NZZ am Sonntag that changing the name of his team was "one of my smallest problems".
“The team is currently called BMW Sauber F1 Team, because we registered ourselves as such with the FIA, and that's how we will line up,” he said. "It is not decided at present when we will submit an application for a change of the name.”
BMW pulled out of the sport in summer after a disappointing year and its desire to cut costs across its motorsport programme. Sauber may encounter trouble changing the name as it will need approval from all the teams, as well as the FIA and Bernie Ecclestone.
Brawn was granted permission to change its name to Mercedes last month, a decision made on an “exceptional basis” according to the FIA.
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Re: BMW name set to stay in F1
As a F1 fan this bureaucracy saddens me. This is petty rules which will turn people off from the sport. If the car retained a BMW based engine I could understand it but with a Ferrari engine its just plain stupid. The next thing we will find is that BMW will make a claim for breech of trademark. Its time Bernie and friends learned how to speed up decision making. With a process such as this one can only suspect that Gordon Brown and his chums are involved!
Re: BMW name set to stay in F1
They run the risk of losing their TV payments from Bernie if they try to change the name of their entry, so Peter Sauber - always a pragmatic man - would probably prefer to keep the BMW name and the cash rather than drop the name and lose the cash.
I would guess that it will be resolved before the start of the season, as Bernie probably won't want BMW getting any publicity by having their name in F1 after they have already gone.
Personally, since they are going to be using Ferrari engines, I think that the name Sauber-Maserati has a rather nice ring to it. Always wondered why they never did that last time they used Ferrari engines. Surely Fiat could throw them some cash to cover the cost of the engine and get a cheap presence in F1 for their other premium brand.
Re: BMW name set to stay in F1
Surely Ferrari won't let them line up as BMW Sauber-Ferrari in Bahrain... I expect PS is waiting until a new headline sponsor is lined up before applying for a name change.
How about Wine Rack Sauber-Ferrari? Just a thought...