BMW has a history of success in
Formula One. BMW powered cars have won 20 races. In 2006 BMW took over the
Sauber team and became Formula One constructors. In 2007 and 2008 the team enjoyed some success. The most recent win is a lone constructor team's victory by
BMW Sauber F1 Team, on 8 June 2008, at the
Canadian Grand Prix with
Robert Kubica driving. Achievements include: • Driver championship: 1 (1983) • Constructor championship: 0 (Runner-up 2002, 2003, 2007) • Fastest laps: 33 • Grand Prix wins: 20 • Podium finishes: 76 • Pole positions: 33 BMW was an engine supplier to
Williams,
Benetton,
Brabham, and
Arrows. Notable drivers who have started their Formula One careers with BMW include
Jenson Button,
Juan Pablo Montoya,
Robert Kubica, and
Sebastian Vettel.
1980–1987 In 1980, BMW announced their development of a turbocharged motor for the
Brabham F1 team. The
BMW M12 engine first raced in the
1982 season. The M12/13 engine won at the
1982 Canadian Grand Prix at the hands of
Nelson Piquet;
Riccardo Patrese was the team's other driver. The following season, BMW supplied engines to the
ATS team; the factory-backed Brabham took four victories on its way to Piquet's championship win. Two more victories came in 1984, and BMW added
Arrows to its list of teams who received its engines. In 1985, Piquet's Brabham, who was now teamed with
Marc Surer, managed only one win. In 1986, BMW started to supply engines for the new
Benetton team, who earned the only win for a BMW engine at the hands of
Gerhard Berger. However, the factory-backed effort at Brabham met with little success with the return of Patrese and
Derek Warwick. At the end of the 1986 season, BMW announced it would drop out of Formula 1 at the end of the 1987 season. BMW's M12/13 engine, however, continued to be used, because Megatron bought the rights to the engines for the Arrows team. The
Ligier team was also supplied with the engine for the 1987 season. Following the 1988 season, turbocharged motors were banned, and Arrows ended its use of the former BMW engine. The BMW M12/13
turbocharged straight-4 engine was famous during its life for being the first Formula 1 engine capable of in racing trim, although it was capable of nearly for qualifying with modification of its boost. This engine had a bore and stroke of x , giving a displacement of 1,499.79 cc. Maximum crankshaft speed was 11,200 rpm. Peak power b.m.e.p. was in the region of 1,000 lbs/sq.in.
1997–2005: Return to Formula One via Le Mans In 1997, BMW announced that it had formed a partnership with
Williams Grand Prix Engineering in order to provide V10 engines in 2000. The initial development of this partnership was BMW's sports car effort. Chassis built by Williams powered by a
BMW M70 V12 engines were entered by long-time partner team
Schnitzer Motorsport. The rather unsuccessful 1998 model was improved, and the efforts culminated in BMW's victory at the
1999 24 Hours of Le Mans with the
BMW V12 LMR. Additional success came in the 2000 ALMS series before the cars were retired from racing. Following the win, the second stage of BMW's partnership with Williams began, with BMW developing the powerful E41 V10 for Formula 1. The new Williams-BMW debuted in the 2000 season, driven by
Ralf Schumacher and
Jenson Button. In 2001, Schumacher took 3 wins and newcomer
Juan Pablo Montoya took his first win. A lone win for Schumacher followed in 2002, but Williams-BMW returned to success in 2003, with two wins each for Schumacher and Montoya. Montoya was the lone winner in 2004. In 2005, disputes led to a rapid decline in the partnership of BMW and Williams. Constant disagreements over the cause of technical failures in the car led BMW to discontinue development of the P84/5
V10 as the season progressed, leading to no victories for the team's new driver line-up of
Mark Webber and
Nick Heidfeld. Consequently, the car finished a distant 5th in the constructors' championship.
2006–2009: BMW Sauber F1 Wanting a split from their failing relationship with Williams, BMW's executives decided that adding an F1 team to the company's motorsport division, thus removing the necessity for a partner, was the only viable solution. Enticed by Sauber's new multimillion-dollar research and development facility, which included an advanced wind tunnel setup, BMW choose to offer a buyout to Peter Sauber rather than scramble to build the facilities themselves. Sauber took the offer, and the buyout went through; the team began racing under the BMW-Sauber F1 name in . The team being split between the Sauber facility at Hinwil, Switzerland and BMW in Munich. The BMW Sauber F1.06 was relatively successful, earning the team fifth place in the constructors championship. BMW opted to retain BMW Williams driver
Nick Heidfeld for 2006 alongside contracted
Sauber driver
Jacques Villeneuve. Villeneuve was later replaced by Polish driver
Robert Kubica after disagreements between Villeneuve and the team. BMW's 2007 season improved on results from the previous year. While the car was still inferior to both the Ferrari and McLaren, it outclassed the rest of the field. BMW scored points in every race, ending the season second in the constructors championship (after McLaren's disqualification) with over 100 points. In 2008 BMW won their first race at the
Canadian Grand Prix. The team also achieved several podium finishes like Heidfeld's at the first race of the season in
Australia and a second place for Kubica in
Monte Carlo. In July 2009, BMW announced that it would withdraw from Formula One at the end of the 2009 season. The team was sold back to the previous owner, Peter Sauber, who kept the BMW part of the name for the 2010 season due to issues with the
Concorde Agreement. The team has since dropped BMW from their name starting in 2011. ==Formula E ==