MAY 10, 2002

BMW management changing

LATER this month BMW chairman and chief executive Joachim Milberg will retire after three years in charge of the Munich company. He will be replaced by the company's chief financial officer Helmut Panke. It remains to be seen whether the company's attitudes towards Formula 1 will change. There is little doubt that the company is committed to F1 in the long term but with other manufacturers creating their own factory teams BMW might be considering doing its own thing when the current deal with Williams comes to an end. While this is rather unlikely such eventualities cannot be overlooked, particularly in the light of the plans for the automobile manufacturers to start their own World Championship.

BMW had considered its own F1 team on several occasions in the past but has always concluded that it was best to be just an engine supplier and leave the chassis building to the small specialist racing firms in Britain.