OCTOBER 21, 2002

BMW looks at the future

Dr. Mario Theissen, the boss of BMW Motorsport, has been talking about the company's plans in Formula 1 and says that the Munich firm has three options for the future.

"The options are building our own Formula 1 car, continuing our collaboration with Williams in a more appropriate form or quitting F1," Theissen said in an interview with the German newsagency SID. "We're too far behind Ferrari. We want to become World Champion by 2004 but we can only do that with perfect collaboration in all areas and that includes the exchange of all data and the common use of computer simulations and research facilities."

The talks between Williams and BMW are expected to continue in the next few weeks. The current deal runs until the end of 2004 but if BMW is planning to do its own F1 project decisions will be needed quickly so that the preparation work can begin.