DECEMBER 21, 2007

Deutsche Telekom to join BMW?

There are reports that Deutsche Telekom is to join the BMW Sauber F1 team in 2008. This makes complete sense as the team does not have a telecommunications sponsor at the moment.

There are reports that Deutsche Telekom is to join the BMW Sauber F1 team in 2008. This makes complete sense as the team does not have a telecommunications sponsor at the moment. Deutsche Telekom has recently terminated its sponsorship with the Neuer Strassen Sport cycle team as a result of the scandals that have done the sport serious damage and the company was looking for an alternative. It is not possible to join forces (again) with Mercedes-Benz because the McLaren team is now supported by rival Vodafone and so the second choice would BMW Sauber. It probably helps that former BMW executive and racing fan Prof Dr Wolfgang Reitzle is on the board of the telecommunications company.

BMW has not had a telecommunications sponsor since 2006 when it was involved with O2. At the end of that year O2 taken over by Spanish telecom company Telefonica.