Mercedes is already in Formula 1, Audi is coming in 2026 and Porsche has not yet given up hope of finding a way into the premier class. These are three of the five best-known German car brands. The Volkswagen Group has ended all motorsport activities of its own brand Volkswagen. Only BMW remains.
As early as 2017, BMW was said to have a very concrete interest in taking over or at least partially entering the McLaren Group; Rumors that have flared up again and again since then and have been denied just as consistently by both sides – most recently only a few months ago.
BMW is now making it clear: Formula 1 is “currently not an issue for us”. That’s what Andreas Roos says, successor to current Aston Martin team boss Mike Krack as Head of BMW M Motorsport. In an interview with ‘Motorsport-Total.com’, Roos even goes one step further when he says: “We’re definitely not interested in that at the moment.”
“I think you also have to be realistic. You have a very high investment in Formula 1. You have to be very successful for a very long time before it comes back,” he explains. “We are therefore happy with the large bouquet of projects that we currently have in motorsport.”
LMDh: Why the prototype is so important for BMW
At the forefront: the LMDh project (short for Le Mans Daytonah). This is a new class of prototypes, equipped with a hybrid drive, which, alongside the likewise new hypercars, will be used in various sports car series, including the WEC endurance championship, the North American IMSA sports car championship and the 24-hour race from Le Mans.
Roos explains: “We are already fully in the process of electrification and in the transformation to electrification. LMDh fits in perfectly – and not only in 2026, when Formula 1 is going in this direction. So this is the right time for us, to do LMDh now.”
From a marketing point of view and in terms of reach, it is clear to the decision-makers at BMW that Formula 1 is in completely different spheres than any other motorsport category. In this respect, Formula 1 is “great”, admits Frank van Meel, CEO of BMW M GmbH, in which motorsport is at home in the BMW group.
Technology transfer is a priority for BMW
But: “In terms of content, it’s more about what we stand for as a brand and where we want to go with our high-performance vehicles. At the end of this year we will start with the XM, with a V8 power hybrid. And we will be in Equip other high-performance vehicles with this powertrain in the future.”
“For us at BMW, it has always been very important to show a certain closeness to and relevance to series production,” emphasizes Roos. “Motorsport is also a marketing tool – and of course you have to make sure that it fits with our portfolio on the road. And we are currently in the transformation to electrification.”
Van Meel agrees: It was his “clear answer” that Formula 1 is “not a priority 1 issue” for BMW at the moment, “but LMDh is. Formula 1 is of course very traditional, and we also have a tradition on the Formula 1 side.” In addition, the LMDh prototypes are not powered fully electrically.
How the series can benefit from LMDh
But: “What’s happening in the background, with mechanic training so that people can handle high-voltage technology, hasn’t even arrived here. The topic of LMDh is much more interesting for me. It’s their turn now. And we don’t want to wait until 2026, until there are corresponding regulations in Formula 1. Then we want to be one step further,” says van Meel.
And: “We don’t do motorsport for pure marketing reasons, but also because we want to derive something for the series and want to develop together. That’s why LMDh is much more important to us than Formula 1. It’s too far away from our series M- products, but also too far away in terms of time with the topic of electrification.”
A purchase of McLaren, he emphasizes, is not an issue anyway: “BMW is pretty strict about that. BMW doesn’t buy any other companies. We are independent and don’t want to invest anywhere else. Of course, everyone talks to everyone else, at different levels. But that’s it actually a rumour. BMW is not buying McLaren.”