By Jamie Makin
February 26 2005

Right on the heels of the report that team SAUBER PETRONAS signed with the GPWC came the report that they have reached an agreement with BMW to supply engines starting in 2006. Although these have been the team's biggest news stories since the signing of Jacques Villeneuve, they has been strangely silent on both of them. No official press release has come from either party regarding the deals.

Oddly enough, the word on the BMW engine deal came from Frank Williams and one has to wonder what his ulterior motive is. Although his team has a deal with BMW through 2009, it is no secret inside the paddock that BMW is less than happy with the performance of the Grove outfit. BMW has expressed interest in buying a share of the Williams team as well as aiding in chassis development, a move that Frank Williams does not appear to be interested in. Although he downplayed his fear that Williams would lose number one status to SAUBER, we have to wonder if he does have concerns about it which lead to him making the premature announcement of the deal.

The SAUBER/BMW situation continues to get more interesting. Currently the majority of shares in the Swiss team are held by Credit Suisse who purchased them after Red Bull's Dietrich Mateschitz sold them in 2001. Peter Sauber does not appear to want to sell his entire team, having just invested heavily in the Hinwil factory but it is possible that a manufacturer like BMW would consider buying out Credit Suisse's portion of the team. Could a more complex deal between SAUBER and BMW be in the works? And would this be why SAUBER and BMW have not responded yet to the reports?

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