02/08/2005
NEWS STORY
With six races remaining before it can throw all its weight behind its own team, BMW clearly feels that its six-year partnership with WilliamsF1 was, for the most part, a case of mission not accomplished.
"For the past five years we pushed with Williams but never felt that we fully accomplished," says BMW's Motorsport Director, Mario Theissen, according to F1.com.
"That was when we started to evaluate the option to create our own team," he added, "to have control of all success factors."
Previously, it's been said that the clash of cultures between the German and English outfits was to blame for the failed marriage, while others are of the opinion that BMW should gave given more real commitment to williamsF1, namely by buying in to the company, a move which team boss Frank Williams was keen on.
Former Motorsport Director, Gerhard Berger, had argued that BMW should form his own team, and left when it appeared that this would never happen. In recent times, Theissen too has been converted to this way of thinking and subsequently sold the idea to his bosses.
However, although the partnership has six races to run, Theissen insists that he wants to end it on a high.
"There is still one third of the season to go," says the German, "and Sir Frank Williams and myself are pushing very hard to close the gap to the front-runners.
"Success is the best way when it comes to a goodbye," he added. "We want to finish the partnership on a high, not on a low. And we are all working very hard to achieve this."