BMW Quit F1 Too Early - Berger

BMW may have retired from Formula 1 a bit too early, argues former Grand Prix driver and BMW motorsport director Gerhard Berger. The Austrian, who moved to team ownership a few years after giving up his role with the German manufacturer, insisted that BMW should have shown more perseverance in their plans to chase a world title in F1.

If one thinks about it, BMW's climb to the high spots of the F1 classification has been nothing short of impressive, with the sole exception of failing to bag a title. A couple of seasons after buying into Peter Sauber's team, BMW went on to clinch 2nd place in the constructors' race, before dropping to 3rd in 2008 – despite scoring their first win in F1 – and eventually quitting in 2009.

“The way BMW had set up its own team was correct. But they should have shown perhaps a little more perseverance,” said Berger, according to Germany's Auto Motor und Sport.

“It's interesting with F1 that you cannot get the title at a first attempt. It takes a lot of very hard work until the successes come and you need to stick at it,” he added, exemplifying his comments with the way Red Bull handled their rise to becoming world champions in the last half of decade.

“The conditions needed to achieve what Red Bull have now reached and the reason why that didn't happen for them was always that the patience was missing. Dietrich Mateschitz of Red Bull had it. He had bad years, however he continued. And now it has been rewarded. Now he gets a return on his investment.”