After announcing last month that it wouldn’t compete in Formula One next season, BMW said Tuesday it has found a buyer for its racing team.
Qadbak Investments, the Swiss-based foundation that agreed to purchase the team, hopes to salvage a place in the 2010 circuit.
The spot isn’t guaranteed, but Formula One’s governing body has discussed expanding the field. A spokesman for Qadbak declined to comment on the deal.
Qadbak also recently purchased the English soccer club Notts County. Wall Street Journal
The FIA has announced the expansion of the F1 grid to 13 teams for next season, with Lotus, Campos GP, Manor and US F1 all joining.
“The team expects to line up on the grid for the first race of the 2010 season”
BMW Statement
However, it will be “consulting urgently” with the 10 existing teams with a view to increasing the number of teams to 14.
There are also doubts over the F1 future of current teams Renault and Toyota.
Renault are embroiled in a race-fixing controversy while Toyota insist they are not signing off their F1 budget until November.
Despite previous doubts over its future, the FIA described BMW’s application as “high quality” and a team statement said: “We are pleased to confirm that the FIA has indicated that we may have a place in the 2010 Formula 1 World Championship.
“The team expects to line up on the grid for the first race of the 2010 season.” BBC Sport
