BMW and Their Biggest Blunder

[@hugeiftrue4224]

I still haven’t gotten over what BMW did to Kubica in 2008 tbh. Thank you for telling one of my favourite (and subsequently least favourite) stories in all of F1 history.

[@TheMobileChicane]

One of the biggest what-ifs in F1 history. Glad you enjoyed it!

[@jonnyspa27]

I still feel that if Bob hadn't gotten hurt, Lewis wouldn't have quite as many titles. Kubica had the talent and skillset to have a say on that. Regardless, I'm glad I was able to cheer Bob on when he was healthy and on form. Great days!

[@andreasphotiou1886]

Great stuff. Robert’s story is tragic and heroic in equal measures. That he could return to drive an F1 car with limited function in his dominant arm is a testament to his immense talent

[@TheMobileChicane]

Thanks Andreas! And agreed, even though it didn't really work out for him, just seeing him back out on track was a win in of itself.

[@freakysquirrel7218]

Fun fact: Kubica scored points in every F1 season where he was a full-time driver

[@Skonek-84]

@@freakysquirrel7218 even it was one :)

[@atlantisfromtheinternet]

Seeing him race again in 2021 was great, you could tell he was just so happy

[@arthuralford]

Kubica may not have won the championship in 2008, but he should have been given the best opportunity possible. Even as the car became less competitive, he was able to pull the maximum out of it

[@crystalracing4794]

Great Scheckter analogy. Kubica would've been a fitting champion, he was on a mad one in 2008

[@TheMobileChicane]

Definitely the driver of the year, and in a year when so many were battling at the front, that's saying something!

[@longde]

@@TheMobileChicane btw Scheckter was one of the most interesting and wild F1 drivers ever, great car control, interesting personality, perhaps you could do a video of him. Love your videos!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@jimmystoney8029]

Robert Kubica's F1 career is the biggest "What if" in Formula 1.

[@X8X8X8X8X8X8X8X8X8X]

Not at all. There are so many names that come to mind, yet Kubica is the one younger fans remember. Just to illustrate, following his accident only Mercedes or Red Bull drivers became world champions. The world of Grand Prix racing is complex and unpredictable.

[@Christoffski]

For me it's Stefan Bellof.

[@19megamustaine85]

he ruined it for himself

[@carburetor77]

Based

[@jackmiller-johnston8689]

​​@@Christoffskithe lad had no sense of self-preservation, which is only ever good for getting yourself killed. Considering the safety standards of the 80s, it was a case of not if, but when he'd be 6 feet under.

[@bbrod14]

Someone get Netflix on the phone and give this man a deal for a docu series. The commentary is 10/10 mate, amazing content.

[@TheMobileChicane]

I'll be waiting by my phone! Thank you.

[@elonmusk9697]

BMW's story is equal to a team qualifying for the Champions League but then sacrificing the Chamions League to qualify for the Champions League in the League itself. Once you have the chance, you have to go for it. Otherwise there is absolutely no point in competing

[@TheMobileChicane]

Great analogy!

[@kennywilkinson913]

Exactly what happened when Liverpool won it 05 except the inverse, they wasn't in the next year's champions league due to their league position and went all out to beat that Milan team.

[@elonmusk9697]

@@kennywilkinson913 Exactly, as a Liverpool fan myself I didn't even know that but I sure as hell know about that night in Istanbul. Sometimes you have to go all in

[@The_ZeroLine]

“They rejoiced as they finally got to use their ‘A Pole on Poll’ line they had been workshopping for several weeks.” Lmao🤣. Loved that bit about that hackneyed line.

[@TheMobileChicane]

Thanks! I also rejoiced at getting to use a line I thought up about 3 months before writing the video!

[@samdavies1752]

Another great vid, I was too young to understand this when I watched this season with my dad. I think being British as well this narrative wasn't really covered of BMW scuppers world championship, because it was of course a great success story for Lewis. Having seen this about Kubica though it is sad he never got another chance in a fast car

[@TheMobileChicane]

Absolutely the same for me. My house and most of the UK was in Hamilton-mania at the time, so it was very easy to miss this other story occurring at the same time. Kubica truly is the biggest "what-if" of recent years.

[@Duval-In-The-Wall]

How on earth did Kubica take his championship challenge to China in 2008, that was really imrpressive

[@tombardsley3081]

Just shows how poor both Hamilton and Massa were at times costing themselves points plus bad luck in the case of Massa’s engine in Hungary and the Singapore pit stop.

[@mark4lev]

Hamilton said kubica was the driver he feared

[@Joe005]

Casuals don’t understand the rich history of F1 since they can’t seem to look at anything prior to 2016 or whenever that stupid DTS show came out. They will never know or appreciate hearing the roaring BMW of days past and just how underrated they really were. As one-eyed Ferrari fan since as early as i can recall, I had a soft spot for BMW. I still remember watching Ralf and JP giving us a real run for our money in 2003, they had such potential but it got away. Great video

[@19megamustaine85]

If bmw would have won a championship than us casual f1 fans would apritiate them ,so stop bitching about casual fans you 🤡 !

[@kben24]

2009 BMW Sauber was a massive failure, and I believe their exit influenced Toyota’s decision to pull out at the end of the season. Which coincidentally ended up with Kobayashi in a Sauber seat for 2010.

[@TheMobileChicane]

Yep, and the withdrawal of Toyota would open up a spot on the grid that Sauber would take up!

[@tombardsley3081]

Toyota withdrew due to the parent company making their first financial loss in 2009 . Not to do with BMW pulling out

[@TheMobileChicane]

@@djp3637 it took a long time for Sauber to return ownership to Peter Sauber. I believe there was a lot of shady dealings with some other investment companies that out some doubt over whether Sauber could return.

[@BerserkerRohan]

There is a lot to talk about here. I actually got a book when I was very young that talked about BMWs history and I have fond memories of watching the 2007-2009 seasons so this video felt very nostalgic. Speaking of which, a lot of the BMWs in this video had very nice looking liveries and I really liked the BMW Sauber livery. It is a shame that Kubica wasn't able to fulfil his true potential due to the second half of 2008 and that rallying accident since with the right machinery, he could compete very close to Hamilton and Massa. It was sad to see BMW leave F1 since they had a lot of potential since their engines were really competitive when they didn't blow up and they seemed to iron out most of those reliability issues during 2008. Plus, they seemed a lot more competent than Honda and Toyota. That mistake with 2008 was very unfortunate and it is a big what if if they decided to throw everything they had kind of like what Red Bull did in 2021. Unrelated but, the star of your first video went on to win his 80th WRC rally and even though it was kind of lucky win it was great to see him on top again as well as M Sport being back to winning ways in their all new car.

[@TheMobileChicane]

Agreed, that BMW Sauber was really nice. There's something about a predominantly white livery with hints of colour there, like a Hesketh or Super Aguri. Kubica really is one of the big "what-ifs" of recent history. I would've loved to see how he got on in a Ferrari alongside Alonso. BMW had a lot more to give and I'm sure they could've turned it around after one bad season. Yes, I saw that too! Always great to see another Loeb win.

[@thatonenigeriansformula]

Bmw needs to come back , interesting is that even though redbull threw everything into the 2021 title race , they still had the quickest if not 2nd quickest car of 2022 so props to them

[@BerserkerRohan]

@@thatonenigeriansformula It is very impressive but we will see if Red Bull will keep it since I get the feeling that Ferrari and Merc are going to fight back hard.

[@mrbungle3310]

Amazing video...i kinda wish Brawn GP didnt happen...Toyota and BMW could have fought for the title and maybe stayed ...but we lost them and we might never get them back ,and mostly i wish they listened to Robert in 2008...great driver , truly the meaning of underrated

[@TheMobileChicane]

Honestly, I feel like I'd rather have one Brawn underdog story that we'll remember forever, than just another manufacturer coming out on top, even if it secured their future in the sport. Manufacturers will always come and go but I don't know if we'll ever have another Brawn. I agree on the Kubica front though, that one win doesn't do justice to how talented he was.

[@Cos_Why_Not]

@@TheMobileChicane 100% agreed although I would've liked to see Toyota and BMW carry on in the sport. It's a shame they had to leave.

[@-PVL93-]

Heartbreaking realization we could've had Kubica among the WDCs if BMW only made a few different decisions on those key 2007-2008 seasons...

[@The_ZeroLine]

Oh and let’s not forget about BMW Sauber trying to change a car Kubica was thriving in to suit Heidfeld rather than backing their best driver. Kubica’s luck in 2007 was insanely frustrating. Massa had equally bad luck in ‘08.

[@MulettoMotorsports]

I binged your channel, quality stuff, and decided this would be the last video, because as big of a BMW fan I was, I knew it was still going to be painful almost a decade later.

[@TheMobileChicane]

Glad you enjoyed, despite the heartbreak!

[@rainbowterra]

Great video! I missed the late 2000s in F1...this really helps me gather the atmosphere and flow of it. Keep up the good work!

[@TheMobileChicane]

Thank you Terra!

[@swampthing94]

Mike Krack (Aston Martin team principal) just told in the F1 Beyond The Grid podcast that Kubica is the best driver he's ever seen. If he only hadn't gone rallying in 2011

[@TheMobileChicane]

Haven’t listened to Beyond the Grid in a while - sounds like a catch up is needed!

[@evonneo]

This is probably before Mike started to work with Fernando...

[@fireinthenight9028]

​@@evonneo and both Robert and Alonso almost drove together for Ferrari and they're very good friends till today.

[@rohans6568]

Your channel really is one of the best on F1. The topics you choose are unique and are well researched and presented in a no gimmick format. Really hope you continue to grow👍

[@TheMobileChicane]

Thank you so much!

[@briankay4713]

Very good and enjoyable documentary of BMW's history in F1 ....majoring on their ill fated 2008 season .... Superb stuff ..your content is amongst the best F1 channels on KZbin...keep it up !!!

[@TheMobileChicane]

Thank you Brian!

[@Koziolrh]

Even though F1 exploded with popularity in Poland during Kubica's first stint I don't think many fans fully realized what was potentially on the cards with the championship that year and what the decisions taken meant as a result. For those of us who did the pain is still brutal and raw especially after the accident.

[@liubei106]

I'm loving all your in-depth videos! Can you do one on Michael Andretti in 1993? CART champion, incredible hype, then totally out of his depth when compared to Senna. Got a podium in Monza and unceremoniously sacked the next race for Mika Hakkinen. Would be great to see it get your treatment!

[@TheMobileChicane]

Thank you! Andretti's 1993 is already towards the top of my list for future videos, so watch this space!

[@Cos_Why_Not]

And Mika outqualifying Senna in his first race at McLaren!

[@planetsalespodcast2449]

Your videos are just AWESOME! the histories you pick, the details, calm voice, perfect pictures! I like especially that you focus on chronological order which makes it easy to understand performance of teams and drivers in the whole year and compare them. Keep up the great work, can‘t wait for more! Netflix should hire you for a series of F1 documentaries!

[@TheMobileChicane]

Thank you so much!

[@kiranganesh8598]

Brilliant video! I started watching F1 in 2015 and although I've watched a few races and season reviews from the 2000s, this has by far been the most entertaining and given me a lot of knowledge. Respect!

[@TheMobileChicane]

Thank you Kiran!

[@patricktrakzel9657]

When the fruit is ripe you have to harvest it. Robert earned a fair shot at the title and BMW took it away from him.

[@David-mr3gw]

incredible content. attention to detail is superb. love your channel and I really appreciate the effort you made producing them.

[@christianstow6365]

I got a BMW ad during the video! Perfect placement.

[@merobo5066]

Amazing video, I'm surprised by how small your channel is. The HHF video showed up on my start page today and I have consumed way more of your content than I intended for today, hope to see more in the not so distant future. The 2008 grand strategy of BMW makes me sad, considering that they had everything they needed to compete for the championship. They had the car and the drivers to at least make it an interesting fight for both championships. The focus often lies on Kubica, rightfully so because the big what-if is him becoming world champion (young me would've loved that), but I think it is useful to not forget Heidfeld when telling this story (I don't think you forgot him).

[@TheMobileChicane]

Glad you enjoyed! New video should be out by the beginning of next week. Heidfeld was certainly a big part of BMW's climb to the top, but ultimately it was Kubica was took the opportunity to strike out as a team leader in 2008.

[@Ultra-ib2ok]

Just to understand how mad of a lad Rob was, after his accident, he went on to win the 2013 WRC2 championship...the more you think about it, the more you wonder what would he do if he never had that damn crash

[@jt-hb8lh]

If he could go a bit slower I seriously believe that he could be the only F1 driver to win in wrc.He was too fast.

[@DrBreezeAir]

Awesome documentary. Definitely deserves more views. A story of how corporate culture and their ways ruin everything. I'd say current BMW has already ruined themselves in a chase for a Tesla crowd.

[@TheMobileChicane]

Thank you!

[@edwardrea8924]

Robert and quick nick most underrated duo in f1 in the 00s

[@vfrmaverick]

Ah 2008, The year I got my first car. A classic 90s Bmw, in a house that only drove BMWs. Where with great hopes of my favorite driver, Kimi, and favorite team, BMW, and thoughts of which of them would sit at the end of the year on top. Just to get reminded that you don't get what you want. You get what you f%$king deserve. I still think the F108 is the best looking F1 car ever.

[@MrSniperfox29]

Note keeping the name Sauber had nothing to do with honouring Sauber's racing heritage, it was done to keep the prize money Sauber had won the previous year as the team would have been considered a new entry otherwise and not liable for the money. This is the same reason why Sauber kept the BMW name the year after BMW sold the team.

[@Yoshiman2024]

Yes and no to that last part. They had to buy back that entry because the BMW Sauber - Ferrari entry was way past the deadline for 2010. Regardless of USF1 and Stefan GP not making the grid, they still wouldn't have been allowed as a 'new entry'.

[@mathwa1206]

dude, this channel is amazing, it’s only a matter of time before u really blow up!! Serious!!!

[@TheMobileChicane]

Thank you!

[@andreluizbutzkedallacorte5242]

I think one of the key aspects to their success in 2007 and 08 was their superb line-up. Both Heidfeld and Kubica were very strong drivers that excelled in many aspects giving them a pretty solid chance every race. Although Kubica was the all-around better driver, especially in raw speed, Heidfeld was probably if not the best, on of the best in strategy and awareness of the grid around those years. If any of the championship contenders in both McLaren and Ferrari had the same mentality (around that time of course, Lewis and Alonso nowadays are amazing in the strategy part) the championships probably wouldn't have been so tight. I am very glad that BMW-Sauber is an integral part of my "coming of age" with F1, as it was around 06 and 07 that I started fully comprehending what was going on, when I was about 8. I have fond memories of Barrichello at Ferrari (I am Brazilian) and I absolutely loved the colours of the McLaren so that was a great time to be a fan, but I truly appreciate that teams like BMW were around and being very successful, those were very good seasons to watch. Also, as my father has always been a big fan of German engeniering, BMW was his favorite team around the time and he was almost as hyped with the 2009 possibilities as with Massa's title challenge in 2008. Needless to say he was very excited with Mercedes entry some years later.

[@TheMobileChicane]

Couldn't agree more; in Kubica and Heidfeld they had both one of the most talented drivers of their generation, and another who just relentlessly consistent with their point scoring abilities.

[@The_ZeroLine]

BTW, JV has hated Kubica ever since he took his seat. Kubica will forever be one of my saddest and most frustrating what-ifs.

[@garbage2882]

Maybe it's just me, but I would prefer for BMW to come back than for Audi to buy out Sauber, there's just something about BMW that makes me think that they would be better. Here in Poland we're still sad at what could've been if BMW hadn't stopped upgrading the 2008 car or what could've happened if Kubica did start in that rally.

[@TheMobileChicane]

BMW has a much longer F1 heritage for sure, it'd be great to see them back in some form one day.

[@Villani_AV]

I would argue BMW's biggest blunder has been their move away from driver focused cars at a relatively attainable price (and attractive design), and go all in on luxury and unwanted tech... 😏

[@ZocMedov]

Kubica never won a championship, but he achieved something greater. He returned to the f1 grid after an injury that has almost taken his life and continued racing. There is no doubt in my mind that he would have won a championship, BMW or not.

[@LowFatCurrantBun]

[ 26:36 ] _"slamming into the back of Hamilton but escaping with just a broken nose."_ Listening to just the audio, this snatched my full attention! 😱. _"Just"_ a broken nose?!?? . . . _"Escaped?!??"_ 😨. Then I realised.. of the _car!_ 😳🤦. Phew! You're a great story teller and detailed historian! 🙌. Love the dry humour you throw in so effortlessly too! 😄. ( I hope you're still with your girlfriend and you learned to appreciate High School Musical marathons 🏫📚🎵🎼🧑‍🎓 ).

[@TheMobileChicane]

Thank you so much! (We are still together, and no, I do not appreciate the High School Musical marathons, but I appreciate them more than the Twilight ones)

[@sotosdragsteras141]

Really enjoyed watching the video. I would like to see another one like this but for a different team maybe toyota

[@TheMobileChicane]

Toyota would be a really interesting one to cover at some point, it's definitely an idea that's going in my notebook!

[@Jorge.Painkiller]

4:09 don't forget they won the 1994 Constructors Championship

[@grahammc3189]

Great video...lots of research and very interesting.

[@TheMobileChicane]

Thanks Graham!

[@grahammc3189]

Thank you for taking the time to make the video.

[@kieferclarkf1674]

Forgot to mention how good Villeneuve was running at the USGP in 06 before his engine exploded. Likely would have finished 5th or 6th.

[@janiandelin93]

And, JV outqualified NH whereas NH outqualified KUB that season. No wonder JV felt had no support. I've never understood this Kubica hype anyway.

[@shingimuskwe5587]

Well maybe 7th.

[@JoshuaC923]

This is spectacular work!

[@TheMobileChicane]

Thanks Joshua!

[@bipolarminddroppings]

Oh how hindsight is wonderful! If they had only known in 2008 what would happen in 2009...

[@ramirogarcia1967]

Haha!! The big nose on the left at 00:28 is mine!!

[@robinjurries2606]

Hello @themobliechicane, Great video. I find it really interesting and informative myself and I think that you’ve got great potential to grow. However If I was you, and I’m not so take it with a pinch of salt 😊, I would limit myself to the factual, informative story telling of the great story’s that our sport gives us. Keep up the great work. I really enjoy your videos they remind me of the “bring back v10 podcasts” but then in video form. Perhaps I’ve got a few video ideas for you as well: 1. Alessi 1991 contract saga, Williams & Ferrari 2. Lotus and Herbert almost winning at Monza in 1994 3. Mansell’s terrible 1995 with McLaren 4. Panis and Prost GP in 1997 5. How banneton dropped the ball after 1995

[@alexcarolan8825]

I think TOYOTA F1 took inspiration from South Park for their venture ... (Underpants Gnome) "Phase 1: Collect underpants, Phase 2: -- , Phase 3: Profit"

[@arkabose89]

we want a smiliar video on toyota f1

[@TheMobileChicane]

It’s on my to-do list; but there’s a few more videos lined up first!

[@gdogg3710]

That Kubica smash is second only to the one that killed Ratzenberger in my 30 years of watching F1…and there have been three fatalities in that time…he was INCREDIBLY lucky to even survive that crash, nevermind race again…

[@TheMobileChicane]

I remember watching it live thinking he'd surely be out for the rest of the season - incredible he was back just two races later.

[@gdogg3710]

@@TheMobileChicane there were a few non fatal crashes at higher speeds maybe even that Roland’s crash and all three were at Eau Rouge: Zanardi in 1993, Bernoldi in 2000 and Villeneuve’s at some point in the early 2000’s…however they were not head on smashes… …Kubica wasn’t going as fast as any of those accidents, but he was going fast enough and it contained all of the danger points apart from fire: high speed, car left the ground, head on impact, car rebounded across the track, car rolled over, car did not land right way up, was a grandstand near by…

[@PascimanArc23]

I still cry for Nick.. he should've at least won a race 😭😭😭

[@peterhall8572]

Really enjoyed this

[@joribremer5260]

You should make a video about the Brabham BT55

[@RalfWiese1]

Do a video on Ralf Schumacher please!

[@TheMobileChicane]

That could be an interesting one..

[@mike04574]

Yes

[@Duval-In-The-Wall]

@@TheMobileChicane Ralf that

[@Sp4mMe]

Racing-wise, those years were pretty dire. But there's a lot of neat stories from the time.

[@waynekerr67]

I beg to differ. Would still take any of those seasons from 2000-2008 than seeing this latest gen whale of a car.

[@jt-hb8lh]

You are joking.07 to 12 were fantastic.

[@ramsey1609]

Do you have any information about the time other teams started development on the 2009 cars? Because it might be that BMW left it late or wanted to have a head start on 2009 regs, and honestly either reason works for me

[@tombardsley3081]

BMW pretty much stopped car development for 2008 to focus on 2009 after they won the race in canada so a significant portion of the season was still remaining when they focused, whilst Ferrari and McLaren continued to develop until the end which makes bmw messing up 2009 even more alarming since they had way more time on it compared to the 2 teams that finished ahead of them in the standings. I also think Renault and toro rosso continued to the end of the season given Renault passed bmw performance wise and toro rosso got ahead of their senior team and started having some unbelievable results. Red bull and Honda were the 2 main teams that prioritised the 2009 rules the earliest given their car performance in 2008 and the fact that red bull wanted newey to work his magic early on. Maybe throw in Toyota and Williams as well but not as early as those 2 sinceboth had the double diffuser alongside Brawn. And of course force india who were dead last anyways so probably switched after Sutil lost his possible points finish in Monaco

[@ok.-ok.]

When you have a chance to win the title this year, why would you focus on next year just to maybe have a chance?

[@il-ma.le.]

9:01 and this is why me considers the current Alfa Romeo branding a scar on both parts involved, deserved by none of the two

[@PlebanMuzeum]

Kubica, a great achievement and a great fail shortly after. He was like a diamond among the ordinary glass trinkets, meaning young talented F1 candidates. Great shame, but... other Polish drivers are on the way!

[@1greenMitsi]

amazingly stupid decision in 2008 by BMW, as you rightly point out F1 history is litered with stories of 'window of opportunity'. Its all about seizing the moment - if you have a strong package this year then go for it for there is no guarantee you will next year - or ever again for that matter. Has to be up there as one of the siliest corprorate decisions in motorsport history

[@blxtothis]

The Gordon Murray Brabham is still the best looking of all post 1970 F1 cars to date.

[@Sp4mMe]

The BMW decision kinda stands out, and has become one of those iconic F1 history what-ifs - but mostly because Kubica kept going on about it. All teams were on similar strategies in 2008, ie. Ferrari used some random development driver (Michael Schumacher or something) to develop the 2009 car, Williams was all-aboard the KERS train, and so on. McLaren meanwhile threw somewhat less resources into 2009, and it sorta cost them their works-deal and got them a crap car, something they ultimately never recovered from ... ... I also find it questionable whether BMW really had the capacity to win the title in 2008. As the summary points out, part of Kubica's early lead was somewhat circumstantial, not necessarily because he had the best car. And it's ultimately unclear what further development could have done for that against Ferrari and McLaren. Sure, in light of BMW bowing out in 2009, no question, might as well have thrown everything at the 2008 car. But they were planning to head into a new era of regulations. I wouldn't call this thinking so much "rigid" as a tough one for any team, and up and down the paddock every single one made compromises one way or another. BMW perhaps chose wrongly ... or perhaps it wouldn't have changed anything anyway.

[@MisFakapek]

Everyone just wanted to see another underdog winning the title. Young talent in not-the-best-car winning the title? So many of us were on-board with that, and we got it - next season with Brawn GP.

[@TheMobileChicane]

It's a fair point you make, but certainly they'd have had a lot more of a chance to fight for the title if they'd kept developing. Sadly, we'll never know!

[@johnrupesh4535]

Kubica was one hell of a driver. He would would have won at least one WDC had it not been for his accident.

[@Cos_Why_Not]

He's the Jean Alesi of his generation

[@evonneo]

​@@Cos_Why_Not 💯

[@pierre-richard6779]

Nice video !

[@TheMobileChicane]

Thank you!

[@johngriffiths118]

Excellent , subbed

[@TheMobileChicane]

Thanks John!

[@Reznor_Meeks]

Toyota F1 makes any other F1 team failures into a no big deal lol

[@GWFires]

Well there is somehow the planned F1 entry in the early 90´s missing. Also the engine was redesigned for the 01 season.

[@NicotineRosberg]

Frank Williams & Patrick head were too stubborn. Should've sold the team or at least be a minority shareholder

[@sammerry7706]

Pagers, the 90's equivalent was pagers 😅

[@Sirikazy]

It was impossible for bmw to win the championship in an era when the FIA-Ferrari cartel reigned supreme. And not to forget the mobile chicane that would always be the second driver for ferrari. 100% bigger budgets for ferrari compared to the other teams and unlimited testing when other teams than ferrari had a limited number of tests per year. The "reign" of schumacher at this time can only be compared in terms of annoyance to what we live today with fake overtaking and tracks with more gaps than curves.Even today in 2022, I don't know how in 2009 BrownGP managed without sponsors to do a full season. Maybe Mercedes has something to do with that?

[@philipkalin1928]

26:45 THANKS finally somebody talks about the fact that Rosberg did the exact same shit then Hamilton did

[@tombardsley3081]

I’ve always argued looking back at this season that Kubica was the best driver in 2008. Both Massa and Hamilton made several errors (I’d argue Hamilton’s rookie season where he lost the title at the end was better than his first title season) , and Raikkonen didn’t appear as motivated after winning the title in 2007. And given how poor the BMW was in 2009 where it was still behind Ferrari and McLaren performance wise despite focusing more on the 2009 season over those 2 teams that were fighting to the end of 2008, it was a missed opportunity

[@Cos_Why_Not]

You're spot on although I'll add that Ferrari's car development moved in a direction that didn't suit his driving style, which is a part of why he wasn't able to deliver at the same level as Massa.

[@tombardsley3081]

@@Cos_Why_Not hard to say with the car development. Kimi still produced results on occasion when Massa had trouble eg Silverstone, Hungary and Fuji. What really hit kimi was his qualifying and race starts. On several occasions he qualified out of position or got a bad start so ended up stuck behind slower cars whilst Massa got away

[@Cos_Why_Not]

@@tombardsley3081 In my view you can put a lot if not most situations later on where Massa didn't perform as Massa simply screwing up a weekend that should have been good (Malaysia also comes to mind), but it's fair to note that Kimi wasn't where he should've been performance-wise as well.

[@tombardsley3081]

@@Cos_Why_Not yeah Malaysia and Silverstone were bad. But he was also unlucky with the reliability and things out of his control with retiring from the lead in Hungary, fuel not going into the car in Canada and what happened in Singapore. Kimi had more driver errors that led to 0 points compared to Massa (the only unlucky ones were Australia with the engine and Lewis running into the back of him in the pit lane)

[@Cos_Why_Not]

@@tombardsley3081 That's fair to say. I'll also add that it's hard to blame Massa for Silverstone because of how awful the conditions were, and he did manage to avoid a retirement even if it didn't gain him anything in the end.

[@jackmiller-johnston8689]

BMW should've been barred from F1 for an eternity, for what they did to Kubica. Could he have won the 2008 title if R&D wasn't switched up to their relative total abortion of a 2009 challenger? Absolutely, yes.

[@markusjuenemann]

Great!

[@TheMobileChicane]

Thanks Markus!

[@MrAxsoon]

Polish people: Fuck this, I'm not watching that. Too much pain :((((

[@SachiGortchi]

[ if I listen at 0,75% of speed, my brain can process all words by the narrator :]

[@MeteCanKarahasan]

26:30 🙂🙂🙂 nothing makes me happier than to see the crybaby get discouraged and wreck his car.

[@The_ZeroLine]

I’m assuming this going to be about BMW Sauber not developing the car after their Canada win despite RK in a strong position to win the WDC. One of the most ridiculous decisions ever. BMW were always clueless as a manufacturer and shitty as a partner. I say this as someone who races vintage BMWs, has five of them and had such high hopes for Williams BMW and BMW Sauber. And Kubica was my favorite F1 driver. Still makes me makes me sad to think of him losing his hand just after signing to race for Ferrari.

[@timyo6288]

Kubica was a greater waste of potential than BMW ever was.

[@michaelcampbell7192]

BMW failed in 2008. They could’ve possibly won both titles if they kept developing the cars

[@janiandelin93]

JV outqualified NH and he outqualified KUB that season. I haven't ever undestrood the hype around Kubica.

[@tombardsley3081]

His racing showed he was a talent driver. Also qualifying was a bit weird in 2006 where drivers had to qualify with the fuel loads they would start the race with in 2006 and do this “fuel burning” stage at the start of the session. It was a bit weird. Thankfully they removed that and it was just about how fast you could go with the fuel you had

[@Duval-In-The-Wall]

Villeneuve and Kubica were never teammmates…

[@janiandelin93]

@@Duval-In-The-Wall I didn't write that they were

[@ag273]

this story is so incedibly sad

[@RavenReilly3456]

This sounds like drachnifil 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@micham136]

Saddly in Poland Kubica is known as a lack of skill failure driver. Same level with Polish national football team(patałachy zasrane za darmo powinni cuda robić) Poor, poor ignorant people. Kubica MASTER

[@thatonenigeriansformula]

Nick and Robert in that sauber was a machine that could have easily dominated

[@stinkyroadhog1347]

4:08 and 1994. Williams beat Benetton

[@TheNecromancer6666]

Actually the BMW engine was very reliable and very fuel efficient. But it fucked up its gearboxes because it was way too powerful. And it had problems with drivability.

[@simonz5905]

The real epilogue was the 2010 season when the constructor official name was "BMW Sauber - Ferrari' Sounded like a dream team, but.... Nah!

[@iwantanaivanovic2962]

00:58 BMW is one *most successful F1* engine providers -- what kind of math and logic is that?

[@rarturoislasv6436]

BMW deserved better

[@PatHaskell]

Biggest blunder was hiring Bangle.

[@TassieLorenzo]

A lot of the Bangle designs are not that bad at all, a lot of the BMW styling these days (despite no Bangle) is far worse... BMW XM anyone?

[@AnarchistMetalhead]

as much criticism as Bangle got, his designs were successful the 7 was the most sold generation, the 6 successful enough to keep getting successors (renamed to 8 now, but it"s still a 5 series based coupe), the 5 still looks newer than the 2 generations after it, and by the time the 3 and 1 were styled he was already kicked to a meaningless position by executives worrying more about the opinion of motor journalists than their own customers. A few years later Bangle went to Samsung, to head the design of their smartphone division.

[@PatHaskell]

I have to respectfully disagree despite the numbers.

[@tekpic04]

As far as I am concerned, certain key personnel at the top of BMW, notably, Mario Theissen et al, you failed because of damn ego and major short sighted effort. The way BMW treated Frank Williams and Williams GP was disgusting to say the least. It was Williams that built a reliable Le Mans car to hand you a major but yet still, your gaslighting efforts done you no real solutions. To this day, BMW may never ever win a world championship as a Formula One constructor like Mercedes Benz AMG.

[@tombardsley3081]

BMW did their bit though. The V10 engine was the best in the sport between 2002 and 2004. Yet the Williams radical walrus design in 2004 was poor given they went from 2nd to 4th in the constructors and the bmw engine didn’t fail that much (only one I can recall which was Ralf Schumacher in Malaysia). The split was for now the beginning of the end of Williams being a team being able to compete financially and therefore being at the front of the grid on a regular basis

[@tekpic04]

@@tombardsley3081 BMW engine was the most powerful in the sport and it was the so unreliable that the manufacturer blamed it on Williams. Go back and look at the video properly and I have already stated whatever in the comments.

[@tombardsley3081]

@@tekpic04 it wasn’t unreliable when Williams were fighting for the title in 2003. They had one engine failure for the whole of 2003 (the last race) and one for the whole of 2004. By contrast, McLaren Mercedes, Honda, Cosworth, Toyota, and Renault had numerous engine failures between 2003 and 2004. The only other engine that had good consistent reliability was the Ferrari but it wasn’t as powerful as the BMW. Don’t get me wrong, BMW failed with their objective to win the title but look at where Williams went after the split. They dropped to being at the lower end of the midfield with occasional good seasons like 2007 , 2014 and 2015. The loss of bmw hurt their finances which is why they then started going down the pay driver route with signing the likes of Maldonado etc

[@PimSchouten]

Aaah… typical German.

[@QOTSAPT]

Kubiça is the single most overrated driver in f1 history. 27:29 That was a result of team orders, as a win put Kubiça leading the drivers and a 1-2 put BMW leading the constructors.

[@tombardsley3081]

Team orders were illegal back then

[@bogdanrus7953]

A real shame how Kubica is remembered as the leader of BMW due to that very oportunistic Canadian GP win. Heidfeld outscored him in those few 2006 races they were teammates, clearly outscored Kubica in 2007 and squeezed more points than Robert in that piece of shit 2009 car. Heidfeld was constantly the faster more reliable driver, while the world remembers a handful of solid races Kubica had. In 2008 it wasnt all about giving up development, for the whole season BMW had some weird ass strategies, and Heidfeld seemed to be at the worse end of it every time. Kubica was a remarcable driver especialy that season, but over the short lifespan of BMW Sauber, it was Heidfeld that scored the most points for the team, and was constantly the better driver in the standings, only for his efforts to be forgotten in the shadow of a race win decided by lets be real, team orders. BMW Sauber were stiff in their mindset but as said in the video, they were far from a bad operation (like Toyota or Honda). Had the recession not happened, or had they somehow managed to squeeze more performance out of that dogshit embarrassment that was the F1.09, the what could have beens in the 2010s for BMW Sauber become interesting. Especially with seasons like 2010 and 2012 being as we know them.

[@steelin666]

I never see anybody denying Heidfeld's skill. He was a great driver, considered to be maybe the best to never win a Grand Prix. That said, he had a huge experience edge on Kubica and they still ended up trading blows. From 2008 onwards, Heidfeld was in decline though, while Kubica was on the rise. It was apparent to everybody back then. The only reason Nick outscored Robert in 2009 was a completely random podium in Malaysia. Then he didn't land a seat, while Robert ended up in Renault as Flavio Briatore's final signing before his departure. Flavio considered Kubica a big regret, as Renault let him go just a few years earlier in favour of Eric Salignon. Rings a bell? No? Go figure. Then Kubica took that Renault car to places it had no reason to be. He was heavily linked to Ferrari and correctly so, as it's now a known fact that he had signed for them for 2012. All while Heidfeld remained on the sidelines, and all due credit for that, as that's still a huge feat to remain the first in line to jump into the F1 car when there's a need for a driver. But let's not pretend that the entire paddock somehow entertained a mass delusion and misjudged which one of them was the more promising one.

[@johnrupesh4535]

Cars were a mess in 2008.

[@Cos_Why_Not]

I know it's an unpopular opinion but I love the cars in 2006-2008, especially the Ferrari F2008. I simply love the way they look.

[@tombardsley3081]

You say that. Everyone hated how the cars looked initially in 2009

[@johnrupesh4535]

@@tombardsley3081 I have never heard even a single fan ever say that before. Noboy hated the look of the car in 2009.

[@tombardsley3081]

@@johnrupesh4535 back then they did. People said they were ugly looking with the narrow front wings. I didn't agree with this since the brawn car is my all time favourite car