At the beginning of the year, BMW Motorsport boss Mike Krack announced he would be leaving the company to join Aston Martin and lead its Formula 1 program. Andreas Roos took over the racing side of BMW M GmbH on February 1 after working for Audi Sport. The former man in charge of BMW’s motorsport branch spoke with Auto Bild at the 24 Hours of Daytona.

In an interview published this week, Mike Krack was asked by the German journalists whether BMW will return to Formula 1 one day. The context was FIA’s decision to change engine rules from 2026, which could prompt Audi and Porsche to join F1. However, a similar move is apparently not on BMW’s agenda for the time being:

“BMW always looks at what’s happening in Formula 1 right now. But I don’t think that’s an issue at the moment.”

No F1, But Le Mans Is Happening

That said, 2026 is still a long way to go and anything could happen until then. Should BMW want to rejoin Formula 1, a decision will obviously have to be made much sooner. As a refresher, the collaboration with Sauber lasted between 2006 and 2009, following a previous tie-up with Williams (2000 – 2005).

Speaking of the BMW Sauber era, Mike Krack was chief engineer and worked with a young Sebastian Vettel back then. He eventually left but returned in 2010 to occupy the equivalent position in the DTM department. The 49-year-old engineer parted ways with BMW a few years later but returned in 2014 to oversee several racing programs.

In a separate interview with Motorsport.com, Mike Krack admitted there is a possibility BMW’s new LMDh prototype will compete at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2024. The timing would be perfect since it would mark 25 years since the V12 LMR’s success on Circuit de la Sarthe.

As to why he decided to leave BMW, Mike Krack had nothing but kind words to say about his former employer:

“It had nothing to do with the offer, but with the opportunity. I had a very nice time at BMW, especially the last few years when I had more responsibility. It was simply an opportunity now. If it hadn’t come, I would also be very happy where I was. It wasn’t that I ran away. But this was an opportunity like you only get once in a lifetime. And after having done Formula 1 for a couple of years before, it appealed to me again.”

[Source: Auto Bild]