New Delhi: An Indian consortium has applied to buy BMW-Sauber, which is seeking new backers after German carmaker BMW said it was pulling out of Formula One at the end of the season, domestic media reported on Saturday.
"Indian investors have made an application to purchase the BMW-Sauber team," a leading Indian newspaper quoted unnamed sources as saying. The paper said the deal was based around a 50 million euro investment and involved Swiss driver Neel Jani, who currently features in the A1 GP series and whose father is Indian.
An Indian already owns an F1 team with liquor and airline billionaire Vijay Mallya's Force India. However, there is no Indian driver on the grid.
Last month, team principal Mario Theissen said BMW-Sauber had several rescue proposals and had applied to keep their place in Formula One next year.
Theissen told reporters ahead of the European Grand Prix in Valencia that he and founder Peter Sauber, who has a 20 percent stake in the team, were evaluating proposals from interested parties.
"There are several interested parties and we are just about to evaluate the individual proposals," he said.
Bureau Report
First Published: Saturday, September 05, 2009, 14:37