Mario Theissen says he has no reason to doubt the strength and suitability of BMW Sauber’s mysterious new owner, but has called for patience as the Formula 1 world waits for Qadbak to break its silence and reveal its plans.
BMW announced earlier this month that it had agreed to sell the team to the Swiss-based investment foundation when it pulls out of F1 at the end of the season, yet no details as to the identity of the people behind the investment vehicle have emerged.
Questions surrounding Qadbak, meanwhile, have continued to surface in relation to its summer purchase of Notts County football club, with English Football League chiefs last week demanding to know more about the identity of the club’s owners with it yet to rubber-stamp the takeover through its ‘fit and proper persons’ test.
But despite the ongoing uncertainties over both the group’s football and F1 ventures, BMW motorsport director Theissen has expressed confidence that the future of the Hinwil team is in safe hands.
“The new owner of the team is a very strong company, and that is who BMW has negotiated with,” he told reporters in Singapore.
“I have no reason to question the strength and seriousness of this partner."
Asked if he was nevertheless concerned by the Football League’s investigation into Qadbak’s Notts County involvement, Theissen said he was sure the new owner was fully prepared for the challenge of maintaining the Sauber team as a strong F1 force and called for patience while it finalised its plans.
“I'm a bit surprised that these press articles have come about just now,” he said.
“We are happy that the team has been bought by an owner who is strong enough to run a Formula 1 team, who knows what to expect, and who does not take the approach of coming to Formula 1 just to be there.
“He wants to run a strong team, and I think this is the best outcome for the team we could have achieved.
“I think we should just be a bit patient now and wait until the new owner publishes his intentions and the way he wants to run the team, and give him the chance to sort everything out then go public.”
The mystery surrounding Qadbak’s involvement at Notts County was further increased last week when both the club’s chief executive and high-profile director of football Sven-Goran Eriksson admitted they did not know the identity of the people bankrolling the club.
Theissen – who revealed in Singapore last Thursday that the team itself did not know who its new owners were – admitted the fact Qadbak had remained silent since agreeing to buy the Hinwil team was unusual, but said he expected more information to be made public soon.
“It might be unusual, but it is up to the owner how he handles it,” Theissen said.
“I have the impression that the new owner will take an interest in how the team is run, and the people who run the team.
“I think it's just a matter of time until these ideas and this information becomes public.”
When announcing it had secured the future of the Sauber team beyond the end of the season, BMW simply said that Qadbak “represents the interests of certain Middle East and European-based families
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