BMW have been in & out of F1 since the inaugural Drivers’ World Championship in 1950. As BMW’s Motorsport Director, Mario Theissen oversaw their most recent return at the start of the 21st century. First with Williams and then with Sauber, the next 10 seasons provided plenty of ups & downs before BMW decided to pull out of F1 altogether at the end of 2009. Mario shares his memories of an unforgettable decade in the sport. Williams enjoyed a couple of years as ‘best of the rest’ during an era of Ferrari and Michael Schumacher dominance in the early 2000’s, but relationships within the team started to falter and the partnership ended in 2005. BMW bought Sauber and Theissen became team principal in 2006. He recalls the emotions he felt when Robert Kubica suffered a horrifying crash at the Canadian GP in 2007 and he reveals why he and Kubica had a dispute in 2008, why BMW’s decision to leave came as a surprise and how the introduction of the double diffuser played a part in their destiny.