BMW is to withdraw from Formula One at the end of the season. The German carmaker is the second major manufacturer to pull out of the sport in the space of eight months after Honda's withdrawal in December.BMW have had a poor campaign with drivers Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica giving the team just eight points this season from ten Grand Prix to leave them eighth in the nine-team constructors' championship.The team, who gave former world champion Jacques Villeneuve his last drive in the sport and in Robert Kubica fielded its first ever Polish driver, have emerged over the past two years as the closest challengers to McLaren and Ferrari.The team finished third last season behind Ferrari and McLaren-Mercedes.Their only Grand Prix win as BMW Sauber came when Kubica won in Canada in 2008, while he also achieved the team's only pole position in Bahrain in 2008.Bernie Ecclestone, the commercial rights holder of Formula One, says BMW's failure to challenge for the world title is behind the announcement. The team have fallen short of expectations and the future of Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfield, the two BMW drivers are in jeopardy due to BMW's withdrawal from F1.
