Currently reading: BMW stays in F1 until end of year

Sport's governing body says BMW Sauber F1 cannot change name until the season is over

The BMW name will remain in Formula One for the rest of this season.

Although BMW left the sport at the end of last season, new team owner Sauber continued using the BMW Sauber F1 name so it could collect the prize money BMW had received from its sixth place result in last year's constructors' championship table.

The team applied earlier in the season to change its name to reflect its new ownership, and stop running under the awkward BMW Sauber Ferrari moniker.

However, F1's governing body, the FIA, decided the official name change to Sauber F1 will not be allowed to happen until after the last race of 2010 in Abu Dhabi.

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