Origins
BMW has prior experience of junior formula racing, as a successful engine supplier in Formula Two and, more briefly, Formula Three in the 1970s. Its European F2 Championship program, which ran from 1973 to 1981, contributed to six drivers' titles in partnership with March. The company ended its participation prior to its first entry into Formula One in the 1980s.
BMW returned to the junior categories in Germany in 1991, as the engine supplier to the Formula ADAC championship. The first champion was Christian Abt. It was in 2001 that BMW decided to significantly increase its involvement in the series; ADAC remained the sanctioning body, but BMW Motorsport devised the package of regulations and commissioned the new chassis. The new formula made its debut at Hockenheim in April 2002.
Among the series' more notable teams was Team Rosberg, founded by former Formula One world champion Keke Rosberg, which entered the original Formula BMW ADAC in 1999 and continued into the all-new championship. The team took Rosberg's son, Nico, to the 2002 championship title in his rookie year. By 2006, Nico Rosberg had progressed to Formula One.
Formula BMW then expanded to encompass four championships across three continents. The German series was followed by a south-east Asian championship in 2003, and series in the United Kingdom and the United States were launched the following year. The UK and German championships merged into a new pan-European series in 2008.
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