BMW P83 engine for 2003

With the P83, the BMW F1 manufacturing centre developed another powerful engine which is to assure the BMW WilliamsF1 Team's success in the upcoming season.

In its role to enable Ralf Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya to gain as many world championship points as possible, the P83 has to prove that it can live up to its reputation. Its predecessors, including the P80 and P82, are considered to be the most powerful units in recent Formula 1 history.

Last season the BMW WillliamsF1 Team set more than one record with the help of the P82. Reaching 19,050 revs per minute and the power of 900 hp, the engine has already set standards. The P83, which is entirely manufactured by BMW including its 5,000 individual parts, is now supposed to beat these records.

BMW Motorsport Director Mario Theissen says: "With the P83 we want to further improve last year's performance specifications. That applies to brake horsepower as well as maximum engine speed."

"The leaps naturally become ever smaller the closer we get to the limit of what is technically possible within the prescribed regulations", continues Theissen. "Development work will be ongoing throughout the season. Ultimately we should have fully exploited our concept's potential. Then the regulations governing the 2004 season, allowing just one engine per GP weekend, will demand other frames of reference."

In the development stage of the BMW P83, special attention was paid to the reliability of the new engine, which has already been on the test rig in July 2002 followed by test drives two months later. Although the BMW WilliamsF1 Team has been the most reliable Formula 1 team in 2002, Theissen thinks that they are still capable of improvement. "Reliability, particularly at the start of the season, virtually guarantees World Championship points", the BMW Motorsport Director says.

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