Renault in Formula One under a British licence in , having raced as a French outfit since Renault took over in 2002. This left the sport without any team racing under a French licence for the first time since the season. Group Lotus had yet to purchase a stake in the team, but had an option to do so by the end of . Along with the launch of their new car, Lotus Renault GP announced that they had hired Jean Alesi as an ambassador for the team and test driver for the T125 single-seater project. On 6 February 2011, Robert Kubica was severely
BMW in Formula One turbocharged engine and increasing success thereafter, BMW decided to develop its own turbo engine for the sport, a programme which it announced to the media in April 1980. The engine was based on the M10 unit, a four-cylinder, 1.5-litre, normally aspirated engine that had originally been designed in the late 1950s. Its racing derivative, the M12 had also been used in racing throughout the intervening period, winning races in Formula Two and other categories. In and , BMW provided a fleet of identical M1 cars for Formula One and other professional drivers to race in the BMW M1 Procar Championship,