Tuesday March 19th, 2002

Leading carmakers involved in Formula One would reject any offer by troubled German media magnate Leo Kirch to sell them his stake in F1's marketing organisation SLEC, a BMW board member said on Tuesday.

"We would say no," said BMW development chief Burkhard Goeschel when asked how the carmakers would react to an offer from Kirch. "We have no need to buy SLEC."

Kirch, struggling under a mountain of debt, is seeking to sell off assets, prompting speculation carmakers would seek to buy SLEC, and with it effective control of Formula One, at a knock-down price.

Published at 20:45:56 GMT