USF1 Launch

USF1 BACKED BY F1 CHIEFS

The men behind plans for a United States Formula One team insist their effort is totally serious, and say it already has the endorsement of Bernie Ecclestone and FIA president Max Mosley.

Ken Anderson and Peter Windsor officially launched their USF1 outfit in a press conference live on SpeedTV on Tuesday, and say their plans to be up and running by 2010 are far more than a dream.

Windsor, who will be USF1's sporting director, said that his team planned to break the mould for how outfits approached grand prix racing.

"If you look at the way it has gone in the recent past, it has been find an incredibly rich trillionaire and have him dominate the team - and you are lucky enough to get a job when you've put the team together," said Windsor.

"Or you are lucky enough to be invited by a large car company to set up an F1 team for them. Ken and I are lucky enough to have been around long enough not to want to do either of those things - and we always wanted to do our own team our way.

"It sounds very arrogant perhaps, but we have some history and we have some things that we want to bring into the sport that we think we can do well."

Windsor revealed that the pair had already secured a small equity partner to help funding, as they seek sponsorship backing for the outfit.

"The key...was not selling anything more than a very small stake in the team, so we set some unbelievably steep hills to climb, in the recession," he said. "We wanted to sell off a small part of the team and, as we sit here now, we have done that.

"We are two guys who can say we want to do an F1 team because we have the capital to do it, and to some extent the recession has helped us a little bit. For those out there who say where is the money? Where is the huge facility? Where is the money pouring out of the sky? Well, that isn't going to happen with USF1. We have always had a very different approach, and that approach will become visible as time goes on and this year unfolds."

Windsor added that both Formula One Management and the FIA had been informed of USF1's plans.

"I first told Bernie Ecclestone about this in Brazil 2006, and he was his usual specific self. He just said, 'great get it done'. So I said okay lets go and do it.

"He has kept in touch ever since and has always been supportive. Anything that we need he has tried to help us with. A good example is the DVD of the lovely edit he did of the 2008 Formula One season, which we have been using as part of our presentation to investors here in the United States.

"It's not for commercial use, but that is a typical example of the sort of help he has been giving us, and that is quite a big thing from FOM.

"The FIA equally have known about this in detail now for about five to six months, and instantly grasped the programme and instantly accepted the way we wanted to do it as, dare I say it, the poster child for how a Formula One team should be going into the next generation."

Anderson said he believed that the decision to base the team in Charlotte would not be a hindrance against F1 rivals' traditional home in Europe.

"Most of the technology from F1 comes from the US to begin with, and on the logistics side, next year less than half the races take place on the (European) continent so there is less reason for being there," he said. "The cost of doing business in the US is significantly cheaper than Europe and there are a lot of good people here."

SOURCE: Autosport

USF1 OPEN-MINDED ON ENGINE SUPPLIER

The new USF1 team intend to approach every car manufacturer in Formula One about an engine supply deal for 2010.

After officially unveiling their plans on Tuesday, team principal Ken Anderson and sporting director Peter Windsor say that they have already settled on a timetable to begin firming up their new outfit.

And Anderson said that they were totally open about linking up with a car manufacturer and were well aware of how big a market America is for the likes of BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Toyota.

"We are going to send a proposal to all the manufacturers currently in Formula One, to let them know we are here and to entertain them," said Anderson.

"Every manufacturer in Formula One now, their biggest market is the US. The only exception to that is Renault, but they have an alliance with Nissan, so it could still make commercial sense for them."

Before finalising the plans for engines, however, the team say their priority is to settle their driver line-up - with Marco Andretti already having been strongly linked with the outfit.

Speaking about the timeframe for decisions, Windsor said: "We have come up with a timeline for the year by which time decisions have to be made. But as I say they are all things that race teams do anyway, they are not things that are going to be massively difficult to achieve now we are where we are.

"We are a team, we have a budget and we are going to be spending that in the correct way achieving those goals when they need to be achieved.

"In no particular order they are going to be drivers, engines, European location, the building here, sponsors. All those things are things to be doing now. That's what we are going to be doing from 2009 onwards.

"Drivers are going to be the fun thing aren't they? We've already mentioned Marco, we didn't mention Graham Rahal. Another driver out there who is the son of a great American star. There are so many great things to be doing I just can't wait to get down to the local Starbucks and have more meetings.

"We are going to be that sort of team. Because we are not one individual dominating the team, we are going to do it the way racing people do it. And there are all these great people to meet and talk about."

SOURCE: Autosport

RECESSION HAS NOT HINDERED USF1 PLANS

USF1's hopes of making it onto the grid in 2010 have been boosted, rather than hindered, by the global recession.

That is the view of the two key men behind the project, who claim that their plans for a tight-knit efficient F1 outfit are more amenable now than they would have been during the boom time of just a few years ago.

The team's sporting director Peter Windsor said: "There is one aspect to the recession, which is ironic, and that is that if we were in a boom period right now and money was falling out of the sky and there was a line of teams wanting to do Formula One, and lots of trillionaires out there all being enticed by the glamour, then it would be very difficult for guys like us to put up our hands and say we can do a team efficiently, (with a) lean, mean skunkworks approach.

"We can do it in America; we can do it differently from everybody else. [Back then] We would just have got laughed off the ballpark because it is not the way you do a Formula One team, but because of the fact that we are in the recession, and don't forget we started this team long before the recession was even heard of, means that people actually listen to us now and take us seriously.

"What we are saying actually adds up. And if you combine that with the way the FIA has approached the recession, the way they have changed the way a new team can get into F1, the cost of starting up a new team is now dramatically different to the old US$48m bond days.

"Forget those days, forget the US$100m budgets, forget the US$30m retainers for drivers. Over the next three to four years it is going to change dramatically, and that is our period."

Team principal Ken Anderson believes that as well as people being more receptive to a team like USF1, there were other tangible benefits caused by the recession.

"There is a trickle-down to the economy," he said. "A year ago there was a big shortage of carbon fibre because airplane manufacture was sucking it up. But now that people have cancelled their airplane orders there is a glut of carbon fibre, which is cheaper than ever. That's just one example."

SOURCE: Autosport

sounds good, it is worth watching the conference they had ? if so i'll try to find a link on youtubemjk1

Ask XSFX, he'll probably have seen it. It was aired in America, after all.

MADE IN AMERICA - A BRIEF HISTORY OF AMERICAN F1 TEAMS

Tuesday's announcement that an all-American team plans to join the Formula One grid in 2010 took both sides of the Atlantic by surprise. And given that there hasn't been a 'stateside' race since 2006 and it's been more than two decades since a US team tried its luck in the sport, it's perhaps no wonder that more than a few people were taken aback.

Given the current economic climate, the new team will certainly have their work cut out, but the project's leaders Peter Windsor, an ex-Williams' team manager, and Ken Anderson, a former F1 technical director, insist there is real substance behind the buzz. Looking back, however, it's clear that the one thing not on their side when it comes to US teams is history.

Although numerous US teams featured in the Indianapolis 500 when it was officially a round of the F1 calendar in the early days of the championship, one of the first noteworthy US teams aimed specifically at Formula One was Eagle, the moniker used by constructor Anglo-American Racers (AAR).

Set up by Dan Gurney, one the greatest F1 drivers to emerge from the states, and based in the British town of Rye, Eagle made their race debut at the 1966 Belgian Grand Prix. With Gurney behind the wheel, the Climax-powered Mk1 made an impression almost immediately, scoring its first points a few weeks later in France with a fifth-place finish.

The following year, and now equipped with Weslake engines, Gurney went one better scoring a maiden win at Spa. But the New Yorker, and occasional seat-fillers Richie Ginther and Bruce McLaren, had to contend with hit and miss reliability over the season, racking up 12 retirements in total, and in 1968 Gurney decided to cut his losses and refocus his attention on his more successful Indycar operation, whilst continuing his Formula One driving career at McLaren.

The following decade saw Shadow enjoy some Formula One success. Founded in 1971 by Don Nichols, the team were a dominant force in CanAm racing. They began their F1 foray in 1973 with the Cosworth-powered DN1, penned by BRM designer Tony Southgate. Despite a lack of development and several accidents, it took the team to eighth in the championship, with drivers Jackie Oliver and George Follmer scoring a podium apiece.

The 1974 season brought mixed fortunes for Shadow - a podium for Jean Pierre-Jarier in Monaco, but only after team mate Peter Revson had been killed in a testing accident in South Africa. 1975 was more fruitful, with a handful of point-scoring results from Jarier helping the team to sixth in the standings. The following year proved tough though, thanks in main to the withdrawal of main sponsor UOP, before another season of contrasts in 1977.

Welshman Tom Pryce, who had replaced Revson, died in a freak accident in South Africa after being struck by a marshal's fire extinguisher, while future world champion Alan Jones scored the team's first and only win in Austria. But things went downhill from there, with Jones' departure for Williams and many other team members leaving to form the new Arrows squad. Shadow continued with increasingly limited success until 1980, before Nichols finally sold up.

Famous nowadays as a renowned Indycar and NASCAR outfit, Penske entered Formula One for three seasons between 1974 and '76. On its debut at the 1974 Canadian Grand Prix, Penske's challenger, the PC1, was taken to 12th place by American driver Mark Donohue. The following year Donohue enjoyed a sprinkling of better results including fifth place at the Swedish Grand Prix. But in Austria the New Jersey driver was involved in a serious practice accident and later died from his injuries. The team pulled out of the following Italian race, before returning at their home Grand Prix at Watkins Glen with John Watson behind the wheel. The Briton finished ninth and Penske signed him up for 1976.

It proved to be a brilliant move with the Belfast-born Watson relishing the new PC4 and clinching two podiums and a pivotal victory in Austria. But despite that maiden win, Penske announced it wanted to focus on its Indycar operations and wouldn't compete in the 1977 season.

At the same time as Penske, another US outfit was attempting to make an impact. Parnelli, set up by former USAC racer Parnelli Jones, launched its first full campaign in '75. With a car designed by ex-Lotus man Maurice Philippe, American driver Mario Andretti in the cockpit and Cosworth power, the team boasted some pretty impressive credentials.

Andretti, who would later win the world championship with Lotus, secured some positive finishes, including a fourth in Sweden (ahead of Penske's Donohue). But then tyre supplier and sponsor Firestone withdrew from the sport. Struggling into '76 with little spirit left, Parnelli competed at just two Grands Prix before pulling out too. Over its 16 race lifespan, the team clinched six points.

America's most recent F1 foray came in 1985 with the Carl Haas and Teddy Mayer-backed outfit, Team Haas. Based near London, and with funds from the wealthy Beatrice Foods conglomerate, a FORCE-designed car and former world champion Alan Jones signed up to drive, all augured well for the new team.

Entered into the championship under the Lola mark, and powered by Hart engines (whilst they awaited a promised supply from Ford), Jones competed at four races, but failed to make an impact. Unable to qualify higher than 19th, and retiring from every event with technical problems, Jones and the Haas outfit could only look ahead to '86 with hope.

But by the time the Ford-powered THL2 was race ready, sponsor Beatrice announced its withdrawal. It was a bitter blow, and as the funding dwindled over the course of the season, so too did the team's promise. And in the end Jones finished 12th in the standings on four points, whilst team mate Patrick Tambay was 15th with two points. With Haas struggling to find alternative sponsorship for the 1987 season, the team decided to shut up in shop. Neither Jones nor Tambay would drive again in Formula One.

Overall then, it's been a rocky road for American Formula One teams. But already Windsor and Anderson are setting theirs up as a very different entity to its predecessors, with clear aims to use the very best US technology and drivers. From a headquarters located not in Europe, but in North Carolina, the team know they must set their ambitions high if they are to buck the historical trend.

SOURCE: Official F1 Website

I am certainly excited, and they (Windsor, Anderson) have a fresh view on their role as an American team in F1.

Although I am not too concerned with the drivers being US citizens. Yes it would help for name recognition and support in the States but it is a bit silly in a sport that is as international as they come. I don't want American drivers at the expense of experience.

Anyone feel this may just turn into another prodrive where they get sooo close...but unfortunately don't make it?dan_dez

Probably, especially if USA/North America still dont have a grand prix then the team would suffer due to that in my honest opinion.

We do need more teams but we need customer cars to get this to work better, so we get back to the good old days of 26+ cars in the paddock competing for 24 grid slots rather than pretty much everybody will be on the grid now.