New USF1 team maybe based in NC

Marty Howard · **Posted:** Mon Feb 23, 2009 4:16 pm

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/73121

High hopes here.

Marty Howard · **Posted:** Mon Feb 23, 2009 4:45 pm

I have more news but it is causing an error when I post it.

Seems there will be an official announcement on Speed TV Tomorrow.

clinehall · **Posted:** Mon Feb 23, 2009 5:46 pm

Where do I apply for a job?

Richard Casto · **Posted:** Mon Feb 23, 2009 6:07 pm

I have been following this once the rumor surfaced a few weeks ago. They are expected to have a US base of operation in Mooresville, NC. I have heard that it’s currently unlikely to expect to see private testing in the US with this team due to a lack of tracks in the US with the proper FIA certification required for F1 testing. For example from what I have heard a track like VIR would require a lot of changes to get that type of certification. Nobody knows yet, but it is expected that they will have a Spanish European base that will probably act as both a center for testing as well as a base for all of the European races.

The biggest question is “who is putting up the money?”. The word is that they are looking to operate on a $64 million dollar budget starting with the 2010 season. That is pretty much the exact target budget for 2010 based upon the recent cost savings put in place by FIA/FOTA. That is probably going to be very tight for any team and with this being a “from scratch” team it would be a tough uphill climb. Who in the current economic conditions is going to front that amount of money for a startup F1 team? Many people are curious.

There are also reports that USF1 is not a bidder on the ex-Honda F1 team. It’s looking less likely that the Honda F1 team is going to survive so maybe they may buy up some of the individual assets (transporters, etc.) if Honda F1 ends up being liquidated??

There is also a lot of speculation regarding who would drive for the team. With the team being supposedly being a showcase for US talent, it is expected that the drivers would most likely be from US or maybe the “Americas”. There was recent quotes about Danica Patrick’s name floating around. I suspect that was mostly just to keep all of this in the news (any exposure in the media is good exposure right?)

The website is up, but only has the info saying expect an announcement on SpeedTV tomorrow at noon EST.

http://www.usf1.com/

I hope it works out, but I would personally not be suprised if this folds prior to 2010.

jeremy gast · **Posted:** Mon Feb 23, 2009 6:43 pm

while watching the nascar race last night they kept talking as if Aj Almendinger was one of the names on the table to drive for them as well.

Bernie Baake · **Posted:** Tue Feb 24, 2009 10:24 am

Almendinger stated publicly that he has no intent to go to F1. Maybe he'll change his mind if he's asked!! Peter Windsor said on Wind Tunnel that all American Drivers was the goal but they may well bring in some experienced talent to start with. His operation is to be run similar to Lockheeds skunk works (a few of the best engineers and turn them loose) and would be based in Charlotte. He made no mention of a European base.

Marty Howard · **Posted:** Tue Feb 24, 2009 10:26 am

here we go:

Quote:

Ken Anderson, Peter Windsor and all at USF1 would like to thank everyone for the amazing response we have received since news first broke about our project on February 4, 2009.

Proving that American technology, American drivers and the American competitive spirit can compete and win on the F1 global stage has been our mission for several years now. And, judging by the overwhelming response we have received from F1 fans both in the US and worldwide, from within the F1 industry and from the US hi-tech industry, we think that many of you agree with us.

We will be officially announcing the team in a special show on Speed TV on February 24 at 12:00 EST.

Aaron Buckley · **Posted:** Tue Feb 24, 2009 10:28 am

Bernie Baake wrote:

His operation is to be run similar to Lockheeds skunk works (a few of the best engineers and turn them loose) and would be based in Charlotte. He made no mention of a European base.

Cool. If I get laid off during the integration of Wachovia/Wells Fargo, I can sweep floors

- AB

Richard Casto · **Posted:** Tue Feb 24, 2009 11:26 am

Bernie Baake wrote:

He made no mention of a European base.

Hopefully we will know more at noon.

The main base/HQ will be in NC, but there most likely will be some type of European satellite base for purposes of testing and a temporary home during the European races (why fly equipment to/from US between races?). There are limits on testing and testing also has to happen at tracks that have been homologated by FIA to a specific safety level. Those levels are either “1” (which is the same level required to host an F1 race) or “1T” (which is just below “1”, but allows for testing). I believe that currently there are no “1” or “1T” track in the US. So the team can't just pack up and drive to VIR for private testing as that would be a violation of F1 testing rules.

The Indianapolis GP circuit was changed since the last F1 race (mods to support bike racing I think), but probably could be easily re-homologated to “1” or “1T”. There is a chance that they may homologate another smaller track on the east coast, but it most likely wouldn’t be something like VIR or Road Atlanta due to the extensive changes required (such as more run-off than they current have). And what track owner is going topay to upgrade their track to “1” or “1T” if they are not expecting to either host an F1 race in the near future or get money from multiple F1 teams testing at their track during the winter months? Multiple F1 teams are not going to travel to the US to test.

Richard Casto · **Posted:** Tue Feb 24, 2009 4:56 pm

Reports from the SpeedTV new conference/announcement is hitting various F1 news sites now. It sounds like there was not much in the way of real news other than to say USF1 does exist and will be located in the Charlotte area. The one interesting bit I noticed was that team principles Anderson and Windsor sound as if they maintain a controlling interest in the team, but the rest was sold to an un-named party. I am assuming this other party is the money behind the operation. It also sounds like they still need a lot of basic things like facilities, engine supplier, etc. Anderson is part owner of the “Windshear” wind tunnel in Concord. It is a state of the art full scale 180 MPH rolling road tunnel. So it is expected that will be their aero facility.

I recorded the SpeedTV announcement and will have to watch it when I get home tonight to see if there are any other tidbits that didn’t make it into the news reports.

Richard Casto · **Posted:** Wed Feb 25, 2009 11:30 am

Did anyone else watch the announcement? I watched it last night. There were no real bombshells, but here is my memory of what was said in random order

• Anderson and Windsor have been working on this for a few years now.
• Their idea is to have a lean “skunkworks” type of team. They want to keep the budget and headcount low and rely upon the third party racing vendors in the Charlotte area. They also don’t want to be quite as secretive, so this allows them to work more openly and efficiently with other suppliers.
• They realize that their ideas on how to do F1 are different from everyone else. But it’s also what they want to do. They said they don’t want a “zillionaire” to show up and fund the team and then have that single person dominate. They also don’t want the backing of a single auto manufacture. It really came across as a classic privateer operation who is doing this for the love of racing.
• An interesting quote was that they are not wanting to bring “F1 to the US, but rather bring the US to F1”. So the point is that this is to be a showcase of what the US can do. That if this results in there being more interest in the US in F1 and also revives the USGP then that would be great and they would welcome it, but it’s not their focus.
• They feel that the current global recession actually has helped them in an odd way. In that if it was like it was before in which money flowed from the sky that their idea of a lean team would have been laughable. That now they are getting a bit more respect with their idea than they would have a few years ago. They also mentioned that for example the cost of carbon fiber has been very high recently due to aerospace demands. But now the price has dropped quite a bit due to lack of demand.
• They don’t have any permanent facilities just yet, but they are looking. Apparently one that they are looking at is close to the SpeedTV location (which is in the Charlotte area).
• There were questions about timelines and what they need to do. They said they pretty much have to do everything. They have to acquire facilities (both here an in Europe), design the car, secure an engine deal, drivers, etc.
• They don’t have an engine deal with anyone and will start making contact with the current F1 engine suppliers soon.
• They will try to be very fan friendly and use how some of the NASCAR teams operate as the gold standard for this. For example a fan will be able to show up and go through and tour the factory and see them actively working on the cars. They will have their own AV facility at the factory. This will allow a more open view to what is going on (webcams??).
• The topic of location in the US and travel issues was said to not be an issue as more than half the races are not in Europe and that even with the European races it may be just as easy to transport the cars back to the US as it would be to transport back to UK (base for many of the teams).
• There were questions about “how to get involved” if you were already in the business. The answer to me seemed that they already have a close group of people that they know from over the years that is going to make up the central core of engineers. It came across as “don’t call us, we will call you”.
• No mention of all of where the money is coming from other than that they have sold a small part of the organization to someone.
• The point that since they are not a F1 team just yet that they are not bound by the rules in place of existing teams during 2009. So that for example, they could test as they please. They joking sort of agreed, but quickly said that they would work to the spirit of the rules and that they didn’t want to make anyone mad. I think the point is that currently they need the help and support from other teams. Other teams could easily make life difficult for USF1 if they wanted.
• They had a short video of Dan Gurney giving his support to the project and Mario Andretti was on the phone doing the same.
• They were asked about drivers. They don’t have any yet. Their goal is to have US drivers. A few names were tossed around (including some NASCAR drivers). It also was clear that they may be OK with having rookie drivers who don’t have any F1 experience for the first few years.

Overall, it was interesting to hear their ideas. It will be a big experiment and I hope they at least make it to the grid in 2010. I for one will do a factory tour if they really do open things up

Their web site has been updated http://www.usf1.com/ It’s a bit slow, but it has some interesting stuff. Such as Peter Windsor’s blog entry from 2/21

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New USF1 team maybe based in NC

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