Backed by Ken Anderson (acting as Sporting Director) and Peter Windsor (Technical Director), the USF1 team hopes to enter an American-Built Formula One car in the 2010 Grand Prix season. Critics have been quick to point out the difficulty of breaking into the pinnacle of motorsport, but the fledgling team has been planning for several years now and has Bernie Ecclestone’s blessing. They’ve got a lot going for them, as well:
The team plans to base its operations out of Charlotte, NC, home to the majority of NASCAR’s garages and a great deal of second-tier fabrication shops. ”Most of the technology in Formula One comes from the United States to begin with,” Anderson said. “The logistics side of it now, less than half the races will be on the (European) continent. The cost of doing business in the United States is significantly cheaper than Europe, and there are a lot of good people here.”
Charlotte is also home to the 180mph Windshear Rolling wind tunnel, already in use by several F1 teams and one of the best facilities of its kind in the world. Ken Anderson helped develop the $40M facility and hopes to leverage it to launch a competitive USF1 team.
While the global economic downturn has fueled much criticism for the types of budgets on which most F1 teams operate, it may serve to help launch a new team. Many highly skilled engineers and mechanics are seeking employment in this segment and may make it easier for the team to assemble on a tight budget.
At the SpeedTV press conference, Peter Windsor maintained that they are “fully funded” and will be ready to enter a car into a Grand Prix next year, in 2010.
Driver rumors abound, but team principals all agree that at least one US driver would be strongly considered, with names such as Danicka Patrick, Matt Kenseth, Scott Speed, Juan Pablo Montoya and other successful drivers being mentioned. It is more likely that we’d see some top stars in the Indy series, Formula BMW, Formula 3000 or the AIGP series taking the wheel of the USF1 car in 2010, such as Jonathan Summerton (A1GP) and Richard Antinucci (Indy).
The USF1 team does not plan to launch an engine manufacturing effort just yet, probably starting with an engine from Renault or Ferrari in a US built chassis.
