USF1 -- A completely crazy idea that just might work

¹²³ · Feb 26, 2009

Smack in the middle of a global economic meltdown might seem like an odd time to start a low-budget race team out of North Carolina to compete in Formula One.

Or maybe even a bit insane.

But that's what Ken Anderson and Peter Windsor are planning to do with USF1 -- and in the process bring America back to what is supposed to be the world's greatest racing series.

It would be a daunting task during normal economic times. But unemployment and recession just might make this crazy idea work.

Anderson and Windsor -- both of whom have deep roots in F1 -- aren't trying to mimic the typical F1 business model. There's no bankrolling billionaire, no manufacturer-sponsored subsidies, no glamour and no glitz.

This is the Motel 6 approach to the five-star world of Formula One. It's Mayberry meets Monaco.

USF1 figures to thrive on the recent misery of NASCAR. Hundreds of talented but unemployed NASCAR team members are sitting around the Charlotte area and eager to work at discount wages.

Charlotte is also the home of a lot of the technology used in Formula One. The seven-post shaker rig that has become standard equipment for a NASCAR team works with F1 cars too -- and Charlotte has lots of them.

Charlotte also has Windshear, a state-of-the-art wind tunnel developed by Anderson, and lots of vacant commercial buildings.

Anderson and Windsor have a few other things working in their favor:

Every Formula One manufacturer and many of its major sponsors does major business in the United States. The manufacturers especially are hot to return to the American market.

They are in a unique position to become a marketing vehicle for American companies to appeal to F1's vast global fan base.

They plan to build a fan-friendly shop modeled on Michael Waltrip's interactive shop outside Charlotte. Fan-friendly is an alien concept in F1 but one the sport and its aloof drivers badly needs to learn from NASCAR.

All they need are two drivers, a car and -- oh, yeah -- a truckload of money.

The drivers are going to be American. USF1 won't import some guy from Finland whose name can't be pronounced by American fans.
Lots of names have been tossed out -- Danica Patrick, Kyle Busch, Marco Andretti -- mostly to create buzz. None of those drivers is going to leave his/her good thing to join a start-up team that is going to run in the back of the pack alongside Force India for a few years.

Busch would be a natural for Formula One and one day soon that's where he will end up. But it'll be with Toyota. Danica will eventually end up in NASCAR because that's where the serious money is.

Andretti would be ideal. He's a raw but talented kid who has yet to break out. Plus, he shares the same last name as the greatest driver of all time -- who just happened to call in to the televised press conference announcing the new team to recommend his grandson for "the future."

Sam Hornish Jr., a fabulous open-wheel driver whose experiment with Sprint Cup hasn't exactly been stellar, would be another good choice. But most likely it will be a couple of unknown American journeymen currently excelling in obscurity in one of the lower European series like A1GP.

Finding a driver won't be so tough. The biggest obstacle -- and it's a really big one -- will be putting together the money. Anderson and Windsor didn't reveal their financing. But even in the current climate of radical measures to cut costs it still costs much more to field a competitive F1 team than a competitive NASCAR team.

The days of nine-figure Formula One hyperbudgets might be over but it's still a pricey neighborhood. But Anderson and Windsor figure they can make it in F1 the way Tommy Baldwin is trying to make it with his new Sprint Cup team -- by combining expertise and experience with common-sense economics.

USF1 might not make it, but it would be to F1's advantage if it does.
Click to expand...

Link

¹²³ · Feb 26, 2009

Stoddart 'can't see' how USF1 will ever take off

USF1 may now have been formally launched - with an aimed-for race debut of 2010 - but erstwhile Minardi team owner Paul Stoddart has expressed his doubts that the team will ever make the starting grid in the top flight.

The new outfit will be jointly run by ex-Ligier and Onyx technical director Ken Anderson and one-time Williams and Ferrari team manager Peter Windsor, and will be located predominantly in the heart of NASCAR country, in Charlotte, North Carolina, with an additional European testing base, most likely in Spain.

Windsor has explained that he believes the time is now right for a Formula 1 entry because of rather than despite the current global credit crunch, but Stoddart - who two years ago took the Minardi name to the States to run Minardi Team USA in Champ Cars, with considerable success - questions the Englishman's logic.

"I believe we are a year or two away from getting the costs [in F1] completely under control," the plain-speaking Aussie told international news agency Reuters, "and I don't believe that new teams will come from the US - I think they will come from within Europe.

"I personally can't see how they are going to pull a major sponsor or investor out of the US when there's no race [there].

"Very few Americans care terribly much about Formula 1...and I certainly found it harder to get money over here than in Europe."
Click to expand...

Log in or Sign up

USF1 -- A completely crazy idea that just might work

¹²³ ¼½¾

¹²³ ¼½¾

Share This Page

Log in or Sign up

USF1 -- A completely crazy idea that just might work

¹²³ ¼½¾

¹²³ ¼½¾

Share This Page

Useful Searches