good thinking | A real live American Formula 1 team!

Monday 23rd, February 2009

A real live American Formula 1 team!08:57:57 AM

Written By : Scott Good

Peter Windsor and Ken Anderson have announced that they will USF1 to launch US-based F1 team! start (immediately) a US-based Formula 1 team with the objective of racing beginning in 2010. This is really interesting news for those of us who love F1.

There haven't been many US Formula 1 teams. Dan Gurney did it, as did Roger Penske, but both those efforts (I believe) were US-owned, England-based. This one is going to be right here in the US. Is that a first? Might be.

Peter was on Dave Despain's Wind Tunnel talk show last night and had a lot to say about it but kept a few things under his hat in deference to tomorrow's announcement on Speed (February 24 at noon, EST).

They will be headquartered in Charlotte which makes more sense than you might think. While the World Championship used to be primarily Europe-centric, today races are pretty much everywhere...Austrailia, Malaysia, China, Bahrain, Spain, Monaco, Turkey, England, Germany, Hungary, Belgium, Italy, Singapore, Japan, Brazil and Abu Dhabi. Not being located in Europe is a lot less of a handicap than it used to be.

Being in Charlotte, thanks to NASCAR, USF1 will be literally in the heart of the US racing industry, with access to state of the art wind tunnels, composites fabrication, etc. Interestingly, Windsor said that the bulk of the technology in F1 for many years now has been American but that the teams did not say that very loudly.

I think this is terrific and wish them the best of luck. Until then, though, I'm still a Lewis Hamilton fan.

Comments :

1. Jason Hook02/23/2009 10:11:31 AM

I wonder whose engine technology they will use? I'd imagine that most engines currently use Japanese not American technology. I've not been following F1's reinvention lately so I'm not sure if the common engine rule will be in place for 2010.

If they go for an American driver who do you think they might choose from?

2. David Vasta02/23/2009 01:52:21 PM
Homepage: http://www.iSeriesAddict.com

Huge F1 Fan and the best part is they are right up the road from where I live. Oh the joy! I am so looking forward to this.

Question How is it you don't get the trolls I used to get when I posted F1 stuff. I would post anything on F1 or racing and get nasty emails that, "It's not Lotus so take it down!"

Good luck and hope the trolls don't show up.

3. Scott Good02/23/2009 02:52:40 PM
Homepage: http://www.scottgood.com

@Jason. Good question. Peter Windsor said the engine formula is fixed so that they have to use one of the existing motors. He pointed out that the US is the largest and most important auto market to all the manufacturers so there should be no lack of interest on their part.

If I had to bet...hm. Not Renault; they don't sell here. Ferrari is already supplying another team or two, so probably not them. I'm kind of hoping it's BMW but with Honda pulling out of F1 they might look at an engine program for USF1 as a way to profitably keep themselves in a bit of the F1 limelight. So...I don't know. We'll find out tomorrow.

@David...lol...I suspect I don't get the trolls because nobody reads this rag. It's certainly nothing I'm doing on purpose.

4. David Vasta02/23/2009 04:36:26 PM
Homepage: http://www.iSeriesAddict.com

Hey and I see you live n Charlotte too. We should meet up. If you need an extra hand when racing I would be happy to lend it. I am a nut for racing and would help out when I can. I help the guys down at IndocilArt.com with the helmet biz for free, so I would love to help out a Porsche person for free too.

Let me know. We could also meet up at Victory Lane for some karting. I need a few good people for the 24 Hour Race?

5. Scott Good02/23/2009 06:54:25 PM
Homepage: http://www.scottgood.com

That sounds great except I'm in Columbus, Ohio. My brother is in Charlotte, though. OH, I know...I listed this posting as Charlotte because USF1 is there...wondered about that when I posted it that way. Sorry for the confusion.

Those Indocil helmets look great. I haven't heard of them before. One of these days I'm getting mine painted and that looks like a great option.

6. Andrew Pollack02/24/2009 01:38:31 AM
Homepage: http://www.thenorth.com/apblog

This will change F1 racing forever. Just wait till those Europeans see what the Chevy Small Block V-8 can do!

BTW: Did anyone tell these guys yet that there are no cupholders in European racing cars?

7. Scott Good02/24/2009 10:20:03 AM
Homepage: http://www.scottgood.com

WHAT? No cupholders? This may be a problem...

8. David Vasta02/24/2009 09:39:50 PM
Homepage: http://www.iSeriesAddict.com

Scott, Yes please let me know if you are down this way. Would love to talk track and racing with you. Would be neat to talk Lotus and Cars and one be software and the other the gas types.

Looking forward to the USF1 team. It looks promising and I can't wait to see what powerplant they choose. I would guess they will get decent offers from MB and Ferrari for the North American Market.

I still wonder how Honda is not apart of this plan?

9. Scott Good02/25/2009 09:16:00 AM
Homepage: http://www.scottgood.com

Good question. I watched a replay of yesterday's press conference and it was pretty underwhelming. No drivers announced, no engines, no sponsors...no nuthin. Bummer.

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