CHARLOTTE, North Carolina (AFP) — America's Formula One team has been officially launched with organizers unveiling plans to begin competition with two cars in 2010. USF1 will be based in the heartland of America's stock car series NASCAR and will be backed by Peter Windsor and Ken Anderson. Both have been involved in helping run Formula One teams in the past.
Anderson said having an American F1 team is an ideal fit. "There's more equipment, more people here than anywhere on the planet," said Anderson who has worked for two Formula One teams. Said Windsor, "We've got the capital to do it." Windsor and Anderson did not go into details about how they would finance the team but they have projected their annual budget to be about 62 million dollars.
They have yet to choose their drivers but said they are considering approaching people like Scott Speed, Marco Andretti, Kyle Busch and Danica Patrick. Windsor said Formula One head Bernie Ecclestone has given them the green light to go ahead. "He said, 'Great, get it done,'" said Windsor.
Some have questioned the timing of the announcement because of the global economic crisis, but Windsor says they are not worried. "Long before the current economic recession, we were thinking "lean, mean"," Windsor wrote on the team's website. "We were questioning why the existing F1 teams needed to spend hundreds of millions of dollars in not winning races; and we were convinced that not only could an F1 be designed and built in the USA but also that we could base the team in America, too."
Windsor said they have sound financial backing. "We have exceeded our investment targets and have the capital we need," he wrote. "The support and enthusiasm for USF1 has been nothing short of overwhelming. As cliched as it is, the NASA-speak is irresistible: we have lift-off."
The two principals behind USF1 are Ken Anderson and Peter Windsor.Anderson has a storied career in both four-wheeled and two-wheeled motorsports dating back to 1979. In the interim, he's served as the technical director for the Ligier and Onyx F1 teams, helped design several open wheel racecars, was instrumental in five Indianapolis 500 victories and recently completed work on the Windshear Wind Tunnel – already booked by several top F1 teams for testing – near USF1's home-base in Charlotte, NC.
Anyone who's watched F1 in the past decade is familiar with Peter Windsor. He's served as the English-language interviewer for SpeedTV and Fox, along with writing for F1 Racing and Autosport Japan. More importantly, Windsor served as a Drivers' and Constructors' Championship-winning team manager for Williams F1, once oversaw Ferrari's F1 chassis and suspension departments and is currently the director of Fifty-Four Nine, the clandestine driver coaching company that helps develop F1, GP2 and F3 talent.
The USF1's mission is to stand apart from the other 11 teams by hyping U.S. technology under the tagline of "Made in America." The vehicle will be designed and built in the States and piloted by a duo of American drivers.
FORMULA ONE RACE RANT :
