US F1 Press Conference
02-25-2009, 12:49 AM
#47
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1. Carbon Tub
2. Shiftless transmission
3. Carbon Brakes
4. Carbon Clutch
5. Fuel Cell
6. Differentials ( weissman )
To name a few and most importantly , How to spray the champagne
( Gurney)
2. Shiftless transmission
3. Carbon Brakes
4. Carbon Clutch
5. Fuel Cell
6. Differentials ( weissman )
To name a few and most importantly , How to spray the champagne
( Gurney)
02-25-2009, 01:20 AM
#48
Burning Brakes
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Well, I have to agree that my first reaction was this has about as much chance of flying as a Led Zepplin. But then you what happened the last time someone said that.
The truth is no one posting here has as much information as Peter and Ken about the inner workings of F1. These aren't a couple of rich oil tycoons looking to impress their friends. Who are we to say that haven't got a chance. I have to believe these two are pretty well connected and knowledgeable about the business of F1. I'm also sure there are a lot of cards at play here that we are not aware of. There's no question Bernie wants to take the teams back the days where "Skunk Works" low budget teams had a chance to compete.
The truth is no one posting here has as much information as Peter and Ken about the inner workings of F1. These aren't a couple of rich oil tycoons looking to impress their friends. Who are we to say that haven't got a chance. I have to believe these two are pretty well connected and knowledgeable about the business of F1. I'm also sure there are a lot of cards at play here that we are not aware of. There's no question Bernie wants to take the teams back the days where "Skunk Works" low budget teams had a chance to compete.
02-25-2009, 02:00 AM
#49
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The fact is that American fans have not had much to be excited about in F1 for years now. No real US involvement from a driver, manufacturer, or team perspective (sorry, but Scott Speed driving for an also ran team doesn't count for much).
This venture could change that. I hope it does and I won't dismiss it's chances for growing the US fan base.
02-25-2009, 07:47 AM
#50
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Personally, I hope this USF1 venture single handedly overshadows the pathetic Tony George IRL/Champ car unified series and buries it for good.
(OK, I still hold a bit of a grudge against TG (IQ of a mollusk) and his "all oval, all American" IRL and the split....I miss CART)
(OK, I still hold a bit of a grudge against TG (IQ of a mollusk) and his "all oval, all American" IRL and the split....I miss CART)
02-25-2009, 11:12 AM
#51
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Ray ,
You answered it yourself , i never said it was zero and the comment is academic , it 's relative to other F1 based countries , the US has more of a Soccer base than they do an F1 base and the US does not have a Soccer Culture , well not yet ...
The USFI team will receive the same support here as Scott Speed and Red Bull did ....
02-25-2009, 11:29 AM
#52
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...First off, I didn't know racing people had meetings at Starbucks. I missed the memo.
I don't want to sound pessimistic, but I don't think this is ever going to get up off the ground. Peter Windsor's involvement gives some sort of legitimacy to it, but this all sounds very very fishy to me.
A. At a time where independent teams have been leaving the sport for years (ala Jordan, etc) and big time manufacturers are also bailing out (ala Honda), how the hell does an independent team based in the US get started?
B. Even when the world economy wasn't in this crisis, sponsors were hard to get. Imagine now. Who is going to sponsor this team, Bernie Madoff?
C. If they think Danica or Scott Speed is the answer, they're more interested in the 15 minute circus rather than being a serious race team.
Sorry I don't see this happening.
I don't want to sound pessimistic, but I don't think this is ever going to get up off the ground. Peter Windsor's involvement gives some sort of legitimacy to it, but this all sounds very very fishy to me.
A. At a time where independent teams have been leaving the sport for years (ala Jordan, etc) and big time manufacturers are also bailing out (ala Honda), how the hell does an independent team based in the US get started?
B. Even when the world economy wasn't in this crisis, sponsors were hard to get. Imagine now. Who is going to sponsor this team, Bernie Madoff?
C. If they think Danica or Scott Speed is the answer, they're more interested in the 15 minute circus rather than being a serious race team.
Sorry I don't see this happening.
That single-handedly makes this a unfortunately a fail..
...US vs. the rest of the world works in the Olympics, but an F1 team is pretty much a United Nations of individuals. From the drivers to the mechanics to the team principles. For instance, team principle Windsor is a Brit, if you carefully read their statement, they're looking for a European location to supplement their Charlotte base, their engine supplier will be foreign, their tire supplier has to be foreign, realistically, their F1 engineers and mechanics have to be from Europe (probably England) because there is no one here that can jump right in and finally their drivers, if this ever gets started, will bring $$ from a foreign company like a Petrobras and want their own drivers, who would probably be foreign.
If they are going to build an entire team around US people, that is soooo asking for trouble. Ferrari used to be all Italian team and boy did they suck! Then they hired people based on their skills (Todt, Schumi, Brawn, Byrne etc. etc.) and look what happened. They again have majority of Italian members in their teams and they've had much more problems these past two season (even though they've still managed to win).
US F1 needs to hire people from everywhere based on their talent, not on their US nationality, if they hire based on US Nationality only, the are guaranteed to fail.
Ray , there is no F1 racing culture here , travel outside of the US or North America for an F1 race and you will understand my statement .
It would take 3 yrs of F1 to have the same crowds as the Indy 500 , get US open wheel racing back on track as it was before and F1 @ indy would be nothing but a footnote.
PS: We saw how Patriotic Americans were in their Support of Scott Speed
It would take 3 yrs of F1 to have the same crowds as the Indy 500 , get US open wheel racing back on track as it was before and F1 @ indy would be nothing but a footnote.
PS: We saw how Patriotic Americans were in their Support of Scott Speed
In most Countries in Europe, probably 75% of the male population follows F1...
However, I don't think the fan base matters that much, F1 is about TV audience and the actual fans attending the race don't generate much revenue at all.
I think the record F1 TV audience in Finland is about 2 million which from a Country of 5 million is quite a lot...
Take out the women and small kids and there's not much people left not watching.
Go out in Italy during the race and you'll have peace...
02-25-2009, 11:32 AM
#53
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Much of the basic engineering/electronics/materials are developed here in the States. The technical application/applied science is European, mostly England.USF1 will need an engine supplier from an existing F1 team.
I'm not sure how far along Panoz is in Aerodynamics... that's a key in chassis development.
Marco Andretti would bring a lot to USF1... name identification and probably sponsorship. Andreeti Green racing could help in engineering, and development.
Still, it's going to be tuff for a new team to be competitive. That makes Andretti's involvement appealing for press attention. SeaBass also would be a
nice fit, his imput to the engineers along with Formula One experience would be a great help to a new team.
02-25-2009, 11:49 AM
#55
This whole thing reminds me of what cycling went through in the 80's and 90's.
In the 80's there was Jonathan Boyer, one of the first Americans to race in the Tour de France. Then came Greg LeMond, another US rider on a foreign team. He started winning and people in the USA started to take notice. Then came the 7-Eleven team which was the first domestic team to ride in the Tour and a big turning point in US cycling. The team wasn't great but they had some victories and more importantly a lot of heart. The world loved them...especially the Tour de France organization. That paved the way for the Motorola team and ultimately Lance's involvement in the sport. Now cycling is much bigger than it was back then, the US companies drove the technology that's in the sport today, and every kid wants to be Lance Armstrong. There are mutliple US based teams in the Tour and a bunch of US riders, a few of which are contendors for the overall win.
I liken USF1 to be where we were with cycling in the 80's. Granted the barriers to entry between cycling and F1 are night and day but once we have a US based team we'll make huge inroads to building a big fan base in the USA. Everyone will try to help them become successful because they understand the overall benefit to the sport. Plus, who on pit lane would say no to helping Peter Windsor?
I also wonder if the comment about Starbucks was strategic. Couldn't he have said "a coffee shop"?
In the 80's there was Jonathan Boyer, one of the first Americans to race in the Tour de France. Then came Greg LeMond, another US rider on a foreign team. He started winning and people in the USA started to take notice. Then came the 7-Eleven team which was the first domestic team to ride in the Tour and a big turning point in US cycling. The team wasn't great but they had some victories and more importantly a lot of heart. The world loved them...especially the Tour de France organization. That paved the way for the Motorola team and ultimately Lance's involvement in the sport. Now cycling is much bigger than it was back then, the US companies drove the technology that's in the sport today, and every kid wants to be Lance Armstrong. There are mutliple US based teams in the Tour and a bunch of US riders, a few of which are contendors for the overall win.
I liken USF1 to be where we were with cycling in the 80's. Granted the barriers to entry between cycling and F1 are night and day but once we have a US based team we'll make huge inroads to building a big fan base in the USA. Everyone will try to help them become successful because they understand the overall benefit to the sport. Plus, who on pit lane would say no to helping Peter Windsor?
I also wonder if the comment about Starbucks was strategic. Couldn't he have said "a coffee shop"?
02-25-2009, 12:10 PM
#56
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daigo above said it best...
However, in the vein of keeping up the rampant speculation here, read Peter Windsor's own (ostensibly) words:
And to chrisp's comments regarding Starbucks... They (Starbucks) have been a client of Goodby, Silverstein and Partners' Rich Silverstein in the past IIRC... Make of that what you will. 
However, in the vein of keeping up the rampant speculation here, read Peter Windsor's own (ostensibly) words:
Ninety minutes later – ninety minutes of Ken Anderson at his best, detailing the technology infrastructure he had built over 20 years in American motor sport – we were done. This was USF1. This was how America could ignite its entrepreneurial flame in the recession and take a place on the F1 global platform. We weren’t bringing F1 to the US: we were taking the US to F1.
Within seconds, a diminutive dynamo of a man embraced me and whispered in my ear: "Fantastic! I’m in. You’ve got your first investor!”
He turned out to be Rich Silverstein of Goodby, Silverstein and Partners, one of the four best creative ad agencies in the world – and with the Clios in the reception area to prove it. An F1 fan from the days his San Francisco ad agency handled the HP F1 account for Williams, Rich had initially been skeptical: "An F1 team now? With the economy like this and Honda pulling out? Boy, you guys like a challenge…”
Then he got it. Then he understood the brilliance of Bernie Ecclestone’s F1 ecomony, the strong, rule-changing reaction of the FIA – and the simplicity with which a Skunk Works F1 team could be assembled in the US.
We were truly on our way. For Ken and me, this was maybe the best moment of our working lives to date – and other investors would follow within days. - Peter Windsor
Within seconds, a diminutive dynamo of a man embraced me and whispered in my ear: "Fantastic! I’m in. You’ve got your first investor!”
He turned out to be Rich Silverstein of Goodby, Silverstein and Partners, one of the four best creative ad agencies in the world – and with the Clios in the reception area to prove it. An F1 fan from the days his San Francisco ad agency handled the HP F1 account for Williams, Rich had initially been skeptical: "An F1 team now? With the economy like this and Honda pulling out? Boy, you guys like a challenge…”
Then he got it. Then he understood the brilliance of Bernie Ecclestone’s F1 ecomony, the strong, rule-changing reaction of the FIA – and the simplicity with which a Skunk Works F1 team could be assembled in the US.
We were truly on our way. For Ken and me, this was maybe the best moment of our working lives to date – and other investors would follow within days. - Peter Windsor
02-25-2009, 02:44 PM
#57
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02-25-2009, 04:06 PM
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TOTALLY OFF TOPIC
We just got paid for CART shares-liquidation thereof!!
OMG 3 cents per share
