Rumor running around this morning about a not-so-welcome announcement. I hope its not true.

 

http://www.planetf1.com/story/0,1895...919845,00.html

 

As long as they make it to the grid this year and finish races I'm happy. I don't think anyone expects them to be very competitive so this is more or less a development year anyway.

 

And looks like they might have a second driver...

 

I have a completely different take on this. I see it as US/International/whatever enginuity working against impossible odds, doing everything they can with limited budget and resources, stepping into something completely new with all kinds of negativity and criticism from everyone - from Bernie on down to half the people on this thread.

I, for one, applaud them for the efforts. If they make the first race, wonderful. If they wait until a couple races into the season so they can have everything sorted out, good too. At least they are trying. Look at all the teams that have had truckloads of money that couldnt' make a good go of it. The fact that they've gotten this far is somewhat of a miracle.

 

This kind of feels like the old adage "It's cheaper (and easier) to buy a racecar than to build one". The same goes for a racing team. I truly think that they underestimated the amount of time things would take. If they had set their sights on the 2011 season, we all would be amazed at their progress.

 

Yes Larry I agree but the problem with sponsors is that most have budgets approved for a year at a time. So with no money, USF1 or any other team would have a very difficult time building a car, even if it was expected to be unveiled in 2015.

 

Okay, so we've gone from the goal of having at least 1 American driver on the team to none. Why then have a NC base? It makes more sense to switch over to their base in Spain than keep the NC base.

We've also gone from having a goal of having a relatively competitive team to just trying to make it on grid.... and oh, by the way, we don't care how we do on track, we just want to make it on grid.

This is not the way to approach this!!! If they make it on grid, whether it's in Bahrain or Spain, and are 7 seconds off the pace, no one will give USF1 a second look, either fans or more importantly sponsors!

Brawn won the first 6 of 7 races last year and look how bare their car looked, devoid of sponsorship logos!

Peter Windsor seriously underestimated the difficultly of this project along with the severity of the world economic crisis.

Sorry, but when other teams are already working on adjustments for their 2nd week of testing and USF1 is dicking around with bull****, they are already doomed. I've given up hope for this team.

 

My only concern is that they don't show at Bahrain (or Spain) with a uncompetitive (> 3 second differential) and unreliable car with poor drivers - all of which is very likely - and then suddenly see all of their sponsors pull out. I just hope they did proper expectation management with their sponsors that for the first year, just completing races would be a victory for them. Don't expect wins in the next decade, maybe points in the next five years.

 

This is pure speculation [shocker!], but think about the criteria USF1 had for drivers:
1. Must bring sponsor $ - this is a given
2. Must have open wheel formula race experience sufficient to qualify for FIA Superlicense
3. Must be willing to sign up for a far less lucrative deal than first [or even second] tier F1 drivers

The list of US drivers who fit these criteria is not all that long, right?

 

Correct.

But as a F1 fan based in US, these 2 drivers are an unknown commodity to me let alone the NASCAR fan that perhaps could wrap his head around a US driver making right turns. Lopez and Valles means absolutely nothing to the average US F1 fan.

The only way to have created a buzz and perhaps get a big US sponsor besides Youtube is to have had an American driver in the fold. Even a North Amercian/Canadian driver like Villenueve would have brought some kind of sponsorship, legitimacy to developement and a fan base north of the border.

Lopez could not get funding for open wheel in Europe for the past 2 years. The only reason he is now getting funding ($6m from Argentine businesses and $2m from the Argentine Government Tourism Dept) is because he will be on the biggest motorsports stage, otherwise, it doesn't look like would have had a seat with any other team in F1.

Valles was a test driver for Spyker 3 years ago. Back then there was traction control, larger wings, grooved tires etc. A much different formula than now. How will he help the team aside from $?

As an aside, USF1 has not completed all their crash tests either.

F1 has become a Nationalized motorsports business

1. Ferrari, (Latin team, Italian base, Spanish and Brazilian drivers with Italian test drivers)

2. Team German, Mercedes, Schumacher, Rosberg, Heidfeld as their test drivers

3. Team Britain, McLaren, Hamilton, Button

A USF1 team as the name suggests, would have been nice to see.

 

Give them some time Pete, I'm sure when they said that they had no idea it would be so challenging to get the right Americans that could get a super license. They could've stuck Danica in there and probably got enough money to run the whole season.

That being said, their window of opportunity is short, they need to find a way to become competitive quickly.

 

Yeah, keep in mind FIA denied Sebastian Loeb a super license... its not exactly easy to get I guess... if anyone knows how to drive, it would be him.

 

Pete,
If you think about the likely candidates who are not US or North American citizens, any that qualify on the first two criteria are likely to have trouble with the third, and with the uncertainty of USF1 making the grid for the full series.

Don't get me wrong, I'm wishing them every success and in awe of their ***** in taking this on with such a slim financial base. If they can get through the first season without standing on their dicks they stand a good chance of attracting the kind of support they need to be a serious contender.

 

I know he's young, but I wonder if the FIA would have given Alexander Rossi a provisional Superlicense like they did with Kimi? He won the Formula BMW Americas series, won the Formula BMW International, he's American, possibly bring some type of funding from BMW now that BMW no longer has a factory team???

I don't know, I'm just disappointed an American didn't get a shot at one of the seats available.