US Grand Prix Engineering
Encyclopedia
US F1 Team was a proposed Formula One
team that was granted entry to the 2010 season
. However, the team stopped work on its car and did not compete in 2010. It informed the FIA that it was not in a position to race and was removed from the official entry list.
The team is fronted by former Haas CNC Racing technical director Ken Anderson
and journalist (and former Williams
and Ferrari
manager) Peter Windsor
. US F1 was aiming to be the only F1 team based outside of Europe
, with their factory located in Charlotte
, North Carolina
. This was part of Anderson and Windsor's plan to promote American drivers and technology, as did their initial aim to run two American drivers in the 2010 season.
.
On June 12, 2009, Team US F1 was granted entry to the 2010 Formula One World Championship. Due to the political controversy between the FIA and FOTA
during the summer of 2009, US F1 was unable to sign the Concorde Agreement
until July 29, 2009. This caused some delays in the planned schedule for production with certain budget caps and technical regulations still under debate at that time that were dropped in the final agreement.
Team US F1 set up a base of operations in Charlotte, North Carolina
, in a building that at one time housed NASCAR
Joe Gibbs
/Toyota Racing operations. The team announced its plans for a secondary base at Motorland Aragón
in Spain
to allow simplicity of operations during the European portion of the calendar without transport of materials back to North Carolina.
was one of those to express doubts about the team making it to the grid for 2010. Windsor denied these doubts and on the same day finally unveiled a completed team website. Over the Christmas holiday, Windsor's blog stated that the development team had only taken off 2 days "when European-based teams might break for a few weeks" and that he would not allow "16 valuable days lost in the too-short life of the F1 European winter" to be wasted.
Originally the team planned on running two American drivers. Windsor later altered that goal, stating that the team might employ more experienced, non-American drivers in their first season to help speed up future development. The team denied the possibility of using so-called pay drivers. On November 21, 2009, Argentine driver José María López
announced that he had a conditional deal in place with the USF1 team to drive in the 2010 season, providing he secured an eight million-dollar sponsorship package. On January 23, 2010 it was reported that Lopez had completed a deal with USF1 to drive in the 2010 season, and on January 25, 2010 it was officially announced that he would drive for the team. Windsor said that "securing 'Pechito' Lopez for our debut season has been a goal of ours for a long time" in an official release on the team website. At the same time the team signed the former Honda test driver James Rossiter
, although this was never officially confirmed. Rossiter was then nearly signed by KV Racing Technology to race in the IndyCar Series
.
The team's chassis, to be known as the USF1 Type 1, was to utilize the Cosworth CA2010 engine. In September, the first images of the Type 1 appeared in an interview on SpeedTV's Windtunnel program. A blog entry by senior engineer Scott Bennett revealed that the car would not simply be a design clone of many current cars, but would be very innovative in development. US F1 was to have been the only new team in 2010 to feature their own gearbox, produced by EMCO Gears, Inc.
Windsor's team blog confirmed that one of the team's initial investors was the advertising agency
of Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, while millionaire Chad Hurley
, co-founder of YouTube
, was the team's primary investor. On December 23, US F1 fulfilled one of their promises in launching their official YouTube channel. The first two-and-a-half minute video showed the team setting up their base of operations and the initial construction of the car's nosecone. In the following days, Windsor made clear that the prior silence surrounding the team had been deliberate, focusing on in-house organizational and other private details rather than public announcements. Speaking of the politics of the sport he commented that "there seemed little or no point in adding to the situation from the perspective of a new team", and compared the team's heads-down time to new home construction, "[where you] don’t invite all your neighbours and family around to see it at least until you’ve got the living room almost done."
said that the team were asking the FIA
if it could miss the first four races of the season and begin at the . He said the FIA were working with him to evaluate options for the team. Furthermore, Anderson said that Peter Windsor
was still in the project, and that Chad Hurley remained with the team. He also weighed up the fact that López could take his money to rival team Campos Meta but he hoped he'd stay with US F1. On February 23, Locstein, a Swiss-based financial services firm and potential sponsors of the team, released a press statement saying "When it was apparent that the team was not able to participate in the entire 2010 season, Locstein elected to withdraw from further involvement with USF1". The withdrawal sparked fresh allegations about the state of the team's finances, forcing the FIA to evaluate the situation further.
In late February, senior team personnel accused Windsor and Anderson of fundamentally mis-managing the team, with any and all decisions having to go through Anderson before they could be approved, creating a hold up in the design and build process. The personnel claim the team had known it was in trouble as early as December, but it was not until February that Windsor and Anderson were made aware of the danger - when all of the staff members unanimously expressed doubts that USF1 would arrive in Bahrain
. On February 24, FIA technical delegate Charlie Whiting
inspected the team's facilities in order to assess its readiness for the 2010 season. A week later it was revealed the team "was not capable of competing".
On February 26, journalist Adam Cooper reported that Hurley was in discussion with Zoran Stefanović to try and merge US F1 with Stefan Grand Prix
- Anderson and Windsor were said to be against the move. Stefanović subsequently acknowledged that negotiations had taken place, but that they had been unsuccessful. Subsequently on February 28, it was revealed that Anderson and Hurley has formally asked the FIA to defer their entry until 2011, offering to post a seven-figure bond as proof of their intentions to race. The FIA subsequently announced, however, that the entry process for 2011 would be fully re-opened.
On March 2, the team personnel were dismissed from duties. Neither Anderson nor Windsor were found to comment on the subject. José María López was freed from his contract with the team the day before the factory shut down. His manager, Felipe McGough, blamed Anderson for the downfall of the team and stated that Anderson had "deceived the FIA". The FIA published an updated 2010 entry list on March 3 which did not include US F1, and included an addendum that the team "have indicated that they will not be in a position to participate in 2010". The same day, Anderson spoke to Autosport
, explaining why US F1 would not be on the grid for the 2010 season. On April 1, the Charlotte Business Journal reported that the team had closed permanently, citing "serious economic and funding challenges."
Further with the shutdown it was revealed that the team had bought two trailers for the transportation and support of Formula One cars from Brawn GP
. As the team failed to make it to the grid the high court put them for sale on eBay
to pay off one of the team's creditor
s.
On June 24, the FIA World Motorsport Council conducted a disciplinary hearing into US F1's failure to compete in the 2010 season. The team was fined €309,000 plus the costs of the hearing, and banned from competing in any FIA-sanctioned championship.
The Cypher Group later withdrew their bid to join F1 for the 2011 season.
Formula One
Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
team that was granted entry to the 2010 season
2010 Formula One season
The 2010 Formula One season was the 61st Formula One season of World Championship motor racing competition. Red Bull Racing won its maiden Constructors' Championship with a one-two finish in Brazil, while Red Bull Racing's Sebastian Vettel won the Drivers' Championship after winning the final race...
. However, the team stopped work on its car and did not compete in 2010. It informed the FIA that it was not in a position to race and was removed from the official entry list.
The team is fronted by former Haas CNC Racing technical director Ken Anderson
Ken Anderson (motorsport)
Ken Anderson is an American motorsport engineer, operating over the course of his career in motocross, Champ Car, Formula One, IRL and NASCAR.-US F1 Team:...
and journalist (and former Williams
WilliamsF1
Williams Grand Prix Engineering Limited, trading as AT&T Williams, is a British Formula One motor racing team and constructor. It was founded and run by Sir Frank Williams and Patrick Head...
and Ferrari
Scuderia Ferrari
Scuderia Ferrari is the racing team division of the Ferrari automobile marque. The team currently only races in Formula One but has competed in numerous classes of motorsport since its formation in 1929, including sportscar racing....
manager) Peter Windsor
Peter Windsor
Peter David Windsor is the former Sporting Director of the US F1 Team and a Formula One journalist reporter. He was brought up in Australia, but now has residences in London and Sydney....
. US F1 was aiming to be the only F1 team based outside of Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, with their factory located in Charlotte
Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte is the largest city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the seat of Mecklenburg County. In 2010, Charlotte's population according to the US Census Bureau was 731,424, making it the 17th largest city in the United States based on population. The Charlotte metropolitan area had a 2009...
, North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
. This was part of Anderson and Windsor's plan to promote American drivers and technology, as did their initial aim to run two American drivers in the 2010 season.
Origins
On February 24, 2009, Peter Windsor and Ken Anderson appeared on the American cable television network SpeedTV to announce their intent to file an entry of a new Formula 1 team named US F1 for the 2010 Formula One World Championship2010 Formula One season
The 2010 Formula One season was the 61st Formula One season of World Championship motor racing competition. Red Bull Racing won its maiden Constructors' Championship with a one-two finish in Brazil, while Red Bull Racing's Sebastian Vettel won the Drivers' Championship after winning the final race...
.
On June 12, 2009, Team US F1 was granted entry to the 2010 Formula One World Championship. Due to the political controversy between the FIA and FOTA
Formula One Teams Association
The Formula One Teams Association is a group of Formula One teams that was formed at a meeting in Maranello on 29 July 2008. This organisation gives the teams a united voice in their ongoing discussions with the FIA and The Formula One Group regarding the future of Formula One. It is headed by...
during the summer of 2009, US F1 was unable to sign the Concorde Agreement
Concorde Agreement
The Concorde Agreement is a contract between the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile , the Formula One teams and the Formula One Administration which dictates the terms by which the teams compete in races and take their share of the television revenues and prize money...
until July 29, 2009. This caused some delays in the planned schedule for production with certain budget caps and technical regulations still under debate at that time that were dropped in the final agreement.
Team US F1 set up a base of operations in Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte is the largest city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the seat of Mecklenburg County. In 2010, Charlotte's population according to the US Census Bureau was 731,424, making it the 17th largest city in the United States based on population. The Charlotte metropolitan area had a 2009...
, in a building that at one time housed NASCAR
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is a family-owned and -operated business venture that sanctions and governs multiple auto racing sports events. It was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1947–48. As of 2009, the CEO for the company is Brian France, grandson of the late Bill France Sr...
Joe Gibbs
Joe Gibbs
Joe Jackson Gibbs is a former American football coach, NASCAR Championship team owner, and two time NHRA Pro Stock team owner. He was the 20th and 26th head coach in the history of the Washington Redskins...
/Toyota Racing operations. The team announced its plans for a secondary base at Motorland Aragón
Ciudad del Motor de Aragón
The Ciudad del Motor de Aragón, also known as Motorland Aragón, is a race circuit located near Alcañiz, Spain.The circuit has been designed by well-known German architect Hermann Tilke in conjunction with the British architectural firm Foster + Partners...
in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
to allow simplicity of operations during the European portion of the calendar without transport of materials back to North Carolina.
2010 season
On December 22, 2009, F1 CEO Bernie EcclestoneBernie Ecclestone
Bernard Charles "Bernie" Ecclestone is an English business magnate, as president and CEO of Formula One Management and Formula One Administration and through his part-ownership of Alpha Prema, the parent company of the Formula One Group of companies. As such, he is generally considered the primary...
was one of those to express doubts about the team making it to the grid for 2010. Windsor denied these doubts and on the same day finally unveiled a completed team website. Over the Christmas holiday, Windsor's blog stated that the development team had only taken off 2 days "when European-based teams might break for a few weeks" and that he would not allow "16 valuable days lost in the too-short life of the F1 European winter" to be wasted.
Originally the team planned on running two American drivers. Windsor later altered that goal, stating that the team might employ more experienced, non-American drivers in their first season to help speed up future development. The team denied the possibility of using so-called pay drivers. On November 21, 2009, Argentine driver José María López
José María López
José María "Pechito" López is a race car driver. He raced in the 2006 GP2 Series for the Super Nova team, and previously for the DAMS team, and the CMS team in Formula 3000. He was also at Renault F1 as a test driver...
announced that he had a conditional deal in place with the USF1 team to drive in the 2010 season, providing he secured an eight million-dollar sponsorship package. On January 23, 2010 it was reported that Lopez had completed a deal with USF1 to drive in the 2010 season, and on January 25, 2010 it was officially announced that he would drive for the team. Windsor said that "securing 'Pechito' Lopez for our debut season has been a goal of ours for a long time" in an official release on the team website. At the same time the team signed the former Honda test driver James Rossiter
James Rossiter
| style="float:right; background:transparent;"|James Rossiter is a racing driver from England. He has participated in Karting, Formula Renault, British Formula 3 and European Formula 3...
, although this was never officially confirmed. Rossiter was then nearly signed by KV Racing Technology to race in the IndyCar Series
IndyCar Series
The IZOD IndyCar Series is the premier level of American open wheel racing. The current championship, founded by Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Tony George, began in 1996 as a competitor to CART known as the Indy Racing League . Citing CART's increasing reliance on expensive machinery and...
.
The team's chassis, to be known as the USF1 Type 1, was to utilize the Cosworth CA2010 engine. In September, the first images of the Type 1 appeared in an interview on SpeedTV's Windtunnel program. A blog entry by senior engineer Scott Bennett revealed that the car would not simply be a design clone of many current cars, but would be very innovative in development. US F1 was to have been the only new team in 2010 to feature their own gearbox, produced by EMCO Gears, Inc.
Windsor's team blog confirmed that one of the team's initial investors was the advertising agency
Advertising agency
An advertising agency or ad agency is a service business dedicated to creating, planning and handling advertising for its clients. An ad agency is independent from the client and provides an outside point of view to the effort of selling the client's products or services...
of Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, while millionaire Chad Hurley
Chad Hurley
Chad Meredith Hurley is an American co-founder and former Chief Executive Officer of the popular video sharing website YouTube. In June 2006, he was voted 28th on Business 2.0's "50 People Who Matter Now" list...
, co-founder of YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
, was the team's primary investor. On December 23, US F1 fulfilled one of their promises in launching their official YouTube channel. The first two-and-a-half minute video showed the team setting up their base of operations and the initial construction of the car's nosecone. In the following days, Windsor made clear that the prior silence surrounding the team had been deliberate, focusing on in-house organizational and other private details rather than public announcements. Speaking of the politics of the sport he commented that "there seemed little or no point in adding to the situation from the perspective of a new team", and compared the team's heads-down time to new home construction, "[where you] don’t invite all your neighbours and family around to see it at least until you’ve got the living room almost done."
Team shutdown
By mid-February, it was widely reported that the team was in imminent danger of collapse due to financial problems, and that Hurley had withdrawn his backing from the project. On February 20, Ken AndersonKen Anderson (motorsport)
Ken Anderson is an American motorsport engineer, operating over the course of his career in motocross, Champ Car, Formula One, IRL and NASCAR.-US F1 Team:...
said that the team were asking the FIA
Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile
The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile is a non-profit association established as the Association Internationale des Automobile Clubs Reconnus on 20 June 1904 to represent the interests of motoring organisations and motor car users...
if it could miss the first four races of the season and begin at the . He said the FIA were working with him to evaluate options for the team. Furthermore, Anderson said that Peter Windsor
Peter Windsor
Peter David Windsor is the former Sporting Director of the US F1 Team and a Formula One journalist reporter. He was brought up in Australia, but now has residences in London and Sydney....
was still in the project, and that Chad Hurley remained with the team. He also weighed up the fact that López could take his money to rival team Campos Meta but he hoped he'd stay with US F1. On February 23, Locstein, a Swiss-based financial services firm and potential sponsors of the team, released a press statement saying "When it was apparent that the team was not able to participate in the entire 2010 season, Locstein elected to withdraw from further involvement with USF1". The withdrawal sparked fresh allegations about the state of the team's finances, forcing the FIA to evaluate the situation further.
In late February, senior team personnel accused Windsor and Anderson of fundamentally mis-managing the team, with any and all decisions having to go through Anderson before they could be approved, creating a hold up in the design and build process. The personnel claim the team had known it was in trouble as early as December, but it was not until February that Windsor and Anderson were made aware of the danger - when all of the staff members unanimously expressed doubts that USF1 would arrive in Bahrain
2010 Bahrain Grand Prix
The 2010 Bahrain Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 14 March 2010, at the Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir, Bahrain. It was the seventh Bahrain Grand Prix and the opening race of the 2010 Formula One season. It was the first time since 2006 that Bahrain had hosted the opening...
. On February 24, FIA technical delegate Charlie Whiting
Charlie Whiting
Charlie Whiting is FIA Formula One Race Director, Safety Delegate, Permanent Starter and head of the F1 Technical Department, in which capacities he generally manages the logistics of each F1 Grand Prix, inspects cars in Parc fermé before a race, enforces FIA rules, and controls the lights which...
inspected the team's facilities in order to assess its readiness for the 2010 season. A week later it was revealed the team "was not capable of competing".
On February 26, journalist Adam Cooper reported that Hurley was in discussion with Zoran Stefanović to try and merge US F1 with Stefan Grand Prix
Stefan Grand Prix
Stefan Grand Prix is a proposed Serbian Formula One team named after its creator, Zoran Stefanović. The team was attempting to compete in the 2010 Formula One season. Its initial application was one of those rejected in July 2009 and although the team persisted in its attempts to gain an entry, it...
- Anderson and Windsor were said to be against the move. Stefanović subsequently acknowledged that negotiations had taken place, but that they had been unsuccessful. Subsequently on February 28, it was revealed that Anderson and Hurley has formally asked the FIA to defer their entry until 2011, offering to post a seven-figure bond as proof of their intentions to race. The FIA subsequently announced, however, that the entry process for 2011 would be fully re-opened.
On March 2, the team personnel were dismissed from duties. Neither Anderson nor Windsor were found to comment on the subject. José María López was freed from his contract with the team the day before the factory shut down. His manager, Felipe McGough, blamed Anderson for the downfall of the team and stated that Anderson had "deceived the FIA". The FIA published an updated 2010 entry list on March 3 which did not include US F1, and included an addendum that the team "have indicated that they will not be in a position to participate in 2010". The same day, Anderson spoke to Autosport
Autosport
Autosport is a weekly magazine covering motorsport, published in the United Kingdom every Thursday by Haymarket Consumer Media. It was first published on 25 August 1950 by Gregor Grant, immediately prior to the Silverstone International Trophy meeting of that year...
, explaining why US F1 would not be on the grid for the 2010 season. On April 1, the Charlotte Business Journal reported that the team had closed permanently, citing "serious economic and funding challenges."
Further with the shutdown it was revealed that the team had bought two trailers for the transportation and support of Formula One cars from Brawn GP
Brawn GP
Brawn GP Formula One Team, the trading name of Brawn GP Limited, was a Formula One motor racing team and constructor, created by a management buyout of Honda Racing F1 Team. It only competed in the 2009 Formula One World Championship, with drivers Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello. The team...
. As the team failed to make it to the grid the high court put them for sale on eBay
EBay
eBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...
to pay off one of the team's creditor
Creditor
A creditor is a party that has a claim to the services of a second party. It is a person or institution to whom money is owed. The first party, in general, has provided some property or service to the second party under the assumption that the second party will return an equivalent property or...
s.
On June 24, the FIA World Motorsport Council conducted a disciplinary hearing into US F1's failure to compete in the 2010 season. The team was fined €309,000 plus the costs of the hearing, and banned from competing in any FIA-sanctioned championship.
Rebirth as Cypher Group
In early 2010, plans emerged for a prospective American team known as Cypher, which was later confirmed to be formed from the remains of USF1. This re-imagining of the team is not associated with either Ken Anderson or Peter Windsor.The Cypher Group later withdrew their bid to join F1 for the 2011 season.