USF1 Type 1 Rendered, more hype, no racing

[Ardius]

I think Bourdais is under-rated and could achieve a lot more in F1 than he did with Toro Rosso, unfortunately, he appears to need a team built around him and 100% behind him. He is not going to get this with small teams that need results and his inability to beat his teammates is what let him down, Vettel was a rising star but Buemi was seen as ordinary, he really should have kept pace with them better.
Bourdais is never going to be world champion because of this, he probably could dominate with a good car but he appears to be unable to give himself such a chance by failing to impress the people that matter in the end.

He does however have vast experience, a cool head and doesn't tear the team apart with public statements. He was also very unlucky at times at STR, like Monza and Spa 2008. He'll bring the car home in the points when its there and he won't write-off the car every race, exactly what a new team needs.
Some even say that Toro Rosso's 2008 was actually a product of the team spending so much time trying to solve Bourdais' problems that they understood their car far more than any other team.

 

[Stevisiov]

Although I don't care much for Bourdais personaly, I feel he did as good a job, if not better, in the Torro Rosso as anyone and his dismissal was unjustified. I agree that he would be a good choice for the USF1 Team. His connection & exposure to the US open wheel fan base could only be an asset in all respects.

As good if not better than say, Sebastian Vettel? Sebastian outperformed Bourdais all season, so bourdais certainly didn't do as good job, and certainly not better.

Sebastien Buemi also scored more points than Bourdais, even if you don't include the extra races he competed in. Buemi was a new comer also. Bourdais was quite a disappointing driver for a Kart champion.

Boudais is one of those guys who needs the car to be somewhat built around his personal driving style and that's why he struggled with the Torro Rosso. It would be very interesting (and entertaining) to see him drub the Torro Rosso team with a new USF1 car built around him

I think all that would show is that USF1 build better cars than the driver development team Torro Rosso. I would be surprised if that happens, I am not as confident that USF1 will be as good as I thought they would be, a month or so ago.

Heck, I'd bet I'd tune in for that one

I agree, I hope USF1 are competitive enough to stick around for more than the one season. In fact, I hope it sparks enough US interest that we see the return of a US grand prix.

 

[Radracing]

Side-shot of the car:
http://wheelnutsjournal.typepad.com/.a/6a0120a5145462970b01287769c2f5970c-pi

You think with that driver position and your legs up higher than your butt your legs would go numb after a while.

 

[PeterJB]

You think with that driver position and your legs up higher than your butt your legs would go numb after a while.

Well you spend so much time going downhill at tracks like Spa and Interlagos that that probably counteracts the effect!

 

[Ardius]

Exactly a month to go till the first race and still no signs of sponsors, a car or 2nd driver....surely even the optimists out there are getting a little worried about this team?

 

[peterjford]

I am waiting to see (read about) them testing on the same track as the others before I decide either way.

 

[niky]

Exactly a month to go till the first race and still no signs of sponsors, a car or 2nd driver....surely even the optimists out there are getting a little worried about this team?

I'd be happy just to see a sheet of carbon fiber formed into a semi-meaningful shape...

 

[Jim Prower]

They had that vid on the frontpage of their site...showed a full CF tub.

 

[NapoleonMikey]

Along with the wiring mock up being done. And if they can have the wiring being done that must mean they have something now doesn't it.

 

[niky]

Having "something" doesn't mean a running car. As it is... since some of the other teams are just now unveiling... they're not that far behind the curve... but many of those other teams have a starting point. USF1 is starting from scratch.

Still not holding my breath. But hopeful. It's about time the US had a presence in F1. I hope the USF1 effort does justice to its name.

 

[Peter]

I'm much more worried about Bruno and Campos. If they don't make it, it'll ruin his career before it starts and i'll have to wait another year at least to see him race.

 

[Ardius]

Having "something" doesn't mean a running car. As it is... since some of the other teams are just now unveiling... they're not that far behind the curve... but many of those other teams have a starting point. USF1 is starting from scratch.

Still not holding my breath. But hopeful. It's about time the US had a presence in F1. I hope the USF1 effort does justice to its name.

I just keep thinking "Lotus have just produced their car in 5 months flat...where are USF1 and Campos' cars?" Especially seeing USF1 was supposedly planned well in advance of last year - what have they been doing?

 

[F1 fan]

Although I don't care much for Bourdais personaly, I feel he did as good a job, if not better, in the Torro Rosso as anyone and his dismissal was unjustified.

He did a good job, but he didn't come close to matching vettel. It was a shame when his car stalled on the grid in fourth place at the '08 italian gp. I always thought he was quite unlucky.

I agree, I hope USF1 are competitive enough to stick around for more than the one season. In fact, I hope it sparks enough US interest that we see the return of a US grand prix.

Would be good. But where? There's gotta be a better circuit than the indianapolis layout they used to use.

I saw a video of CART at laguna seca. Would love to see a grand prix there. Problem is, I think the corkscrew would just cause too many problems.

I'm much more worried about Bruno and Campos. If they don't make it, it'll ruin his career before it starts and i'll have to wait another year at least to see him race.

Bruno seems to have no luck. Every time he starts to get somewhere, more obstacles appear. Hopefully if campos don't make it, someone else will pick him up as a reserve driver...

 

[Crrrash]

I just keep thinking "Lotus have just produced their car in 5 months flat...where are USF1 and Campos' cars?" Especially seeing USF1 was supposedly planned well in advance of last year - what have they been doing?

Really have to agree with you. There was so much noise coming out from USF1 last year, they really should have concentrated on producing the car. they werent in a developement race like most of the exsisting teams in f1 so should really have had a car ready and testing last year. Even if they couldnt manage building a car they coud have very easily purchased the rights to the toyota?!?!

 

[Ardius]

Rumours coming out of Argentina suggest that the USF1 dream is over - Chad Hurley has pulled out and is looking at Campos and Lopez is also looking for a deal with Campos. Hopefully this isn't true.
If it is, it isn't surprising, and I fully expect Bernie to be the one who has joined the dots here or at least had a hand somewhere in it. He's been very vocal over getting Stefan in and USF1 out.

 

[SUPER NUMBBER]

I smell foul play. First Eclestone mouthing off about the new teams, then this unknown guy suddenly appears and buys Toyota F1. Without having a guaranteed entry he decides he'll show up to race anyways (a huge waste of money, unless he knew something...), and now this?

Nothing against the guy, God bless if he wants to participate in F1, but Prodrive and Lola came first. If they let Stephan in, they should sue the FIA/F1 for all they're worth.

 

[Ardius]

Lola would have no case as they elected to not be put on the reserve list anyway. Don't know if Prodrive were on that list, I know Epsilon were though.

Stefan isn't really "unknown" in F1 circles, he also previously tried to buy the 1997 Lola chassis and enter back then, and has tried ever since. He didn't really have anything last year till this partnership with Toyota.

Really, this all would have been avoided if the FIA selection process wasn't overshadowed with the FIA-FOTA war at the time, as I imagine Mosley attempted to bring in some teams that would stick with F1 and not the FOTA series.
I can't see any other reason why Prodrive, Lola and even Epsilon were overlooked for apparent disasters like this. That or the FIA were really desperate to get in some US draw to the sport..

 

[SUPER NUMBBER]

Reserve list or not, the whole selection process has been politically motivated, rather than governed by a fair sporting code.

And when I say "unknown", I'm comparing him to the other rejected candidates like Prodrive and Lola who have more racing pedigree on each of their pinkies than whatever Stephan has. If we're going by merit, why not them?

 

[Ardius]

Indeed, well thats why Stefan wasn't picked originally, they had nothing back in May, just "Serbian backing".
I'm not really sure its something you can take up legally apart from the bit about reserve list. What the FIA deem as a worthy entry doesn't necessarily have to be "fair", its their championship after all.
But certainly I think Epsilon would have a case to complain (if they even care) because I believe they were on the reserve list while Stefan wasn't.

But for all we know there may have been a deadline for the reserve list after which no entries are let in at all, or something like that. But like I say, the FIA could then just say "its a special case" or something like that. Toyota's entry wasn't sorted out properly either..in fact...at this point we don't even know if Sauber are confirmed yet. We're assuming they are but actually Stefan could plausibly be the "Toyota" entry seeing as its using the same chassis and engine. I don't know if its possible to buy into the slot that Toyota signed for the Concorde agreement or not.
Then the FIA could say that Sauber replaces USF1, which I think may be a better way to handle it.

 

[Captain Chaos]

"Formula 1 USF1 Type 1 Rendered, Europe put on notice"

Put on notice of what? That the US is incapable of building an F1 car...

US-WTF-F1

 

[Ardius]

"Formula 1 USF1 Type 1 Rendered, Europe put on notice"

Put on notice of what? That the US is incapable of building an F1 car...

US-WTF-F1

If Windsor isn't hated enough already, he sure will be because of reactions like this post here.

 

[SUPER NUMBBER]

Why would anybody hate him? Feeling sorry is a more appropriate reaction...or joy, depending on who you are.

 

[Radracing]

I woouldn't blame Peter Windsor for failing. I blame corporate America which is probably foriegn owned for not stepping up to the plate. At least Peter had the balls to try. I think USF1 is not finished until they make it public. Who knows maybe someone in the US has the balls to steup and figure it can be profitable to take a chance and see what we are made of.

 

[Ardius]

Why would anybody hate him? Feeling sorry is a more appropriate reaction...or joy, depending on who you are.

Well, lets see here, the man set out to try to get rid of the image of Americans not being very successful at F1.
The result? He's made a mockery of US motorsport which could have been avoided if he hadn't attempted to make his team a national team and called if "USF1". If it was just called "Anderson" or "Windsor" or something, there would be no damage done.
I personally don't view the US any differently because of this mess, I realise its Windsor's team and not really a representation of what Americans really do. But others will not be so intelligent and it merely feeds the anti-American media out there, something I imagine most Americans not really appreciating much.

I woouldn't blame Peter Windsor for failing. I blame corporate America which is probably foriegn owned for not stepping up to the plate. At least Peter had the balls to try. I think USF1 is not finished until they make it public. Who knows maybe someone in the US has the balls to steup and figure it can be profitable to take a chance and see what we are made of.

I could have told you in February when the team was announced that if their plan was to rely on American sponsors it would fail. If Windsor truly assumed he could attract US investors just with a "national team" image, he is far more moronic than I ever imagined.
But I do not think that was the case, I think Windsor even said at the time that he wasn't expecting much US interest initially because they are not going to be successful straight away.

To blame this on people for not investing money, perhaps we should also ask why people should invest? Why choose USF1? The team itself never really looked hugely credible compared to its fellow entrants. Even so, they did manage to attrack Chad Hurley and some money with Lopez. I'm not entirely sure money was the issue unless they mismanageed their budget.
Besides, they were meant to have this "unique" way of running the team that would mean they could do it far cheaper than other teams - don't know where that went.

I think the most likely reason for USF1's flop (if it has indeed flopped, no official confirmation yet remember) is mismangement of budget, deadlines and overall organisation of the team. The reason I think this is because there is evidence to suggest the car was possibly close to finished or at least it had been crash tested and designed. There is also evidence of money around the operation. So money and the car are there.

 

[SUPER NUMBBER]

Well, lets see here, the man set out to try to get rid of the image of Americans not being very successful at F1.
The result? He's made a mockery of US motorsport which could have been avoided if he hadn't attempted to make his team a national team and called if "USF1". If it was just called "Anderson" or "Windsor" or something, there would be no damage done.
I personally don't view the US any differently because of this mess, I realise its Windsor's team and not really a representation of what Americans really do. But others will not be so intelligent and it merely feeds the anti-American media out there, something I imagine most Americans not really appreciating much.

Well, I'm an American motorsport fan, and I don't see how anyone will get away from this thinking Americans can't succeed in F1. It's only munition if you're actively looking for something to criticize America on, but no rational person would think less of American motorsport after the failure of a private venture, regardless of the name. I don't even think it was his intention to prove anything, he probably just thought he'd get more backing by branding it as a national team. While I disagree with the nationalization of F1 (Force India comes to mind), I don't think there was any "damage" done; most people know Peter Windsor is British anyways, and not many people here even know about USF1. It started in silence, and if USF1 fails it'll be in silence as well.

 

[Ardius]

Well, I'm an American motorsport fan, and I don't see how anyone will get away from this thinking Americans can't succeed in F1. It's only munition if you're actively looking for something to criticize America on, but no rational person would think less of American motorsport after the failure of a private venture, regardless of the name. I don't even think it was his intention to prove anything, he probably just thought he'd get more backing by branding it as a national team. While I disagree with the nationalization of F1 (Force India comes to mind), I don't think there was any "damage" done; most people know Peter Windsor is British anyways, and not many people here even know about USF1. It started in silence, and if USF1 fails it'll be in silence as well.

Its more damage to those outside percieving the US, rather than US fans who are going to think such thoughts. Just that US fans won't particularly be happy with even more ammo for the anti-Americans out there.
I never had a high opinion of Windsor, I certainly don't now. So perhaps I'm too biased to give a balanced opinion of what he has done. But I think its all so unnecessary to drag the USA as a country into his failure.

 

[SUPER NUMBBER]

I also think it's unnecessary to drag Japan into the failure of Super Aguri, Honda and Toyota, almost in succession, but you know some idiot's gonna do it anyways. So why worry about it?

 

[NapoleonMikey]

The US F1 Team web server is down and is being repaired as this is written. We are not gone, as many have reported. More news soon.

Thats from the USF1 twitter page that was posted today. Dosnt look like there giving up but i sure they are having finical problems hopefully we will get some official word from the team tomorrow.

 

[The Outlaw]

Well, lets see here, the man set out to try to get rid of the image of Americans not being very successful at F1.
The result? He's made a mockery of US motorsport which could have been avoided if he hadn't attempted to make his team a national team and called if "USF1". If it was just called "Anderson" or "Windsor" or something, there would be no damage done.
I personally don't view the US any differently because of this mess, I realise its Windsor's team and not really a representation of what Americans really do. But others will not be so intelligent and it merely feeds the anti-American media out there, something I imagine most Americans not really appreciating much.



I could have told you in February when the team was announced that if their plan was to rely on American sponsors it would fail. If Windsor truly assumed he could attract US investors just with a "national team" image, he is far more moronic than I ever imagined.
But I do not think that was the case, I think Windsor even said at the time that he wasn't expecting much US interest initially because they are not going to be successful straight away.

To blame this on people for not investing money, perhaps we should also ask why people should invest? Why choose USF1? The team itself never really looked hugely credible compared to its fellow entrants. Even so, they did manage to attrack Chad Hurley and some money with Lopez. I'm not entirely sure money was the issue unless they mismanageed their budget.
Besides, they were meant to have this "unique" way of running the team that would mean they could do it far cheaper than other teams - don't know where that went.

I think the most likely reason for USF1's flop (if it has indeed flopped, no official confirmation yet remember) is mismangement of budget, deadlines and overall organisation of the team. The reason I think this is because there is evidence to suggest the car was possibly close to finished or at least it had been crash tested and designed. There is also evidence of money around the operation. So money and the car are there.

Exactly my thoughts as well.

 

[niky]

I also think it's unnecessary to drag Japan into the failure of Super Aguri, Honda and Toyota, almost in succession, but you know some idiot's gonna do it anyways. So why worry about it?

At least the Super Agurri actually saw the racetrack...