USF1 Type 1 Rendered, more hype, no racing

[Ardius]

Not yet. But they're recognized as one of the most successful engineering houses in the world, based on their results in international competition, so they definitely have racing pedigree. And if they wanted to move to F1, well....no doubt they'd have more credentials than even some of the current entries. Consider that they've beaten Ferrari and Prodrive...enough said.

Surely Penske would be the best US entry? I understand Penske is not interested and all that, but in terms of budget, experience, etc surely they are the best team for the job?

I am starting to think that everybody at USF1 is just sitting around, not building a car or entering for that matter.

I sincerely hope the employees at USF1 have been job searching for a while now, and not dreaming with Anderson.

 

[SUPER NUMBBER]

Well, in the scope of international American racing prestige, the Indy series is not highly regarded. I think people would regard a LeMans team higher. Whether this mentality has any merit is another discussion.

 

[Ardius]

Prestige has little to do with being a good entry into F1..as USF1 so adequately demonstrated (by attempting to sell themselves down the "we are representing the power of American racing" thing).
Penske is a wealthy and extremely successful racing team, definitely up there with Ferrari in the world. And besides, do you really consider Penske to have "less prestige" than say TWR or Joest? Success in IndyCars (as well as other series) still means something and its very clear Penske is not an idiot.
Do Penske still run an ALMS team?

Certainly if Penske was one of the entries, they would have easily eclipsed Campos, Manor and even Lola and Prodrive to an extent. Prodrive don't really have huge wealth behind them, they rely on middle-eastern backing for the most part.

 

[SUPER NUMBBER]

I'm not arguing against that; I'm only saying that some people might regard P&M as a LeMans winning team higher than a team that's successful in Indy. You may be right; Penske might do well in F1, but I think P&M represents America better than Penske in the eyes of the world.

Don't lose sight of the discussion; I'm stating that the failure of USF1 doesn't (or shouldn't) make anyone think less of American teams, as there are plenty of success stories this side of the pond. Penske as you mentioned is one of them, but I was only citing one example.

 

[Ardius]

I don't think much of the F1 audience even knows a Le Mans team name beyond "Audi" and "Peugeot". Not many people really know about Prodrive really.
So I don't think people around the world would be jumping at hearing Pratt & Miller are entering F1 or that the perception of an American team would be affected by it. (not that Penske is better either, though I'd say they have a little more name recognition).
Not to mention Le Mans general unpopularity with the general public, manufacturers tend to be the face of Le Mans.

Well, yes, but the ill-knowledged viewer wouldn't be likely to know much about US motorsports (outside the US obviously). Any team that has a good background would be better than USF1! Someone that can do the job and fly the flag properly!

 

[Hun200kmh]

This is true Super Numbber. If you ask any european, interested in motorsports (not necessarily a diehard "fan" like us here), if they know Pratt & Miller I bet 90% will respond they have no clue on what that is, 9% will ask if you are talking about plane engines (trade Miller for Whitney ) and 1% will know you're talking about a race team.

Now, if you ask about Penske to the same european motorsports interested audience, I bet 90% of them will tell you about a "Indianapolis team"

 

[Northstar]

I think more people know P&M by Corvette Racing then Pratt & Miller. Either way I don't think either Penske or P&M would be very successful since they would be completely new to a series that only visits this hemisphere a couple times a year.

 

[Ardius]

The point is they would be better than USF1 because it seems to be mismanagement (either of resources or of sponsors) that did them in. Something which established, professional companies like Penske wouldn't do.

I agree though that they wouldn't be competitive immediately and it would take a major operation to really get a proper US team going. The biggest problem to overcome is the infrastructure and chain of supply.
Ideally, the best way for a US team to come in is to do the following:
-Start operations in Europe, build the US base over time (like Lotus are doing in Malaysia)
-Attempt to hire a current F1 designer and/or contract a chassis supplier (like Lola for example).
-Hire pay drivers from the start if necessary, be willing to take on experienced drivers regardless of nationality. Make sure the drivers have recent open wheel experience in Europe preferrably.
-Start a young driver programme and start supporting US drivers in lower categories in Europe.
-Target any sponsors, not just ones who want to be part of the US market. (I would have thought this was pretty obvious...how did CNN end up at Lotus? )
-Avoid talking up the team and then going silent for vast periods of time.

Or the easiest way is just to purchase an existing team and re-brand it and slowly move operations that way.

 

[stevegek]

Okay registered here to say something about USF1.

First let me tell you I'm Dutch. I know most of the teams mentioned like Penske and of course the Le Mans cars.

About USF1:

At least they tried. I think it involves a LOT of gutts to actually take the risk. You risk a lot of money and a name... as you see lot's of people start to distrust him etc etc.

But eventhough F1 is not hot in America, this guy had the balls to create a team for Americans... I think that is awesome and I REALLY hope that they will compete in 2011.. I mean there's even a RUSSIAN driver supported by PUTIN in Renault at the moment!

I think Americans should majorly support USF1. They set the step, others need to support it. No-one can do it 100% by themselves.

Oh and don't worry about him harming the US's image... McDonnalds, bad music and bad action movies are already doing that 10000000000000 times worse. ;-)
And of course this was for 99% a joke. =P

Peace fellers!

 

[Ardius]

An article on what went wrong at USF1:
http://formula-one.speedtv.com/article/f1-what-went-wrong-in-americas-comeback/

Sounds like even if Anderson hadn't completely mis-managed the team, the car would be so flawed it would make Dallara's chassis for HRT look brilliant.