Team US F1 shuts down operation

[EJ25RUN]

Team US F1 shuts down operation

Autosport

By Jonathan Noble and Dieter Rencken

Team US F1's Formula 1 hopes appeared to be over on Tuesday, with high level sources revealing to AUTOSPORT that the outfit has now effectively closed down.

Against the backdrop of weeks of uncertainty about the future of the American team, which had been struggling to get a car ready for the start of the season, sources have revealed team personnel have now been informed they are no longer required as the operation was not continuing.

AUTOSPORT understands that shortly before lunchtime, production manager Dave Skog informed those staff who had remained at the team during its recent troubles that they were being put on unpaid leave - even though they remain technically employed.

That move, which has not yet been officially confirmed, effectively brings an end to the F1 dreams of team principal Ken Anderson and sporting director Peter Windsor who had hoped to create a genuine American grand prix team.

It is understood that neither Anderson nor Windsor were present at the factory while the announcement was made, and neither was available for comment about the latest situation.

Calls to the factory switchboard have also gone unanswered, with a message stating that the number is temporarily not working.

The failure of Team US F1 to make it onto the grid means that there is now a vacancy for the Serbian outfit Stefan Grand Prix, which has been sitting on the sidelines for several months.

US F1 will need to be officially withdrawn from the championship if Stefan GP is going to have a chance of getting a late entry - although such a situation may be possible if FIA technical delegate Charlie Whiting's inspection visit to the American team's factory last week showed that the outfit was not capable of competing.

It is also not clear what US F1 investor Chad Hurley will now do. The American YouTube co-founder, who had invested in the team, has been linked with potential deals with both Stefan GP and Campos Meta in recent weeks - and it is possible he may choose to remain in F1 through involvement with another team.
Fantasy 2010

[Elbow]

So the news that they were going to run next season instead is dead now?

[David88vert]

Unpaid leave - that is a raw deal. Basically, since they are technically employeed, they can't get unemployment, and yet they don't get paid for sticking it out. Obviously, the bosses want them to quit, so they won't get unemployment.

[EJ25RUN]

So the news that they were going to run next season instead is dead now?

They were never anything to start with. Radio Le Mans visited their headquarters and it's essentially a shack with USF1 written on it.

Good riddance.

[Elbow]

They were never anything to start with. Radio Le Mans visited their headquarters and it's essentially a shack with USF1 written on it.

Good riddance.

Yikes. lol

I never really had hope for them anyway. What a way to represent America though, we can't even have an F1 team yet alone a driver.

[dazn]

Yikes. lol

I never really had hope for them anyway. What a way to represent America though, we can't even have an F1 team yet alone a driver.

But we got Dale Jr. 88!!! Booogedy boogedy boogedy lets go racing!

[SeePlusPlus]

Damn, even though we would have been in last every race it would have been cool to see a US team take shape. Go America!

[EJ25RUN]

Damn, even though we would have been in last every race it would have been cool to see a US team take shape. Go America!

Whatever. F1 is not a sport about countries. It's about the marques that represent them.

The way it sits today, only Dan Gurney's AAR Eagle Weslake has an F1 victory to it's name and that was Spa '67.

The only REAL possibility of a U.S. team is if Penske returns or Chip Ganassi does it and both are highly unlikely. This country needs to leave the brainwashed state of spec Nascar before F1 is a possibility.

[cjhutch]

I had a feeling this was going to happen once I heard about the YouTube founder pulling out. They took forever to find a driver and the only thing I was looking forwards to was some sweet in car footage on YouTube HD without everything getting deleted.

[EJ25RUN]

Lopez's manager slams US F1 boss

Autosport

By Pablo Elizalde Wednesday, March 3rd 2010, 13:46 GMT

Ken AndersonJose Maria Lopez's manager Felipe McGough has criticised US F1 team boss Ken Anderson, saying he is the main culprit for the American squad failing to reach the Formula 1 grid.

"The main culprit of all this is Ken Anderson," McGough told Argentina's FOX Sports in a telephone interview.

"These people fooled the FIA, FOTA and all the teams, FOM, all the employees they hired, 'Pechito' Lopez, and Milos Pavlovic, the other driver they had signed to be in the project.

"It's not that they fooled us only. The situation of US F1 in Europe is some sort of scandal amongst teams because it makes F1 looks very bad. Argentina is just a small part of the problem, but it's a very, very big for Formula 1."

McGough said he was not aware of any problems with the team when Lopez signed a deal to race with it.

He added: "We signed the deal just 48 hours after the FIA sent an inspector to Charlotte and confirmed that the project was fully underway."

McGough said Lopez had been finally released from his contract and was now set to become Hispania Racing's reserve driver.

"We spent all day talking with the team," he added. "We finally managed to get released from the contract with the US F1 team. We had a meeting with Ken Anderson, with Chad Hurley's representatives, with Peter Windsor and with team's lawyers.

"It was a very complex situation because they had not breached the contract, but we knew they would not make it to Bahrain. So we had to find a solution so Jose Maria would not be tied to the team and he could find an alternative.

"And that's what we achieved after a lot of hours of negotiation."

McGough claimed Anderson or sporting director Peter Windsor had promised to travel to Argentina to apologise and to offer an explanation about the situation.

[Elbow]

So ridiculous. What's this going to do to Windsor's reputation?

[Jenson]

Ken strikes again. I bet he made enough money to go buy a small island, build his own race track, and race this car he has had designed for years. Hopefully he will leave so that Chad and Peter can replace him with someone who is not a scammer and put all those boys back to work. Then they can test the car all summer long and have a legitimate car on the grid next year.

[SeePlusPlus]

So when do you think will the FIA decide whether Stefan GP gets a go? Is it too late for this season?

[EJ25RUN]

So when do you think will the FIA decide whether Stefan GP gets a go? Is it too late for this season?

2011 at the earliest.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/81828

[SeePlusPlus]

2011 at the earliest.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/81828

Hmm, and so there were 12... Just to clarify, Bahrain is at 8:00am EST?

[EJ25RUN]

Hmm, and so there were 12... Just to clarify, Bahrain is at 8:00am EST?

Autosport's countdown to round 1 was 10 Days 7 Hours 34 Minutes 30 Seconds at time of this post.

[matthewAPM]

WOO GO NASCAR!!!!!!! 88 for life 8===>~~