US F1 Turn Down Pay-Driver Offers

Ken Anderson and Peter Windsor

Even if they will debut to Formula One as a rather small-budget team next year, US Grand Prix Engineering doesn't seem that interested in pay-driver offers. Unlike some other outfits currently competing in the Great Circle – say... Toro Rosso – Peter Windsor's and Ken Anderson's priorities are not money, but talented young drivers.

Talking to Sports Illustrated earlier this week, part-owner Windsor admitted he had some interesting offers coming from GP2 drivers, with some impressive sponsorship deals attached, but eventually turned them down. After talking things through with Anderson, the two agreed they won't hire any driver based on financial deals.

“We've been offered well over three quarters of our racing budget by two drivers already, neither of whom have raced in formula one but both have won races in GP2. Both of them have massive sponsorship they can bring us from their home country,” revealed Windsor.

“(Fellow principal) Ken (Anderson) and I have got to be very strong, look one another in the eye and say, 'no, we're not gong to accept that money, we're not going to hire those guys because we're going to remain true to our convictions'” added the British co-owner.

In addition, he insisted the team's aim for their debut season is to give two North American drivers the opportunity to compete in Formula One. Jonathan Summerton, Graham Rahal and Ryan Hunter-Reay are only a few names rumored to have applied for the jobs, while Danica Patrick has been officially dismissed from the potential drive.

“A lot of people are saying to us 'are you interested in Danica?' and my reply is in some respects, Danica is too big for us now. She'll probably go to NASCAR and she'll probably do very well there and she'll probably make a fortune.”

“For her to do formula one, it's a huge commitment at this stage of her career and her expectation level would be very high. We're not going to be fighting for the world championship in year one,” added Windsor.