US F1 Close Factory, Seek 2011 F1 Entry

US F1 will certainly not take part in the 2010 Formula One championship, as revealed by British publication Autosport in the late hours of yesterday evening. According to the aforementioned source, all the staff at Charlotte was announced by the team's management that they will be put on unpaid leave until further notice.

Additionally, the employees at the US F1 factory were asked to stop working on the chassis for the 2010 challenger, therefore making it clear that running in the 2010 F1 series will no longer be possible.

Under the circumstances, the International Automobile Federation (FIA) will have two options for the upcoming few days. Either they will hand US F1's entry to newly comers Stefan GP, or suspend it and go on in the 2010 F1 series with only 12 entries.

A few hours ago, it has emerged that US F1 is now seeking a one-year hold for their entry in the championship with the FIA, which would give them enough time to survive financially and set up a solid team for the 2011 season. In this way, the dream of having an American team in the series would not die, but only be postponed for one year.

“We have applied to the FIA to hold our entry until 2011. It was supposed to be confidential, so I could not really comment on it. It seems to have leaked out though,” said the team's co-owner Ken Anderson, according to Autosport.

“We are waiting for a reply from the FIA and are working with them. In the mean time, there is nothing for the employees to do, so we have told them to stop working on the current car until we have a decision.”