USF1 Officially Launched

USF1 was officially launched by co-owners Ken Anderson and Peter Windsor yesterday at noon. While announcing that they will make their F1 debut in 2010, no details on the driver lineup were revealed. However, the two owners did mention that, throughout the process of forming the new team, they had benefited from the full support of both F1 supreme Bernie Ecclestone and FIA president Max Mosley.

Talking about their plans for the future, USF1's sporting director Peter Windsor insisted that returning to F1 racing as team owner will be a challenge, especially with the economic crisis that has hit the sport in recent months. Nevertheless, having already found an equity partner to secure partial funding of the team – while further sponsorship is yet to be found – should help them in that direction.

“The key... was not selling anything more than a very small stake in the team, so we set some unbelievably steep hills to climb, in the recession. We wanted to sell off a small part of the team and, as we sit here now, we have done that,” said Windsor.

“We are two guys who can say we want to do an F1 team because we have the capital to do it, and to some extent the recession has helped us a little bit. For those out there who say where is the money? Where is the huge facility? Where is the money pouring out of the sky? Well, that isn't going to happen with USF1. We have always had a very different approach, and that approach will become visible as time goes on and this year unfolds,” added the only non-American member of the USF1 team.

He also revealed that work on the new team started as of late 2006, as soon as he received the go-ahead from Ecclestone. Although the two former F1 technicals had the idea of forming an F1 team since more than a decade, it was Bernie's signal during the 2006 Brazilian Grand Prix that triggered the actual building of the team.

“I first told Bernie Ecclestone about this in Brazil 2006, and he was his usual specific self. He just said, 'great get it done'. So I said okay lets go and do it. He has kept in touch ever since and has always been supportive. Anything that we need he has tried to help us with,” added Windsor.

Finally, he announced the future base of the USF1, whose operations will be set up in Charlotte. "Most of the technology from F1 comes from the US to begin with, and on the logistics side, next year less than half the races take place on the (European) continent so there is less reason for being there," argued Anderson.