Racing Eagles

USF1: Epic Fail

It's over.

The dream is on life support and the plug is about to be pulled.

It didn't take this story from Adam Cooper of SpeedTV about Jose Maria Lopez being told the team wouldn't make it. It didn't take Viv Bernstein's story in the New York Times about the financial problems of the team. The simple fact is as soon as they started missing dates they promised, we knew they were in trouble. The deeper we got into this off season, the more apparent it was that the team was going down.

I don't want to crush all remaining hope because nothing is official yet, but USF1 are less than a month away from the start of a new season with no car, one driver, no sponsors, and no money. They're done for.

That hurts.

First off, I have to give my utmost sympathies to the men and women at the USF1 factory. I don't know any of them, but I know they all went to the teams with the best intentions. I hope they are able to find new work. This wasn't your fault.

I can predict the articles and stories that are going to be coming from this disaster. One angle will be people admonishing America and our lack of support for this team and the sport in general. This is totally and utter crap.

The Argentina-USF1 Connection

There is a lot of confusion with USF1 and the signing of Lopez. People are wondering how the heck did USF1 end up signing a 26-year-old out of Argentina who hasn't been anywhere near the F1 paddock in four years? Why did this matter so much to the Argentinian Government? What the heck is going on? Where did this all come from?

Everyone of these questions have one simple answer: Carlos Reutemann.

Carlos Reutemann raced in Formula One in the 1970's and early 1980's. He was a pretty good driver racking up 12 wins in his ten year career. From 1976 to 1982, Peter Windsor was a consultant to him. The two are lifelong friends.

After leaving F1, Reutemann entered politics. He served as Governor of the province of Santa Fe where he served two non-consecutive terms. He is still one of the most popular politicians in Argentina and a key supporter of the current Argentinian President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. More important to this story, Carlos uses his knowledge and influence to help young domestic driving stars like Jose Maria Lopez. According to Joe Saward, Reutemann has been backing Lopez back since he was karting in 1999.

From here the story tells itself. Carlos and many in the Argentinian government wanted to see one of their countrymen back in Formula One. So much so that it is thought that the Argentine Government has millions of cash involved in this deal.

It's the motives of USF1 that I am concerned with. When this deal was first rumored in November, it raised an immediate red flag with me. The team initially said that they weren't going down the paid driver route. Yet here we are. My complete reaction to this will come later. There are some things that really bother me about this deal.

I will say congratulations to Jose. I very much hope he does well this year.

USF1 is stuck with Cosworth

It has been a winter of attrition so far for Formula One.

We've lost BMW, Bridgestone, and Toyota so far. BrawnGP has taken the dowry and will now change its last name to Mercedes Grand Prix.

With the re-introduction of Cosworth this year, it has shaken up the engine market. For example, this is how the grid is shaping up for next year in terms of what lug is behind the driver.

• Mercedes-Benz: Mercedes-Benz Formula One, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes, Force India F1
  
• Ferrari: Ferrari, QADBAK Investments Limited/Sauber*, Toro Rosso
  
• Renault: Renault F1, Red Bull Racing
  
• Cosworth: Williams F1, USF1, Campos, Manor, Lotus F1

*Pending the teams, FOM, and the FIA comes to their senses and let them in.

We are left with four engine manufacturers in the sport for 2010. In my view this isn't necessarily a bad thing. After all, there was a period in the 1970's and 1980's where 80% of the grid used the same Cosworth DFV engine. That was one of the most fascinating and innovative periods of grand prix engineering and racing.

However, all of this means that USF1 will be stuck with Cosworth for the near future. The three most likely engine manufacturers that would of sign a deal with USF1 (BMW, Honda, and Toyota) are all gone. Mercedes is locked up for the next few years. Renault isn't a viable option since that automaker is not currently in the U.S.. Ferrari is a possiblity but if Sauber does come back and reform the Ferrari/Sauber relationship they had in the 1990's, then I don't see Ferrari supplying to anyone else.

The thing that has me worried about the team outside of their finances is the Cosworth engine. In the last few years they were in the sport, the Cosworth engine proved extremely unreliable. With a different person ahead of the FIA, who knows how flexible they will be to bring the Cosworth up with the rest of the field.

Chad Hurley (finally) named as major backer of USF1

Finally, an announcement of the worse kept secret with USF1. AUTOSPORT.com has reported that YouTube founder and CEO Chad Hurley (see right) is a major financial backer of USF1. Said Hurley in the article:

"Getting in on the ground floor of a project of this size and scope is a tremendous opportunity, and I look forward to helping shape the US F1 vision and corporate strategy for years to come."

What I like about this is the tone. It is reflection of realistic expectations for the team. In a way, Hurley and the rest of the USF1 team are the anti-British American Racing who promised big things and never delivered a decade ago.

 So things are starting to come together. Not only that, everything coming from the USF1 team seems absolutely reasonable. In the world of F1, that is a rarity.

A question I have this. Why would YouTube paint its' logo on the side of a race car? I don't know what YouTube would gain by advertising with the team. They are already one of the most viewed websites in the world that brings in millions in ad revenue. What new viewer could they gain through F1? To me at least, YouTube advertising via USF1 doesn't make sense. What does make sense is Google setting up a partnership with USF1. Hurley would be a great bridge to that.

Think of it this way. Google has phones, software, and other products which they need to advertise. What does YouTube have to sell other than ad space?

Outside of that minor question, it a good day for USF1. Thanks Mr. Hurley for helping make the dream of an American-based Formula One team a reality!

UPDATE: AUTOSPORTS.com has this exclusive interview with Chad Hurley discussing why he got involved with the team. It's an interesting read. Especially this quote:

"I hope so, and I hope it goes beyond Silicon Valley," he (Hurley) said. "I am definitely going to be involved in helping the team with sponsors, helping the team with business relationships, and helping the team with integrating technology - ways that they can leverage and benefit from social media and the Internet broadly. So in many ways I hope to add benefit to the team and what they are trying to accomplish."

This is really good to hear. I really hope this makes FOM take notice and lead the sport down a more reasonable approach in how they deal with new media and the internet.

North Carolina and USF1

 

One of the most interesting things about the USF1 concept is the fact that team will be based in the United States. This marks the first time since the Penske days of the 1970's that a F1 car will build in the U.S..

The plan has met with skepticism. Why would they want to base a F1 team in the United States? Wouldn't it cost more money because of the increase in travel costs? Does the U.S. have the necessary infrastructure for an F1 team? Does North Carolina have enough people of proper skills? Isn't this taking the U.S.-centric concept a little too far?