USF1's first chassis is out of the autoclave

Arrgh.

I rather see any non talented pay driver in the USF1 than that rat Piquet Jr. again.

I hope that the FIA would refuse to give him a super license (although there is little hope for that).

 

If that picture is anything near recent they are done. The car will be *slow*.

 

i don't care what the car looks like...it will be slow. i don't think anyone is expecting them to be quick. add to that a lack of talent in the seat...only compounds the problem.

pcb

 

I wasn't inferring that from the picture (I think it'd be impossible to infer that from a picture). Just from the timeline.

 

Alex Yoong slow or Ukyo Katayama slow?

 

I think the current term is Luca Badoer slow.

 

I like to call it the "they'll reinstate the 107% rule" slow.

 

wow. I really want to see them be successful. And the first part of success is making it to the grid. hopefully as the season progresses, they can begin to fight with some of the other new teams or previous back markers for mid pack finishes. But man, that website is rough. Look at the sponsor page. It looks like they used clip art or something for the company logos. each in their own resolution.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed, but if NP Jr is in the car, I won't be as enthusiastic about their success.

 

I think it's interesting how the detractors keep moving the bar. First it was "they'll never form a real team", then "they'll never build a car", then "they'll never make the grid." Now you can see the bar shifting again, with the detractors demanding a competitive car.

Heck, nobody ever demanded that of Minardi, Super Aguri, Force India or any of the other minnows. Nobody's demanding that of Virgin, Lotus, Campos. Is the Peter Windsor hate that extensive, or is it merely the thought of a (nominally) American team that's the problem?

 

I was a big skeptic of USF1 based on the lack of everything. Unlike the other 3 newbies they had nothing to ever show for.

Now that they have at least one chassis, I'm a lot more hopeful. That's not to say I'm convinced, but I'm more optimistic they might make it to the grid.

I have however no expectations on their (or the other newbies) performance. That's not even a secondary thought.

Not sure I agree with the term 'detractor'. Skeptic seems more fitting.

 

I for one, hope they do make it to the grid with two cars as I think it would be good for F1 in the USA (Yes, I genuinely mean it as well!). And let's face facts, for reason's I can't really fathom as the USA prides itself on competition and racing, F1 needs all the help it can get Stateside and if this project does help generate that interest. then good!.

 

I hope they make it to the grid as well (and I don't even define grid as the one of the first race). One car would be good enough already. Two is a bonus.

Yes it would be good for F1 in the US, but quite frankly even if they were Brawn GP and would pull out a WDC and WCC in their rookie year, I doubt it would make much of a dent in the popularity of F1 in the US. Things are pretty tough here and NASCAR dominates motorsports.

Back when we had a USGP in Indy, it rarely would make the news. It was even an afterthought in the local news of Indianapolis.

The only thing that will bring back the USGP is the demise of the evil dwarf.

I thought the automakers interest in the worlds biggest car market would be reason and pressure enough to get us the GP, but that was not true. Now most automakers have left the sport and that hope is gone.

Bernie has done a lot of good to F1, but he is totally wrong in not having a USGP (and instead for instance a Korean GP). When it comes to location, he is a total fool.

 

I totally agree with you there:

B.E: "Korea, India, Russia ah yes!, we'll see what we can do!".

"whatabout the USA, Mr Ecclestone?".

B.E: " Why on earth would we want to go there?". Seems to be the attitude.

He's too busy chasing the quick buck and never mind what the fans want. Look at Turkey and Malaysia though, they struggle to get people to the races every year now.

Maybe if some sort of IRL/F1 challenge could be created (involving all of F1 or maybe just USF1), that might help boost the image of the sport in the USA.

 

I'm not moving the bar - I still don't think USF1 is going to make it to the grid.

It's practically 2010 now, and they have a chassis - but no drivers, no real team (they are still hiring). They have transporters... ok, and the tons of other stuff they need?

Another thing I find annoying is that they are even called "US F1". US? Huh? Team principal is English. They are "US based" but will be operating out of a place in Spain (?), using British engines, British electronics, etc. And while they haven't announced any drivers, the only ones that have been mentioned are a guy from South America and links to some others, none of which are American.

Where is the "US" in USF1? There isn't.

 

I think the US is pretty much settled in what it wants to watch sport wise. The World Cup Soccer held in the US didn't change much. Nor the fact that the US team won the World Cup (of the women). Soccer will never be a big deal in the US nor will F1.

However I think that is not really the point:

a) there are enough folks in this country to fill a 100k seat grandstand
b) the teams want a race here
c) there are enough economic connections to make it worthwhile for sponsors of the race and teams to be meaningful

but there is not enough $ to make Bernie happy

 

Once you have a car, there isn't much else you need to make it to the grid. A chassis is half the car and they have 2 months left. I think it is possible at this point.

The Germans are going already gaga over their German Mercedes team. As some pointed already out (Florian e.g.), there ain't that much German there either (English car, Swiss engine).

That said, I'm not crazy about the name either. It does imply the USA is behind this team and it isn't. But the same can be said about Force India.

 

Err... English car, English engine I think: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercedes-Benz_High_Performance_Engines

I think it was thought that the "USF1" name would suddenly generate a massive surge of interest in the USA, but it didn't happen.

It makes far more sense to utilise the best resources you can afford, be that staff, equiptment or suppliers from wherever in the world to start with, rather than limit your opportunities to uphold a principle. Later on when the team is more established and settled, then they can afford the luxury of the principle.

Which would you rather?:

A) A team made up of American staff, equiptment and suppliers that lasts maybe two years but can't get anywhere near the points.
or
B) A team that gets built up around the best resources possible from wherever, that gradually grows, picking up points in the Championship as they go and eventually starts to invest in American talent/suppliers.

I know which route makes the most sense to Me.

(And before anyone accuses Me of knocking American suppliers, that's not the case at all!).

 

Mario Illien is from Chur, Switzerland. He is the wizard behind the engine.

 

There are just so many other sports/teams trying to capture Joe Sixpack's attention. Wizz-bang technology, most of it from the EU is going to struggle to get a connection. I wish these guys well, but the concept works on paper, likely to go down in flames. Hell, Toyota threw billions and walked away with nothing. No one buys a Camry thinking, hey, there is a little piece of F1 under the skin.

 

But: Ilmor was founded by Mario Illien and Paul Morgan in 1983, as an independent British Formula One engine manufacturer.

It was this company that Daimler-Benz bought out, creating Mercedes-Benz High Performance Engines Ltd, again based in the UK, so again I say the engines are English.
(Lets not be giving those engines even a hint of being from anywhere near Germany ).


As a sidenote: Another small company split away from the original Ilmor company and is owned by Mario Illien and Roger Penske. This new company, which is totally independent of Mercedes, is once again known as Ilmor Engineering Ltd.

 

I only demand one thing: Don't be last.

 

It's a shame that the website has so many error, wrong flags and dates for the races......

http://hunnylander.wordpress.com/2009/12/27/us-f1-do-your-homework/

 

It could be worse, Virgin's website looks like they're trying to sell the jackets that the drivers are wearing. It honestly looks like a place to buy apparel. That and the fact that the rest of the site refers to team personal by just first names makes it come across as a site that tries too hard to appeal to a younger crowd. It's not nearly as professional as most of the other teams. Campos' website is barely live as well.

 

I dunno.... I think that may be a huge oversimplification. From experience (not with racing cars, admittedly), the 80/20 rule applies... that last 20% to get done takes 80% of your time. The details of "eveything else", fitting the suspension, data aquisition (and processing), getting all the grid equipment together, logistics, getting tools, supplies, fitting the electronics, debugging the electronics (issues always arise), etc, etc. There are probably thousands and thousands of tasks that need done, of which making the chassis is one, although it is a big one.

If they were running at a furious pace with 200 employees there, then perhaps... but I haven't seen that to be the case.

I think the days of "just throw something together and get to the track" are over - those days ended about 20-30 years ago. I think Bernie and the FIA both aren't going to accept a farce like Life again... so just showing up with a handful of guys and a car that's 10 seconds off the pace isn't going to fly.

We shall see... I think they are way waaay behind where they need to be to actually be running a car in March '10.

There's also the issue of ongoing costs. If the car is 10 seconds off the pace, there is going to be zero sponsors. And they won't get much (if any) TV money from Bernie. In that situation, they'd be done after a few races. Better teams than US F1 (like Minardi and Arrows) failed with much better funded operations.

At least Force India is run by an Indian And MB is funded by Germany's biggest and most prominent car company.

If they do make it to the grid, they are going to be a laughing stock. I doubt they will make it, but if they do... it won't be pretty at all.

We'll see

 

+1 WHAT THE MAN SAID.