Potential new Formula 1 team US F1 has lodged an official entry with the sport’s governing body, the FIA, to compete in the 2010 world championship.
The American outfit, owned by former Ligier technical director Ken Anderson and one-time Williams team boss Peter Windsor, is the second team to do so.
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Interest has been sparked by the FIA’s proposed £40m budget cap - but all 10 current teams are fighting against it. BBC Sport
Of the host of outfits looking to step up to F1 on the back of the FIA’s controversial plan to introduce a £40 million budget cap, USF1 are said to have the most advanced plans.
The deadline for entries is May 29, with a number of current teams saying they will not submit entries if world motorsport’s governing body does not make significant compromises on its plan for a cap. Sky Sports
A change in rules by the International Automobile Federation, the sport’s governing body, known as F.I.A., has set a budget cap to allow new teams to enter the sport and reduce costs for existing teams. F.I.A. is seeking three new teams for next year, and the bidding closes Friday.
The $60 million cap for 2010 will allow USF1 to operate a small, nimble team.
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Even before the budget cap, Anderson and Windsor had plans to return to an older method of running a team. They wanted to use a small staff and outsource work wherever possible. They said the United States was the best place to do it.
“It is just incredibly efficient and logical to do an F1 team in America,” Windsor said, “for the same reasons that it’s efficient and logical for the big car companies to build their cars in America. It’s a very easy place to build, a very easy place to hire people, and the technology is superb.”
The United States team has an ally in Bernie Ecclestone, a Formula One promoter, who was unable to get the races he wanted this season in North America but wants to cultivate the market.
The last American world champion was the Italian-born Mario Andretti in 1978. The only other American world champion was Phil Hill in 1961.
“If they win races, that will create a boom, I think, in the U.S.A.,” Alonso said of USF1. New York Times
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