James Allen has a story on the situation for the new teams up now:

http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/

I suppose that's OK for those that are gullible enough to believe anything some new anonymous guy posts.

Does booking rooms really mean anything though?

Most hotels I've ever stayed in let you cancel with 24 hours.

A week for group bookings.

Thing I'd like to know is how many hotel rooms USF1 has booked for Bahrain at this point?

One for Ken and Peter to share (as is common in F1 incidently)?

For the whole race team?

For the marketing people too?

For the drivers?

There seem to be some quite grand statements put out with very little detail reported.

I'm with you on that.

When someone turns up and starts posting insider knowledge within their first two posts I think more basher than whistle blower.

I don't think James Allen is basing this on hotel room bookings in Bahrain, but merely uses it as an example of the teams intent to be there.

Did you read this part of the story:



It's funny how some can turn even a positive sign into something negative... (Yes, you are correct. Hotel bookings can be cancelled, but it would have been far worse if James Allen reported something like: "The team have however not booked any hotel rooms in Bahrain")

I agree with you that the 'Gazetta story was bullshit.

What are the grand statements you are referring to BTW?

(It doesn't say in James Allens article that it was the team who said hotel rooms where booked, it could be James Allen who has checked or the FIA that has confirmed that USF1 have hotel rooms booked...)

Why would the FIA note who books hotel rooms and who does not?

I'm not sure who is policing the reduction in the size of the race teams and expenditure etc as agreed by FOTA, that could be one reason the FIA would know how many rooms have been booked and where. Maybe the FIA also wants to know how many team members each team brings to the races and where they are staying (to arrange passes to the track, how many and where to deliver them etc)?

I'm not saying this is how it is, just that it's not totally incoceivable that the FIA would have knowledge of stuff like that.

But what are the grand statements? Do you consider it a grand statement if the team say that they have booked hotel rooms in Bahrain???

Yeah, that's fair enough now you mention it.



No, but I consider some of the other stuff grand statements.

Like the eternity is seems to be taking them to build a factory.

Like the stuff about their "TV production facility" which currently churns out very short clips for YouTube.

Like the haviig a roller ready by late 2009.

Like the nonsense about not being interested in pay drivers.

Lots of these grand statements have slowly morphed over time to suit the team's current circumstance.

It's fair enough to be sceptical of a poster who claims inside knowledge but we do not want to see them being attacked on this board. Thank you.

Oh dear. Oh dear oh dear oh dear. That is a complete PR disaster. They would've been better off not making that video, even if that went against their promise of video coverage.

I sympathise with them as I am awful at talking when uncomfortable, but if that's the way they talk then don't stick a camera in front of them, or at least prepare them a little beforehand. Not to mention that it seems pretty weird that such high rank positions, of command, are given to people that sound like that.

It is particularly strange because it's shown in direct contrast with Windsor's annoying over-the-top optimism.

That video reminded me of this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8PP3QU7wjI

nothing wrong with hiring someone to a high position in a team if they are good at the job and sorry when hired i am certain they are more interested in designers being able to design rather than give a great interview.
That being said without a doubt any other teams would have had their pr department work to ensure they had their best person there to give the interview and that they had answers to all the question likely to be asked.

Buttoneer i would be rather more than sceptical he claims to work for them and know all the team yet they have not opened up their European base yet so he must be based in the states yet check out his profile.... his local time is shown to be European not American
If something looks like, smells like and acts like surely that makes them...

You must not work in engineering. I do, and at least 90% of the engineers I've ever worked with sound like that. That's why they went into engineering, and not sales or politics. They aren't being paid to talk, they are being paid to design a car. Judge them on that. This stuff is getting really old. If the guys had been prepped and all gave polished answers, you lot would be complaining how they all sounded slick and phony. Must every f***ing thing this team says or does result in a whinge?

Part 2 of Bob Varsha's video tour is up and is much better all around than the first part in my opinion.

http://www.usgpe.com/news/bob-varsha-visit...eam-part-2.html

..fear..manifests in bashing...as if the basher can control what they fear..

Makes little difference if it's football..boxing..chess..or as it appears F1...
Little people fear...the others just plan..work..create..strive with whatever talents and funding they can scrape..

Sometimes people fail..sometimes they succeed..
Some want to abort those they fear..

Fear just humiliates the fearfull..

If any of they 4 new teams mount a credible campaign the old order is threatened..but we are treated to something we have lusted for..
F1 as an exciting..vital..series. Many have complained about the boring processions..the studied PR interviews..the corporate respectibilty..
Last year Braun shook up the old order..some fear change..and try to smother the baby at first breath...

What is to fear..?
As many say..USF1 is just a fraud..a comedy of Hillbillies..inept liars..and crude PR morons..interlopers without a chance..without credibilty..talent..or even honesty..

In a few weeks we see..
Are they just as they say..trying to compete...no fear..just a chance to compete..
Or as the littlemen of fear have already stated..a fraud..a joke..never to field a car..

Either way..the fear of challenge is obvious..

All four new teams...

May you shake up the entrenched old guard..give us something like the days when single bay garages in Britain produced those legendary races and teams...
When it was more about what you built..than what you looked like..
More about the racing than the uniforms
More about fans than PR ability..
More about what F1 and GP was..and lost..

Give us something to be fanatic..give us RACING...
Let new blood in..maybe..the fear of change can't replace the boring processions..PR muted interviews and wonderful uniforms..maybe something new..exciting will emerge..

Give me racing..dirt on fingers..hell bent underdogs...

The Constructors..with their "managed" interviews..PR bland reports..manicured uniforms

Give me teams that do not fear to fail..but plan to compete..

GIVE ME RACING..like I remember..

No amount of logic or reason is going to stop the bashing of this team. I'm not American, but the level of overtly bias and critical analysis of this team is ridiculous.

Like you said, I suspect if USF1 turns left, they will be criticized for not turning right. If they turn right, they will be criticized for not turning left.

BTW - This level of bias against USF1 isn't just on this board. Just about any euro based F1 forum has at least one thread where USF1 is constantly being the butt of jokes. The level of Eurocentric bashing on this team is eye opening from the F1 community.

Trying to understand what you're on about here.

MUCH better indeed..

again not much substance, but at least the viewer doesn't get the feeling something is horribly wrong in that part..

I wanted to chime in too, the second part of that video is MUCH MUCH better.

But Peter Windsor... ughhhh

Yeah, second video a lot better I would say. Begs the question why they left viewers with such a bad impression with the first video.

USF1: the lost tapes..

The whole thing is so in-credible. It will either be an embarrassment or a miracle.

Probably because the first two guys Varsha interviewed weren't the most exciting people in the office. I'm suprirsed the first guy wasn't actually asleep, but he was interviewed first because he seems to be the most senior of them.

Let's be frank... the 'design director' looked like he lacked people skills, never got laid in his entire life, and got woken up after a week stint of Dungeons&Dragons-Online or something..

The Lead Designer you are talking about is Jason Anderson. The son of USF1 founder Ken Anderson.

I find it wierd that he was in a huge room by himself with little or no lighting.

Id say he mooched a job off his dad, has little or no contribution to the team so was poked away in that dimly lit storeroom.

In Part 2 we see where the real designers were working.

I found the 2nd video embarrassing to watch too, hardly better than the first. Apart from the awkward interviews with people who should never be interviewed, the camera field of view was so limited it was painful, drawing attention to what they were hiding, whatever it was but history suggests a lot of empty desks.

And Anderson putting his son in there is such a bad sign.

I find it weird that he was working in a small room on a PC in the first clip, and in the second clip you can clearly see him in the corner of a completely different room working on a different PC..

Almost as if they moved people around to wherever the filming was happening to make it seem like there were more people there....

So to sum up, USF1 appear to be conducting a bit of a PR campaign (through websites, videos, media releases, etc) to convince the world that they are progressing well. Some of us are seeing this PR campaign as a bit phoney and theorising that the reason for the campaign might actually be in order to attract investment. Whilst others are thinking this is entirely normal behavior and even refreshing to see inside a team progressing.

Either scenarios are possible and one could say there is no reason to believe they are struggling. My hunch remains that they are.

Well considering it was stated that they'd be doing things like this ever since they announced they'd be joining F1, then yes, its undeniably 'normal behavior'.

I think most people are gleaming hints of struggle more from what they see *within* the videos and whatnot.

So, basically, "Stuff is happening, which could mean something. Or it could mean something else, and there's no way to tell which it is".


By the way, the YouTue channel was something they promised. When they didn't deliver it, people claimed it meant they were in trouble. Now that they have delivered it, it still means that they're in trouble?

Never mind. Forget I ask. It's pretty obvious that by the end of the 2010 season, there's still going to be people who deny USF1 e ver showed up in Bahrain.

Stuff is happening and it can mean something - depending on the context. I think the order of events has a lot to do with the speculations about USF1. Let's not forget that it was Ecclestone who really fueled the fire when he raised concerns about the team not being ready in time. What happened after that was that Windsor suddenly seemed to appear in the media much more frequently, and he actually expressed himself in ways that could easily be interpreted as a confirmation of a delay in the process of building the car. Then there was a release of a couple of videos, which actually showed just about nothing, when in reality, if the team really didn't have any problems, there would have been something much more substantial to show. If there is specualtion about USF1 I think the team needs to take a close look at its own actions and how they have tried to communicate with the public. Regardless if they are on track or not, their PR campaign has been nothing but embarrasing, which in itself lends itself to further speculation about the state of the team.

Having said this, I hope they get ready in time, and I do like Peter Windsor. He has an enthusiasm for the sport that would serve F1 well if he becomes a part of it as a team owner.

Windsor has handled things appalingly, as a journalist in F1 for near on 3 decades he of all people should have a great understanding of Formula 1 PR yet this has been like something out of the keystone cops, Windsor spent months making hyperbole statements, lavish promises and so on but has precious little to show for it and has been digging a deeper and deeper hole for himself every time he opens his mouth

Windsor promised all American drivers, where are they ? if it is a superlicence issue Windsor has been around F1 long enough to know the regulations, he shouldn't have promised American drivers if he couldn't deliver

Windsor promised factory webcams showing the car being built, where are they ?

Windsor promised a state of the art revolutionary F1 site, where is it ? the site looks like a customised Blogspot site that was made by a teenage fanboy

Windsor promised thousands of hours of You Tube footage from the cars inception to its racing, where are they ? all we have seen is a few geeks looking totally out of their depth infront of the camera

We still have not a single driver or single sponsor and Windsor seems to dig a deeper and deeper hole for himself by the day blaming everything from Cosworth to christmas holidays to FOTA/concorde agreement

Windsor has been a walking talking PR disaster ever since the first announcement of USF1, for a journalist/PR person that is unforgiveable

I think we have to give Windsor the benefit of doubt. No doubt could he have done a better job but in his position he is dependent on accurate internal information. It may just be that the information he was given was wrong and that could have put him in a very difficult spot. He is not only the teams communicator, he has a stake in the team too and that could possibly cloud his judgement. But if his poor job is a reflection of how bad things are in the team, then they are up shit creek, no doubt. It's hard to believe that a person with Windsors experience would screw it up as much if there wasn't any real problems hiding underneath.

Er, no, not exactly.

But people will indeed come to different conclusions.
Some on the principal basis of prejudice or fanboyism.
Others more from analysis and experience.

I hope I'm not prejudiced. I'm certainly not anti-american. I still think the AAR Eagle was a beautiful car, with those long straight exhausts, and remember the old Westlake works at Rye.
However, I'm not at all confident about this effort.
The extent of the BS, the gap between hype and substance, is the first thing that makes me very dubious.
If someone has given you BS, you are daft if you continue to give him "the benefit of the doubt".
The onus of proof shifts - and it becomes a matter of proving that it is NOT just more BS.

Hey, I hope I'm wrong and we see the car testing early next month and a well-organised and competitive USf1 team quickly becoming an established fixture on the scene.
But right now, I think you'd need a massive dose of optimism (or gullibility) to think that the evidence, so far, was pointing strongly that way.


Do any of our more knowledgeable american members have any comments on CompositeKen's critique of Ken Anderson's cv?
The story of Falcon was new to me.
Even if the theory of a 'straw man' to keep out another team did have a more recent echo!
Worth a read http://oilpressure.wordpress.com/2009/11/1...gotten-chassis/
There is no parallel there to the USf1 story, is there?

And what about Andersoninho?
What are his credentials for his position?
If its pure nepotism, that cannot augur well for success in the meritocracy that is F1.

Very interesting moment at 1.55", with senior designer Scott Benett:

"So, what's it going to mean to you when that car rolls out for the first time?"

*pauses*

"Umm... (rubs eye nervously) it's interesting, I'd kind of given up on Formula One since the last ten years or so, so (exhaling and now speaking very quietly) it's kind of a.. dream come true?" *waggles head nervously*

This chap is either an extremely nervous individual or feels very uncomfortable with what he's saying.

Still, a lot of nice MacBook Pros sitting around that office.

I don't know where you get this idea that I or others want USF1 to fail and will continue to say so even when they prove otherwise??? I'm not on here trying to wage a negative war or something. I'm simply saying that they CURRENTLY look to be struggling. I have also said many times that I really hope they make it. And I will shut up if they do!

Same here.

I'd like to see four new healthy teams on the grid for 2010.

I thought F1 was much stronger with a grid of 26 cars back in the day.

More scope for new drivers to come through etc.

But that doesn't mean we can't be critical of what we're seeing from USF1.

The interview wouuld have been better if the guy had asked them what they were doing.

ie. Whats your role in he team, What part of the car are you responsible for?? etc.

I agree that that guy didnt really know what to say about everything.

Exactly, as much as there is zero hard evidence to suggest they are struggling, there is clearly I think something to be read into the nature of the recent PR effort.

The interesting thing about the videos is that Bob Varsha appears to be operating independently.

He's not representing Speed TV.

The mike cube says USF1 and it appears as if he's helping his old mate Windsor by adding a bit of credibility to their broadcasts.

Does anyone know what Speed TV has been reporting about this project?

Surely they'd have to apply a degree of journalistic scepticism and ask hard questions like the Formula1.com website also did.

Arguably that gap exists for all teams every year - we've already got hype for the Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull cars but they've not turned a wheel. The only difference is history. USF1 has none.

Well, no history and no sponsors, that we know of.

Sure, but we all know Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull have the resources and money to make those cars turn a wheel. It is a certainty, unless the luxury sports car market or energy drink index suddenly collapse!

We can't be so sure about USF1.

Does anyone know of a bookie that's taking bets on this sad saga?

Yeah something odd is going on but with Windsor's appalling PR efforts so far it is not surprising that so many questions are being asked and so much scepticism, Windsor really is best off stepping back and hiring a spokesman/woman to be the public face and voice of USF1 with Windsor working behind the scenes as every time he opens his mouth it damages USF1, this past few months he has seemed to have the business skills of Simon Gillett and the PR skills of Gordon Brown

Uh, I am a software engineer. Admitedly it's not the same field and I still have little work experience, but people in command who know what they're doing, don't talk like that. The impression I got (pure speculation and guessing, I know) is that they're overwhelmed/unhappy with the job and trying to hide anything about the design and the real stage they're at. So they have nothing to say.

I know the video matters little in the whole scheme of things, I reserve judgement and will happily be proved wrong if they go race and aren't far behind the other new teams, but it's a bad sign and makes me question the ability and seriousness of the team. Imagine you were interested in sponsoring a F1 team, and happened to find that vid. Wouldn't you be a little more wary of putting your money into there? There's several things about this team that scream "Andrea Moda" to me. Which is frustrating because they do have some interesting ideas that could work in theory, and because the US has lots of good people in the area that could do very well in representing their country. How much better would it be if it were Penske or Ganassi or NHL who got a F1 spot...



The only thing I got from this rant is that we're "afraid" of something. Fear of what? That USF1 might surprise everyone and get into the points one day? Geez, my world would fall apart if that would happen.

The thing with making your own films, is that you are in complete control of what you show. When you are holding the camera and doing the editing, you can pick and choose the footage to use to show your best side and project the best impression.
They chose to show us this?

The level of criticism towards the team is just without comparison to any of the other new teams, even though Campos are struggling and Virgin have had a management reshuffle and neither team have shown as much of their factory or car as USF1, the level of criticism is not even comparable.

When people uses the team engineers appearance on the YouTube videos, the way they talk and the words they choose as their arguments to claim that USF1 is a disgrace and won't make it to the grid instead of basing their arguments on factual information, there really is no point in arguing anymore.

If one reads through this thread it's quite clear that a good few of the most active posters finds faults with everything that comes out of USF1. When they don't have a website thats wrong, when they have a website that's also wrong, when they show employees they don't look right and are probably just people off the street, when they interview people they aren't articulate enough or doesn't look smart enough, when the team is granted more testing days thats wrong (even though it was the other teams that gave them this and could be taken as a positive sign about the teams intent), take the false rumours about the teams request to skip the first 4 races as fact and condemns the team (strange how some believe stuff like that without any doubt, but find it hard to believe what the team says. And let's face it there have been many rumours that have been proven untrue or haven't been proven so there is no more reason to believe the rumours than there is to not believe the team...).

It seems like some of you actually really believe that what you say are objectively true and based on facts. No one of us knows if the team will show up testing or in Bahrain with two cars until they are there. That's why it's so strange to read the posts here where people seem to be 100% certain about the teams failure, even in advance of the tests or the season.

I'm looking forward to read the arguments when and if the team shows up at tests and in Bahrain. I'm pretty sure that there will be a lot of issues about the team and their car that is wrong and deserves all the wellfounded comments from the best of the Autosport bulletin board crew....