I doubt anyone has made them privy to the testing schedule and no one else. It's a possibility, in fact probable that USF1 doesn't yet know to the day they'll be ready to test. Time's a wastin', if they want to get any testing they'll have to hammer down. I think they'll make it but there are going to be a lot of very tired people at that shop.

Ok guys we've locked up Lopez, who is the next in our line up?

Even if it all self destructs, its great to actually have an F1 team from your country!

Stars and Stripes forever!

anthony davidson or takuma sato.

The 15m Euro figure is Petrov...supposedly

Here is my livery prediction for USF1. Inspired by the All american racers/gurney f1 liveries.




hanmer.deviantart.com

Well, good news about Lopez. Even though calling it "news" maybe is stretching it a bit, we have kinda known about it for a long time... But, very good that they have confirmed him and secured $8mill towards their budget

Was also thinking that there is quite a lot of pressure on USF1 to make it to Bahrain, with the president of Argentina backing Lopez...

I would assume that the announcement can be taken as an indication that the team, and the sponsors of Lopez, are confident about the teams progress

I love the placement of the car number on the sidepod fin, all teams should be forced to do that.

Very nice. Though I'm 100% sure the YouTube logo will not be on the car.

YouTube has nothing to gain from buying logo placement anyway.

And I expect a bit more emphasis on the "red white and blue" of the US flag.

According to ESPN USF1 will do a three day test at Barber on the 25th of february:

http://espndeportes.espn.go.com/news/story...&type=story

I keep seeing this date, but the Indycars have an open test at Barber on the 24th-25th, and then NESBA have the track booked for the 27-28th. I cant imagine the IRL would give up their booking, I suppose NESBA (Some sort of superbike club who run track days.) might, but they are possibly one of Barber Motorsports' biggest clients, and it would be a massive let-down for their own customers.

that is a nice paintscheme

Not a good sign for USF1 quality

In the Lopez press release on the USF1 site it says


"Lopez is a consummate professional and born leader"

So if Lopez who has had a very average single seater career and has not raced a single seater in 3 years is the team's LEAD driver then I despair to think what the #2 will be like

Why would Windsor call him a born leader if he is not going to be the #1 driver at USF1 this season ?

It is very clear from Windsor's words that Lopez will be leading the team which means that the 2nd driver will be sub standard to Lopez (if that's physically possible unless Ide is #2)

The press release almost looks like the ones released in TailEnders

Dominated the Renault V6 Championship? Well, Neel Jani was pretty close.

Disappointment of not racing for Renault? Did he seriously think...

Dominated the TC2000? Well, won championships, but that's touring cars

Born leader? Yes, lots of experience

It seems like a lot of different dates are being thrown around in the media. It would probably be better to wait until we get some information about testing from the team.

So they are going to test the car for the first time at the end of February in Alabama - then ship it off to Bahrain. This is going to be PAINFUL. They will have ZERO idea of where they run in comparison to the other teams. From the way they were talking I was really hoping USF1 was going to be a legit operation that could run in the lower midfield given the right people - I can see that its going to be a complete joke. My prediction is that we'll see them at the dead bottom of the grid in bahrain....if they even make it. Sucks.

This Lopz guy is the real deal. He will be a revelation. Mclaren driver in 2 years.

Iv said it before. If this car is decent he will put it on the front row.

The testing situation however stinks.

First off they say we will run in all tests

Then Skip Barber early feb and at least one euro test.

Then Maybe a skip barber shakedown......

They will turn up with an untested car.

MASTERCARD LOLA part 2.

Se, I said there is absolutely NO time to take snap shots during Christmas...

Just to remind us all. All the testing quotations are from the media reports and are also somewhat contradicting (different dates and schedules).

So, before we make definite conclusions on when and where and how much USF1 is going to test we should wait for a statement from the team about testing. So far the only thing USF1 have said themselves is that they had been granted three tests at Barber (not that they would run at all three, just that instead of three of the Spanish tests, USF1 could use three tests in the states).

And, I believe that Lopez doesn't have a Superlicense so he needs at least 300km of high speed F1 testing to qualify.

Sometimes we should maybe wait a bit before jumping to conclusions...

Yes, that along with some of the uniform comments is some of the more classic stuff on this BB

DFV, what are the chances of someone experienced like Scott Speed being a surprise announcement in the second car?

I noticed that the USF1 twitter wished him a happy birthday the other day...

I assume that this is parody/humour as opposed to the effects of over indulgence in alcohol

But to take you seriously for a sec

1) If Lopez is so good why has he not raced any single seaters in 3 years ? and instead has been racing souped up hire cars with a man in his 50's, if he is McLaren quality why has he not been on their radar before ?

2) Why would a team that has not got any sponsors yet and are still building their factory be more competitive than well established outfits like Ferrari and McLaren ?

It would appear so.

Yet I have never seen a shot from any other team... ( have I dig my own grave by saying this? )

Ok, I think the "news" on Lopez say that USF1 is executing what is planned one by one, so it should be a good sign for them.


Scot Speed...

Answers

1. He had no funding. He only secured funding after Windsor pursued him and offered him a seat. I have a feeling about this kid, you never know how someone is going to do in F1 until they get in a car. Windsor said that he and partner B.Wilson run a driver development school and that current f1 winners have been through this test. He said Lopez was performed very well in all the test indicators, at least comparable to some top F1 guys. That why he was desperate to have him.

2. I know its unlilkey they will have a decent car, But Racecar engineering apparently like the design and it is said to have some cool design features. Who knows.
My point was that if the car is good Lopez will show his worth and more.

I think USF1 will either be the most underestimated new team, or it will be as bad as it is made out to be in the media and will fail miserably. I tend to think more the latter.

It is only natural to think so, I assume. USF1 starts late and have not raced so far, their driver is not a one who know the race day through out etc.

Yet the thing is it seems they are operating with a solid plan on where to place themselves on.

I do not think that USF1 aim to place themselves at the top of the grid, neither mid field.

Hmm, I'm not sure. I kind of get the feeling this "solid plan" will turn out to be merely a smoke screen held up by Windsor.

looking at the picture of Windsor next to that MILF from argentina he seems to get old by running a team.

Could very well be. I cannot asses any if it is exceeding the expectation at this moment.

Yet the idea on transversal box and delaying the news on lopez makes me think that there is a base line planning.

I admire your enthusiasm, fair play to you if your prediction is close or right you will have a lot of bragging rights and 99% of the posters in this thread will have to eat crow, only time will tell

Yeah...... The wording has been all a bit OTT. I mean I know it's a big factor for the team to actually sign someone, but.... it shouldn't be that bigga deal should it? An odd thing about the team's pr for me is how they seem to get over excited with every little step they make. Sure every team needs to make something 'special' about itself, but it's gotta look professional....

Should make it though - let's hope they 'grow up' and learn what they need to so as to actually last the season.

Well, considering that according to some media, their plans are being pushed further and further back, we will have to wait and see.

Windsor being on Haymarket's payroll should come on here and address concerns and answer questions as opposed to the spin and fluff there is on the USF1 site

Alternatively he should invite Tom Rubython or Edward Gorman to Charlotte for a no holds barred unedited interview session and factory tour

But you've got no real reason to think that. There's no evidence at all, only a huge great pile of cynicism. While I have some misgivings about the team, I think I'd rather be a little more encouraged by the fact that I have yet to meet an an American who didn't have a can-do attitude and the will to succeed.

I won't deny my cynicism. And you are definitely right, there is no evidence or any ground for that matter to base this cynicism on save a gut feeling that USF1 is very much underestimating the effort needed to succeed (as in 'survive') in F1.

What bugs me is that they have had the biggest talks from the beginning on, and in time a headstart compared to other starting teams, but so far they have shown only so little.

Scott Speed? He cannot even show a turn of speed in NASCAR. The problem the public have with the rumours of USF1 financial health crisis, is outside of the USF1 inner circle, nobody really knows the truth. Personally I would have gone for a PDLR or Heidfeld type driver, just so I can have a genuine reference point, feedback from somebody with current F1 experience, who will help to push the team forward. Two pay drivers for USF1, while they may provide income, will hold the team back in other ways.

How do you read into the article on www.usgpe.com that it's "that bigga deal"? I don't read any "over excitement" in that article compared to, say Mercedes announcement of Rosberg ( http://www.mercedes-gp.com/newsread.asp?mg...%94%7C%8C%96%81 ). Not to mention the article on signing Michael Schumacher, but that is kind of different (because most people would consider that a big deal and exciting).

In fact, considering that the deal was announced with the President of Argentina (the MILF in the photo), the press release is actually very modest (they could have been bragging much more about the involvement of the president etc...).

Am I missing some finer details between the two press releases here?

USF1 wouldn't be able to afford Heidfeld he is out of their league

If I was Windsor I would sign up Petrov now, he is not a great driver but would keep them afloat £ wise

Now that part is very true

I suppose they are now reaping the reward for talking themselves up.

Well how would you phrase it in front of a President?! This here is our crap second tier driver that we just took on for the free money, and we plan on firing him at the end of the year. We really hope that he keeps the car on track and does not spend the 8 million on barrier work.

LOL

That is so near to the reality probably

USF1 reminds me of Midland F1, no public recognition, expected to be lapped, no passion

To add to the doubts that Bernie has over USF1, there is no driver profile of Lopez on the official website yet.

Unless it's taking a long time to build since the site weren't prepared for the possibility of Lopez joining the team.

Even though I would also like to see a driver profile on their website, I would not go as far as saying that the lack of one is as serious as you seem to think.

"I doubt that the team will be in Bahrain since they also don't have a driver profile up yet" Somehow that seems a bit too negative

a driver like lopez follows the f1 dream so long, then at some point hasto take a different direction, as you pay alot to race single seaters in europe, but you can get paid to race tin tops somewhere

There's no evidence at all to suggest that USF1 may fail miserably?

Pull the other one! The evidence is in the lack of substance to the contrary!

Again, I really sincerely hope they don't fail but unfortunately I am increasingly sure they will.

We have a team based the otherside of the world and until established will present challenges, which was only born 6 months ago, still building their facilities and searching for budget and resource, with barely any recent relevant F1 experience and certainly no depth of it, operating a uniique 'outsourced F1' model with all the risks of tolerance, delivery, finance and reliability that go with that idea, planning only one test before the first race to be powered by engines not even recieved yet, peddled by an unspectacular Argentinian journeyman as their lead driver, without a car built yet, or experience of the tyres, or tested strategies or systems, or knowledge of many of the tracks or any quick fix option to catch up once the season starts, whilst draining about £1m a week and needing to perform to a standard likely to attract backers to keep them afloat, and evidently behind where they had planned to be at this stage.

I will bow at the feet of these guys if they finish in Bahrain within 3 laps of the leader.

seems press timeline is all over the place

-argentien press claims that february 15 they will crash test and test at barber feb.19th
-then now feb.25th but that when indycar is testing
-racecar engineering hears rumor that engine to be started yesterday
-early claim that they will be in the last test at barcelona end of february


there is so much contradicting material floating around that makes you believe even usf1 has no clue about their time schedule, maybe someone should let them know bahrain is march.12th