US F1, Campos Grand Prix and Manor F1 - The silence is deafening

[ptclaus98]

Originally Posted by duke_toaster

Be a driver development programme (where would they go from F1?) or have one ... I'd imagine the new teams will have development programmes in the fullness of time.

Be one. I mean, they entered for the 40 million pound limit, right? They could do F3ES, F2, and WSbR, for a couple of years for one year of the "cost effective" F1. And take guys like Rossi, JME, Daly, Newgarten and bring them through the ladder, and I'm sure they'll prove themselves worthy or not worthy, and not only that, but you have a crew of American mechanics that are used to racing in Europe and away from home, building relationships with chassis manufacturers, maybe drivetrain parts manufacturers, or brake manufacturers, and you have those relationships, and you gain the respect in Europe, and then you move up, with one, maybe even two, developed, hopefully quick, and settled American driver. But you lose the ridiculous name.


I wish Luczo Dragon would have been the team to do it. You have the Penske name associated, a reasonably quick guy in Matos, no ridiculous US driver theme, so you open yourself up to a Petrov or Perez, who's got bags of money as it is, probably get a slick classic dark blue and white livery. I could have gotten behind a team like that, and you know that he would have gotten a Rahal or Hildebrand when they were ready to make the move.



igh:

[Mekola]

Esteban Guerrieri, who now is in Superleague and is doing outings in TC2000 Endurance races, is in the cards of one of the new teams.

[JHamilton]

Originally Posted by jab

It's got nothing to do with the name. It's the whole concept

FI is a national team that isn't overbearingly nationalistic - that is demonstrated by the fact that they've been around nearly 2 years and only now have they offered a go in their simulator to an Indian driver, let alone a proper test drive



1) He's not American and he's running an American national team

2) He's a hot air merchant

This isn't the first time he's done something like this. He tried to buy Brabham in the 80s with Greg Norman, and was heavily involved with the proposed Ikuzawa team in the 90s

How can it be "overbearingly nationalistic" before it hits the track? Now I kind of hope for your sake they paint the thing in stars and stripes.

Peter Windsor is running the team with Ken Anderson, who was born in the US. What does it matter anyway, Peter is as American as the rest of us.

[jab]

Originally Posted by JHamilton

How can it be "overbearingly nationalistic" before it hits the track? Now I kind of hope for your sake they paint the thing in stars and stripes.

I wouldn't care if they did. I'm not talking about the livery. The Force India is painted in the Indian flag's colours

It's the project in general, the whole idea of it having to encorporate American technology and American talent. Force India are based at Silverstone with generally British employees and a German and an Italian driving the cars. That's why US F1 is over the top and overbearingly nationalistic - they're pushing the American thing too far and if they're not careful, it's going to be their downfall. They've set themselves up as the American team, which is only going to mean they're going to get shot down in flames by the American press when 1) they hire either 1 or 2 non-American drivers and 2) they do badly in the first year. And it will happen because the American public is fickle

They've set themselves up to be a laughing stock before they've even begun. They're not going to switch the American public on to F1. The only way that's ever going to happen is if an American driver wins the F1 title or a serious American team like Penske comes over and becomes a serious contender

Anyway, Campos are the first to have a proper website up and running

[ptclaus98]

Originally Posted by jab

I wouldn't care if they did. I'm not talking about the livery. The Force India is painted in the Indian flag's colours

It's the project in general, the whole idea of it having to encorporate American technology and American talent. Force India are based at Silverstone with generally British employees and a German and an Italian driving the cars. That's why US F1 is over the top and overbearingly nationalistic - they're pushing the American thing too far and if they're not careful, it's going to be their downfall. They've set themselves up as the American team, which is only going to mean they're going to get shot down in flames by the American press when 1) they hire either 1 or 2 non-American drivers and 2) they do badly in the first year. And it will happen because the American public is fickle

They've set themselves up to be a laughing stock before they've even begun. They're not going to switch the American public on to F1. The only way that's ever going to happen is if an American driver wins the F1 title or a serious American team like Penske comes over and becomes a serious contender

Anyway, Campos are the first to have a proper website up and running

Open wheeled road racing will always be the niche-est of the niche motorsports in the US. It will never be on the level of even MMA or Beach Volleyball.

[JHamilton]

Originally Posted by jab

It's the project in general, the whole idea of it having to encorporate American technology and American talent. Force India are based at Silverstone with generally British employees and a German and an Italian driving the cars. That's why US F1 is over the top and overbearingly nationalistic - they're pushing the American thing too far and if they're not careful, it's going to be their downfall. They've set themselves up as the American team, which is only going to mean they're going to get shot down in flames by the American press when 1) they hire either 1 or 2 non-American drivers and 2) they do badly in the first year. And it will happen because the American public is fickle

They've set themselves up to be a laughing stock before they've even begun. They're not going to switch the American public on to F1. The only way that's ever going to happen is if an American driver wins the F1 title or a serious American team like Penske comes over and becomes a serious contender

So in order for USF1 to be a success, it needs to be based in the UK with no American drivers? Paint it white, and you've got a US national team? From your point of view, why try at all? The US is just a lost cause for F1 I suppose.

I fully expect there to be at least one non-American driver and so do most people. If you think the American media even know this effort is taking place your mistaken. There is no mention in the media of F1... ever. They wouldn't notice if Penske ran the team, which he will never do. This is as serious an effort as we'll ever get and I wish them the best of luck.

[jab]

Originally Posted by JHamilton

From your point of view, why try at all? The US is just a lost cause for F1 I suppose.

Well, put it this way - there were plenty of other teams out there that looked like being serious outfits that I'd have taken over US F1, such as Epsilon Euskadi, Prodrive, Lola and N.Technology, but didn't get accepted because they didn't have the right engine on their entry form (which is ironic considering US F1 are thought to be considering ditching Cosworth for Toyota engines anyway)

[duke_toaster]

Any word on the bloke suing the FIA who wanted to run a team in Serbia (or N-Tech)? I guess under the budget cap Serbia would have been a good place to run an F1 team out of ... then again it might have made sense to ship Force India over to Bangalore under the cap.

[jab]

I remember reading a week or 2 ago that N.Tech were thought to be getting ready to make an announcement shortly

[duke_toaster]

That one could drag on ... supposedly the FIA weren't exactly denying that they wanted Cosworth engines. However, I wouldn't have picked them myself however it is somewhat close, USF1 appear to be well organized, Campos have Dallara and Manor have Nick Wirth, ideally they'd also have the Simtek name. Lola and Prodrive also sounded good - it's one of those too close to call ones. Ideally there would be 15 teams (fifteen is a good number for sports leagues really) but that would open cans of worms about track facilities, qualifying format and maybe even pre-qualifying.

[jab]

Simtek? Nah. They're going to be confirmed as the Virgin F1 Team in Abu Dhabi, according to GPWeek

I'm pretty confident about them and Campos. Both are serious teams with serious design companies and some money behind them. US F1 have Liz Hurley but I can't say I'm confident he's going to put that much in. I don't know what to believe coming out of Windsor and Anderson's mouth

[nycuk]

Originally Posted by jab

Well, put it this way - there were plenty of other teams out there that looked like being serious outfits that I'd have taken over US F1, such as Epsilon Euskadi

Originally Posted by jab

US F1 is over the top and overbearingly nationalistic - they're pushing the American thing too far and if they're not careful, it's going to be their downfall. They've set themselves up as the American team, which is only going to mean they're going to get shot down in flames by the American press. They've set themselves up to be a laughing stock before they've even begun. They're not going to switch the American public on to F1. The only way that's ever going to happen is if an American driver wins the F1 title or a serious American team like Penske comes over and becomes a serious contender.

I don't understand what the problem with USF1 is? If we're talking nationalism, then surely naming your team after an autonomous community in northern Spain is more nationalistic than trying to have some vague semblance of national identity?

I don't think anyone will view USF1 as an American Formula 1 team, other than the American sponsors they're clearly trying to attract.

[blaffer]

According to La Dernière Heure, Bertrand Baguette (leader in the WSR championship) has received a proposal for a race-seat from one of the new teams, probably Manor or Campos.

[jab]

Originally Posted by blaffer

According to La Dernière Heure, Bertrand Baguette (leader in the WSR championship) has received a proposal for a race-seat from one of the new teams, probably Manor or Campos.

He can go on the list of more obscure junior series drivers that "have been offered seats by the new teams" with Alvaro Parente, Jose Maria Lopez, Esteban Guerrieri and the like

It's well-known now that Campos are likely to sign de la Rosa and Petrov, and Manor seem to be after Klien, Davidson and Carroll, with di Grassi an outsider

[Mak]

Surprised not to be hearing Bruno Senna being mentioned anywhere!

[sauber11]

About month or two ago he was in talks with 4 teams: force india ( once or twice was on their base) , manor, campos and one more team ( brawn likely).
Now with force india looking to retain Luizzi , Brawn looking for Rosberg Bruno still might have 2 option : Campos and Manor. Cant say anything about Lotus , too early.
My guess 30% between each of them and 10% for nowhere in F1 - cant believe that gp2 runner-up with cash and good marketing prospects wouldnt find a seat in a 26 grid formula 1.

[duke_toaster]

What about Bruno in a Lotus or (if they race) a Qadbak?

[jab]

Bruno in a Lotus would be a PR man's dream, but if they're going to go with Fauzy, they'll need an experienced hand in there

Sauber will probably retain Heidfeld and are rumoured to be getting Fisi for free with the Ferrari engines

[duke_toaster]

So it could be Qadbak-Ferrari? If the team even get called Qadbak? I guess the BMW engine supply will disappear, meaning that only Ferrari, Mercedes, Renault (if they still exist), Toyota and Cosworth will be building engines next year.

I'm not sure how likely Fauzy would be to be granted a Superlicence, to be honest ... they need to have a backup plan really. I think Bruno Senna still has a valid one.

[jab]

The team aren't going to be called Qadbak. It'll either be called Sauber or something brand new

And I can't see why Fauzy wouldn't be given a Superlicense - he's done some testing before in F1 and he's won races in A1, GP2 Asia and WSR, so I can't see it being a problem. He's got a better chance of getting one than Jon Summerton

[duke_toaster]

Aren't most of those race wins of the reverse grid variety? And supposedly he's only won three races since 2005.

It's a shame the team probably won't be called Qadbak, it sounds like something out of the Wipeout series.

[jab]

Originally Posted by duke_toaster

Aren't most of those race wins of the reverse grid variety? And supposedly he's only won three races since 2005.

A win's a win, isn't it? And the win in A1 was at Zandvoort in heavy rain

[ss_collins]

Not sure if this has been spotted but USF1 has shown some shots of the new cars design.

http://www.racecar-engineering.com/n...-revealed.html

[Mekola]

Originally Posted by jab

He can go on the list of more obscure junior series drivers that "have been offered seats by the new teams" with Alvaro Parente, Jose Maria Lopez, Esteban Guerrieri and the like.

López is not obscure anymore, in Argentina is very popular. His racing abilities moved him quickly into the top stardom of the world of touring car series in my country, and was able to race simultaneously and win races in the three most important series, albeit these three are made with different concepts (one is NASCAR-alike with '60s compacts silhouettes, other is WTCC-like and the third one is spec-silhouette supertouring) and was crowned champion of one of them in 2008 (he is TC2000 champion with Honda). This year he has a schedule of about 40 races, summing the three different series.
Ironically, the fame he gained in the last two years put him in the interest of some companies to promote him back to F1, when he couldn't do that before, when he was nearer.

[chunterer]

But Lopez would have to be far more consistent if he returned to top level single seater racing than he was in those 2 years of GP2?

I always thought him talented but maybe lacked true 'mettle'?