Monday, March 1, 2010

Time running out on USF1?



Unfortunately it seems that time; money & faith are running out upon the beleaguered USF1 Team, as speculation continues to rampantly swirl over the upstart American Formula 1 Team’s impending demise…

With wild speculation covering all ranges of the map, from Chad Hurley having left the building to trying to do a deal with rivals Campos Meta and Zoran Stefanović to merge the two Operations, to Ken ‘N Pete blocking his attempts… As Stefanović now has put out another barb publicly about Dreamers at USF1 and how somebody should be in a big trouble if there’s an empty spot upon this year’s Formula 1 Grid… Can you say FIA? (OOPS! Sorry FIA, we really didn’t mean that, as Stefan GP has now posted a supposed apology…)

Meanwhile Stefan GP has also publicly stated how its bulk container has arrived in Bahrain, even giving out the DHL packaging tracking slip details and claims its ready to debut its Ahem! Completed racecar… Although claims suggest that only ONE chassis has been completed, with requisite spares desperately sparse, as there’s a bit of reluctance to press ahead without an Official entry…

And this is also the same outfit that needed to cancel its planned Test session at Portimao due to the fact that the Team has NO proper Bridgestone rubber!

Meanwhile we’re all awaiting to see what Jean Todt ‘N the FIA do over USF1’s entry now that its Technical Delegate Charlie whiting has been to Charlotte to view first hand exactly what is going on there… As in can they really build a racecar in time for Barcelona or are they simply too busy making Toasters instead?

And while USF1 has NO Driver’s to go along with its missing Type 1 Racecar’s, Stefan GP is supposedly poised to announce Jacques Villeneuve as Kazuki Nakajima’s teammate aboard their Shiny red S01’s propelled by rebadged Toyota ‘lumps… Now if somebody could just convince Bridgestone to give them a couple ‘O sets of tyres, eh? Hmm? Why does that remind me of another upstart F1 Team named Toleman and Pirelli?

Meanwhile last night on The Speed Report (TSR) Bob Varsha noted that USF1 has now asked the FIA for deferral of its 2010 F1 entry until the 2011 season and that Ken Anderson and Chad Hurley are willing to back that up with a 7-figure bond, while I certainly hope I’m NOT reading too much into this… But Varsha failed to mention his friend Peter Windsor’s name, while Dave Despain mused cryptic thoughts about how The House ‘O Windsor may not even be involved anymore? Or is this just more media mastery crafted by USF1’s Sporting Director?

So it appears to be crunch time as the F1 Circus will shortly be packing its Bags, not to mention 40’ Containers along with those all important racecar’s for shipping to Bahrain, as will it be 11, 12 or 13 Formula 1 Constructors taking part in the seasons opening Grand Prix?