We are in the midst of the F1 2010 launch season with a number of the major teams having already launched their new cars for the upcoming 2010 season which kicks off in Bahrain on March 14th. Also the first of the official winter testing sessions has already gotten underway at Valencia this morning. Read more on the test session here
A new Formula 1 team is under wraps in America and set to be launched officially later this month, it is reported on Wednesday.
The team is fronted by F1 stalwart and broadcaster Peter Windsor, and American Ken Anderson, of Indycar and NASCAR fame but also former Ligier technical director.
Briton Windsor, 56, has worked for Williams and Ferrari, but is best known today as a television pundit and writer.
The German website motorsport-total.com said USF1 intends to make its Grand Prix debut in 2010, and already has the blessing of F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone.
The team will have the slogan ‘made in America’ and be headquartered in the heart of NASCAR-country in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Reportedly, an agreement to use the new Windshear wind tunnel in North Carolina is already in place, while USF1 intends to be a showcase for American technology and US-born drivers.
There are rumours that the new bidder for Honda could be the Virgin Group, the venture capital firm that is headed by Sir Richard Branson. This specialises in travel, entertainment and lifestyle products. The company is estimated to be worth $8bn. The broad-ranging empire is not all doing well at the moment with the Virgin Atlantic airline announcing a reduction in its workforce by up to 600 jobs but other businesses doing very well. The lure of F1 is not obvious, apart from as a brand-building exercise, but it could be related to Virgin Fuel. Branson says he is investing $1bn in alternative fuels for cars and airliners. Using F1 would be a good way to promote the idea.
Virgin has been operating since the early 1970s when Richard Branson first launched the Virgin record label, shops, followed by a film company, games, the airline in 1984, holidays, airships, hotels, radio stations, books, cola, vodka, trains, cosmetics, mobile phones, internet access and space travel. Virgin announced its diversification into new fuels in 2006.
The most interesting element of any potential bid for Honda’s F1 team is that Branson has expressed an interest in motor racing before. in 1997 he said that Virgin would fund the British Grand Prix if it was run without any tobacco sponsorships. In 2000 Branson appeared in Monaco as a guest of his friend, next door neighbour and business partner Adrian Reynard, as the Reynard company was at the time designing seats for Virgin Atlantic airliners. Two years later there was a small sponsorship deal from Virgin Mobile for Eddie Jordan.
The most intriguing idea is that Branson might be involved in a bid to put Reynard in charge of the team of which he was one of the founders and a shareholder in the early days. Reynard still owns the land on which the team’s factories are built and is believede to own one of the two buildings as well, although these are leased to the team. Reynard and Branson have long been pals and he is one of the founding members of Virgin Galactic, Branson’s companmy dedicated to taking normal (rich) people into space.
Have you heard about Bernie Eccelstones latest hair-brained idea? He wants to scrap the current points system where the top 8 receive points and replace it with a Gold, Silver and Bronze medal for each race. The world champion will be crowned based on the number of wins he has accumulated over the season.
How can anyone think this is a good idea? It is basically the final nail in the coffin for the smaller privateer teams who generally would not have much chance of finishing in the top 3 places. A single point for the smaller teams at the back of the grid could be like a win to the likes of Ferrari or Maclaren. Look at how pised off the Force India team were after Kimi Raikonnen crashed into the back of their driver in Monaco.
This idea he thinks will increase the amount of overtaking, as drivers will have to go all out to get the win. That may indeed be the case, but is it worth it when there will be a reduced field when all of the “back markers” pull out of F1 as there is nothing in it for them anymore?