Tuesday, March 2, 2010

USF1 Team Stalls in Making 2010 Formula 1 Debut: Team Execs Deny Complete Closure

About two months ago, the trials and tribulations of the USF1 Team were beginning to show steps moving in the right direction. Announcing Argentinian driver Jose Maria Lopez late in January, the USF1 Team was also securing strategic corporate partnerships in building their first car inside the Charlotte, North Carolina headquarters. Since that time, there had been many warning signs indicating the inability for the USF1 Team to make the grid for the 2010 Formula 1 season opening Bahrain Grand Prix. Today (Tuesday March 2nd), the most transparent occurrence to the American race team shuttering resulted as the USF1 Team's only driver Jose Maria Lopez has been released from his contract.

While speculation existed since December on the USF1 Team's preparedness to ready their entry for 2010, team representative were refuting those claims officially. According to one media outlet, it was rumoured that the upstart Formula 1 team has yet to take delivery of their spec Cosworth engines and Xtrac gearboxes leaving their competition car incomplete. Through the USF1 team's official website, the new auto racing organization were making every attempt to show that progress was definitely being made on developing the race vehicle. Photos illustrated the team's manufacturing capacity as well as video relating to the design of vehicle aspects including the front nose section and the electrical wiring.

Despite this preparation, signs of USF1's troubles became apparent as there has yet been a sighting of the Formula 1 car. At the beginning of this year, the team tipped off an anxious crowd of American motorsport followers with a planned test of a completed vehicle on North American soil. Once scheduling a shakedown of their USF1 car at Barber Motorsport Park in early February, the month past without a single lap performed by the team.

Pledging that the USF1 Team still has life, co-team principal Ken Anderson has been insistent on mentioning that the USF1 Team organization has not folded. In fact, Anderson speaks positively about competing in the 2011 Formula 1 tour. However, these plans might depend on an investigation by the Formula 1 sanctioning body, the FIA. In recent weeks, FIA president Jean Todt has corrected a misquote that left the impression that the FIA would excuse the USF1 Team from missing the first events of the season. In fact, USF1 could face penalties for breaching the Concorde Agreement (in a nut shell, a contract that grants missive financial considerations to teams and governs the team's business within the sport).

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