Confirmed: Jose Maria Lopez Becomes 2010 US F1 Driver

A long-waited announcement finally named Jose Maria Lopez as the team's first driver. "Securing 'Pechito' Lopez for our debut season has been a goal of ours for a long time," Peter Windsor commented saying that Lopez's career was followed since his success in the Renault V6 championship.

In Argentina, team principal Peter Windsor and the new Formula 1 driver held their official press conference in Buenos Aires' Government House. With government sports funding mentioned as being a part of Lopez's ride with the Formula 1team, the Argentina president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner was on hand to express support for what she mentioned as "...this exciting new project...". Understandably, Lopez's funding has been marked with some displeasure from individuals questioning the use of government money for motorsport sponsorship. In reality, this is no different than the support received for national Olympic teams or when planners for sport facilities ask for several hundred millions to build stadiums.

Being the last team to officially declare their first of two drivers for 2010, US F1 has yet to indicate who will be the second F1 pilot. "You can nail every step along the way but if you don't have the right guys in the seats, everything else is for naught" were the words of co-team principal Ken Anderson as he strongly believes Jose Maria Lopez was the step in the right direction.

To the credit of the US F1 team, they certainly know how to build suspense as they prepare for their 2010 debut year in Formula 1.

Despite Stemming Rumours, US F1 Team is a Go!

As 2010 rolled in, the US F1 Team (helmed by Ken Anderson and Peter Windsor) is busily working to reassure the F1 world that the upstart team has made it past new year's festivities. Co-Team Principal of US F1 Peter Windsor reaffirmed that the gears are certainly in motion for their freshman debut at the Grand Prix of Bahrain.

Windsor, in an interview with Formula1.com as well as through recent updates on the US F1 Team's now upgraded site, has dispelled rumours that his team would not be ready for the start of the F1 season in March. He addresses the allegations of "ludicrous" and offers a detailed account for US F1's short run to prep for the 2010 Formula 1 tour. Having been the colour TV commentator for Formula 1 for the Speed channel, Peter Windsor appears to be expressing his altered view of the media as a Team Principal by quipping in a blog entry "Such are the demands of modern media, however, that every passing minute is another step into history - if you’re not saying something, you’re not doing anything."

With still little information indicated about the team's livery and driver, the USF1 Team has made their first significant move early next month. At the Barber Motorsport Park located in Birmingham, Alabama, the team plans to test their race car for the very first time. As the US F1 car prepared to lap the 2.3 mile road course, the question of who will be driving the competition cars remains. The only Formula 1 team destined for the 2010 grid yet to officially name a driver, Jose Maria Lopez continues to be mentioned for one of the two spots. However, with Lopez's hiring speculated to be based greatly on a multi-million dollar sponsorship the Argentinian is reportedly bringing to US F1, Peter Windsor is quoted in saying in response to this rumour "There is no way that we would sign a driver unless we felt confident that he could do an excellent job." Windsor added that a driver lineup will be announced in short time as the US F1 Team prepares for testing in Europe in February.

As presented earlier in this posting, the US F1 website is now completely operational providing a full accounting to the team's corporate partnerships as well as their relationship with Chad Hurley, the co-founder of YouTube. Hurley role in the US F1 Team appears to revolve around sponsorship as well as enhancing public relations with Formula 1's only North American-based team.

With their first race car built, the Charlotte-based US F1 Team is clearly on the course for joining the 2010 Formula 1 field.