USF1: Crash-Test Dummies, or just DUMMIES?

[Poison-Dwarf (NOT Bernie)]

Our chums in Charlotte seemingly haven't started with their crash-testing yet...............Surprise! Surprise!...............maybe they haven't found a pilot daft enough to crash their (unbuilt) car yet....................

Ross Brawn has expressed surprise at the news that USF1, one of three start-up new teams for the 2010 season, has not yet commenced internal crash-testing of components. The publications Blick and Auto Motor und Sport revealed the news this week, to which Brawn replied: "We have been crash testing for the new car for the past two months, to be ready for the official tests. "A new team should be doing the same if it wants to be ready for the beginning of the season," the Briton added.

Auto Motor und Sport estimated the chance that the Charlotte-based team will be ready to race in 2010 at "zero".

It has been rumoured that one possible outcome for USF1 is the sale of its 2010 entry to another team. The reports said that at a recent Formula One Teams’ Association meeting, all team bosses with the exception of USF1 sporting director Peter Windsor wanted to forbid teams from selling their official entries.

No big surprise about THAT then.........................

[Dev]

Well, they are taking it easy it seems.

[strad]

According to Windsor, They were held in limbo by the FIA and couldn't begin work sooner...I of course I have no idea whether this is true...I'll have to ask Mikapup what to think.

[MikaPup]

Thank you, but my opinion on this matter has been delayed by external pressures. Rest assured, however, that progress on my opinion is steady, the funding for my opinion is in place, and overall my opinion is ahead of my internal scheduling. But to quell any doubt that might be lingering over this issue, I have hired a camera crew to document my progress and can offer you now this rare glimpse into an F1 fan's opinion making facilities.

Here's a shot of my opinion being tested in Computational Opinion Dynamics software that will give me an idea of the opinion response I can expect from other forumers:



Here is some of the state of the art equipment that I have purchased to construct and test my opinion:





And finally, what you see here are but a few of the individual letters and in some cases complete words and phrases that will be used in my final opinion, ready for testing in the wind tunnel:

T
i
moronic
Windsor
k
scam
NASCAR hillbilly

I hope this clears up any misunderstanding about the state of my opinion.

[strad]

Windsor in an article in the Dec. Racer magazine, Windsor lays it at the FIAs doorstep, ,,

""Everything is in place. I wouldn't say it's where we wanted to be, because where we wanted it to be was signing into the Concorde Agreement around early March and starting early April building the company and the team in that time frame. That's how Ken and I had always planned it. What we never antisipated was that suddenly Formula 1 would go into a vetting process for the new teams again. We didn't think it would be August before we signed into the Concorde Agreement. The only thing we could do before that was design the car. You're talking to the co-owner of a team that's been in exsistence effectively for six week!""

[Dev]

Looks like a game of blame shifting. Expect the FIA to respond shortly to these 'unfounded accusations'

Nice one MP

[MikaPup]

Well, I'm still not completely writing them off. Brawn especially is playing some press-pool games here. I doubt many of the existing teams have done crash tests yet either. I certainly don't think that they're running a scam.

But I still think they're behind.
And I still think they haven't wrangled a sponsor.
And I still think they shouldn't be releasing photos and video that don't conclusively refute these rumors.
And I still think its weird that Windsor kept his day job instead of concentrating on USF1.

What matters is that they now have precisely four months to build two cars and get them packed up and on the plane for the season opener. Can they do it?

At this point, I'd say yes - but only if they have the will. Lacking a paying sponsor might be zapping a lot of that will.

Hmm, I didn't get to use the phrase "NASCAR hillbillies" in there. Wait, there it is.

[strad]

And I still think its weird that Windsor kept his day job instead of concentrating on USF1.

Was under contract with Speed which is over now.

[Poison-Dwarf (NOT Bernie)]

Was under contract with Speed which is over now.

Strad, you should make it clear - for the benefit of the other forumites - that you mean SPEED-TV, not Scott, the ex-Toro-Rossista.......who got booted-out a coupla years back..............!!!

[strad]

Okay...Peter Windsor was workong for Speed Tv as a commentator, but his contract with them is over so now maybe he can devote all his time and energy to convince MikaPup that they're fer real...that and maybe put those cheap Walmart wall shelves up and lay some carpet in his office.
Just to show you that I am willing to look at it with an open mind...click on photo to watch a video of Matchettes visit ..notice in the picture I chose that his cheap office wall shelves haven't even been put up yet,,only the inexpensive and cheaply mounted Jimmy Clark print on the wall an a lot of echoing from the lack of carpet...I notice that their airflow program is of a generic car as is the design program with the FIA legality boxes...The shots of the milling machines doing nothing bordered on insulting..Overall it plays to Mikapups arguement that they willl never be ready and that it's a joke..
click photo

[Poison-Dwarf (NOT Bernie)]

The fact that Messrs Anderson & Windsor find it neccessary for Petey-boy to invite one of his Speed-TV cronies, with camera, to video the (lack of) action in their design and machine shops can only increase my suspicion that their plans are little more than bullshit.............. But indeed, they don't really need to provide much more palaver for my scepticism to go into overload. The whole USF1 story has been composed of hefty chunks of bullshit from beginning to end........... For me, the only point of interest is to discover at exactly which point in time will they put their hands in the air, and say "Sorry folks! We're not quite ready yet............!!!"

[Crossa]

I think the programme is taking a lot of uncalled-for stick, based on nothing much than interpretation. We have other newbie teams signing up drivers without being a lot further up the road.. even ending up in spying scandals before they turn a wheel. We have Brawn saying that they should be doing crashtests by now.. I've never run an F1 team so I'll reserve my judgement on that but in previous seasons we have seen top notch F1 teams fail FIA bumpercar tests with very little time to go before green in melbourne, and they're still around.

I hope the newbies make it, good luck to them.

[Lawrence]

Correct me if I am wrong....but I think the only requirements once you become one of the blessed thirteen is that your car passes a crash test and you show up at every race. Not sure the car has to actually be able able to run or make the grid. With the current qualifying system, you can show up with something that can pass the crash test, with any cheap engine inserted, run around the track at something like 207% of the pole speed, and still race !!!

So....can one actually make a profit nowaday with pay drivers and a crew of a half-dozen people? Maybe. It may be possible to run an F1 team for few million a year as long as your are happy flailing around at the rear of the pack. Don't need windtunnels, testing, or sophisticated designs to do that, and you will still have nice neat office.

Yea....could a possible business model for a one of the blessed thirteen be to simply get something on the grid for as cheap as possible, using paying drivers to keep the team in the black? I think it can be done. Start working on the 2011 car and lining up proper sponsorship for the next season. Accept that one will mearly serve as a place filler this season. If the sponsorship does not come, then you can sell off the team for a profit.

Am I missing something?

[strad]

Don't need windtunnels, testing, or sophisticated designs to do that, and you will still have nice neat office.

Excuse me, but they have access to the best windtunnels in the world,,that part isn't a problem.

[Lawrence]

Don't need windtunnels, testing, or sophisticated designs to do that, and you will still have nice neat office.

Excuse me, but they have access to the best windtunnels in the world,,that part isn't a problem.

Yea, but it costs money. Weren't they one of the teams talking about virtual windtunnels?