USF1 -- F1's All-American Challenger

[WhiteBlue]

Motorsport Total has managed to get an interview with a USF1 employee: google translation

Basically just a repeat of what the infamous CompositeKen said - possibly even the same person.

That doesn't sound like there was an vital technical crisis. There is always somebody who knows better. I read a lot that confirms that USF1 were artificially plunged into a financial crisis due to external bad mouthing. Once that had started they lost Hurley's support and were probably chasing their own tails on the engineering side. Good lesson how to attack a startup and wreck it.

[Pup]

Fascinating.

[ben_watkins]

Interesting stuff here too [same interview in English, without translation but missing some details]

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/81664

"All engineering decisions were having to be funneled through [Ken] Anderson before anything could be signed off. And that's where the hold up was.

[jddh1]

I feel like there is some hope that if they get some good management, they can actually get the car ready. He says towards the end that, pretty much that it was not because of them but because of the lack of leadership and knowledge of Ken Anderson.

We'll see I guess.

[Zootopian]

...I thought that if anyone could start an F1 team it could be Peter Windsor...

In the name of all that's mind-boggling, why??

Why not?

After more than 25 years in the business you'd think he'd know how to do it, no?

[Fil]

I'd say his work over the past 14mths has answered your question Zoot.

25 years experience? Windsor hasn't worked in an F1 team since 1992.
He is a journalist with a touch of ancient F1 team experience.


I'd love to see if Coca Cola/Exxon Mobil/IBM would hire a CEO with 4yrs experience from the late 80's, to run their business..

[bill shoe]

I don't have specific info about USF1. However, regarding Windsor's team manager experience at Williams in the late 80's...

That was when Patrick Head was in full force as a daily hands-on engineering chief. Windsor may have managed some aspects of the team but he clearly did not have final responsibility for ensuring that new cars came to exist. That was Patrick Head's job.

It appears USF1's Ken Andersen is no Patrick Head, and it also appears Windsor was, at a minimum, a bit naive about the difference between the two, and he didn't understand what someone like Head brought to the table in the first place.

This makes me respect Head even more. He was so good at organizing Williams that people didn't understand he was doing much.

Additional lesson-- Running a small business is really hard. Don't do it with a partner unless you have the highest familiarity and respect for the partner. It sounds like it's been a long time since the USF1 partners were on the same page. The partners would have to become more organized before they could start blaming each other for what went wrong.

More than anything else this situation is just frustrating and sad. When the lights go out in Bahrain I'll spare a thought for the employees at USF1 who worked hard to try and make it happen.

[segedunum]

That doesn't sound like there was an vital technical crisis. There is always somebody who knows better.

Given that the guy leading the technical side is incapable according to the articles, that isn't a technical crisis? Wow. The article specifically tells us to focus on Ken Anderson, who every single technical decision has to be got past - and this is a guy who, according to the article, is rarely there. Not a technical crisis? Are you really sure?

"The irony of all this is that there has been precious little in the way of formal planning and documentation. No production schedules, simply very little in the way of planning."

Kind of blows your little theory away really. Who is going to sponsor that when that lack of planning comes to light?

Once that had started they lost Hurley's support and were probably chasing their own tails on the engineering side. Good lesson how to attack a startup and wreck it.

According to the latter Autosport article it is Chad Hurley who is doing the saving, and not Peter Windsor or Ken Anderson - who actually started the whole thing. That's pretty funny considering that you've tried to lay the blame squarely at Hurley's door. Indeed, according to that it was Hurley who took charge once he found out what the situation actually was - that he had been lied to about. According to the articles it states that employees were also lied to. If employees were lied to then how did they hope to attract sponsors by the same logic?

I also love the part where Hurley cut Ken Anderson out of the loop and visited the factory informally without Anderson to speak with managers on their own. I don't know a lot about Chad Hurley personally, but that certainly isn't a sign that he doesn't care and doesn't want to be involved. It's sensible management and leadership. It inspires me with confidence that the team might actually survive, believe it or not - without the deadwood.

The whole things fits with what most of us has said all along here - past history tells us that Ken Anderson is just simply incompetent to run a project of this nature and Peter Windsor is a naive twit who believes a lot of bullshit.

[WhiteBlue]

Whatever opinion we will be hearing out of USF1 about the Ken's and Peter's capabilities and qualities the facts speak a clear language. They encountered a number of complications which made it pretty hard for them.

• they did not have a nucleus organisation like Wirth or Dallara to start with
• they were dedicated to do it outside of the UK and Europe which makes everything harder
• the initial time frame was shortened by the FiA/FOTA war
• they were targeted with rumors about financial instability
• they were hit by the credit crunch and the collaps of the sponsor market at a crucial time
• they could not execute plans due to lack of funding (potentially created by the rumors)

With this situation it will be difficult to put the blame on someone. We will probably never know how much time they had needed if the avoidable complications had not occurred. Of course there will always be know-it-alls telling us otherwise.

[nipo]

Interesting stuff here too [same interview in English, without translation but missing some details]

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/81664

"All engineering decisions were having to be funneled through [Ken] Anderson before anything could be signed off. And that's where the hold up was.

That story is entertaining, if not true.

He is suggesting Ken Anderson is the culprit, instead of PW. But in any case if what he is saying is true, then PW is liable for not keeping up with what is actually going on in the team.

[Belatti]

[*]they did not have a nucleus organisation like Wirth or Dallara to start with

And thats only for design.

They did not have a race and a test team either.

[Pup]

[*]they did not have a nucleus organisation like Wirth or Dallara to start with[/i]

What about Lotus? Or they could have gone the Campos route - Lola offered their design, as did Toyota. Or, how about this - maybe the FIA shouldn't have chosen them if they weren't as prepared?

[*]they were dedicated to do it outside of the UK and Europe which makes everything harder[/i]

Then why do it? If it was a poor business plan, then the FIA should have gone with someone else. You don't get points for making your job more difficult than it already is. Besides, up until last month, the US base was an advantage, right? They did it because they said it would be easier. If they made the wrong decision, then the blame for the decision is theirs.

[*]the initial time frame was shortened by the FiA/FOTA war[/i]

Which affected everyone. Besides, they were supposedly planning this for at least a year prior. Other teams made leaps of faith in getting started. Lola even had a car ready. Why wasn't USF1 as committed, and if they weren't, why were they chosen?

[*]they were targeted with rumors about financial instability[/i]

So you say. There's nothing to back that up but wild conspiracy theory. Of course, we knew they were having financial trouble the moment they went with a pay driver.

[*]they were hit by the credit crunch and the collaps of the sponsor market at a crucial time[/i]

As were everyone else.

[*]they could not execute plans due to lack of funding (potentially created by the rumors)[/i]

From what we hear, the lack of funding only effected them in mid-January. What was preventing them from executing their plans back in November, when they were supposed to have a roller? Had they had executed well - set realistic expectations and met them - then rumors of their financial and technical difficulties wouldn't have stuck, regardless from whom they came.

You can make excuses for Windsor and Anderson all day long, but it will never change the fact that they failed when others succeeded. Is there shame in their failure? That's what's left to be determined. It was a tough job, and frankly I'm amazed that Virgin and Lotus made it. But the difficulty of the task is no excuse in itself. They can still be bozos.

[Fil]

WB must be kidding, having us for a laugh.

that list was quite a good bait!

[Richard]

Like most messes in life its a multifactoral thing, unfortunately and forums like to have very linear obsessive singular arguments. Anyway, I'll try and give my view....

Any new F1 team has a bewildering array of obstacles to overcome (sales, design, suppliers, construction, race team). The other new teams reduced risk by adopting existing capability/facilities in some shape or form. USF1 chose to go it alone on every front and have become lost in the mire. Pete, Ken, Chad and the FIA all had major roles to play, so all contributed to the mire, but who are we to know who did what and when?

It would be nice to see USF1's progress reporting and minutes of their meetings. I have a nagging doubt that such records don't exist because I suspect they never had formal meeting and reporting ... all in the name of skunkworks of course!

-----------

ps the autosport interview needs a pinch of salt. In my experience, the shop floor of any company always point out perceived inadequacies of the designers and management.

[meves]

It's now confirmed that they lost Locstein too, who were meant to be providing 10 million sponsorship.

http://www.pitpass.com/fes_php/pitpass_ ... t_id=39994