USF1 – Why Base It In Charlotte?
The USF1 team has announced its launch and the questions are coming fast and furious. One question that is being repeated over and over is why is the team based in North Carolina?
The USF1 is what is known as a privateer. The team is not backed by a car manufacturer like BMW Sauber, McLaren Mercedes, Toyota and so on. This means keeping costs under control is absolutely paramount. Whereas “works” teams will just throw money at a problem until they get it fixed, a privateer has to be light on their feet and very economical.
Given this cost conscious situation, many are questioning why the USF1 is being based in Charlotte, North Carolina? The reason this is an issue is the cost of travel. Sadly, there are no longer any races in North America. The US Grand Prix? Done. The Canadian Grand Prix? Done. In fact, there is only one race in the Americas – Brazil. With this is mind, it would appear that USF1 is taking on a lot of added cost in travel. They team, however, disagrees.
In an interview on SPEED TV, this exact question was raised with the principals of the team. Ken Anderson responded with a very interesting answer. Although most teams are based in Europe, he noted the continent has been losing races to Asia and other parts of the world. There seemed to be some hint that this trend would continue and we certainly know that Russia and India are on course to swipe a few races. Regardless, the central point seemed to be that being based in Europe was not much of an advantage.
A second striking point made by Anderson was technology oriented. He stated that most of the technology in Formula One is not generated in Europe, but in the United States. By being based in the country, he seemed to infer that the team was closer to the technology hub behind Formula One, which actually gives it an advantage.
All and all, it is still difficult to see how being based in Charlotte doesn’t cost the USF1 a lot in travel costs. Anderson and Windsor seem to have thought the process through in detail, so it must not be a huge problem. Still, it would not be a surprise to see the team move in the future to Europe, whether it be sooner or later.
Lemmy