USF1 – A Skunk Works Approach
During the launch of the USF1 team, the phrase “skunk works” was continually raised. The phrase has an interesting origin and describes a unique approach to a Formula One team.
The phrase “Skunks Work” was first used with the Advanced Projects group at Lockheed Martin. The aircraft manufacturer used the division to build highly classified military and spy planes including the U-2, SR-71 Blackbird and F117 Stealth. Obviously, the planes represented cutting edge technology for their times and the process gave rise to the use of the name in other venues.
Skunk works has come to mean something unique in the corporate world. It is a phrase that designates a part of a business that is more or less tasked with a particular goal and then isolated from the rest of the business. This creates a unique amount of autonomy from the red tape involved in running any business and, in theory, allows the skunk works department to get on with achieving the task in question.
Throughout the launch press conference with SPEED TV, the USF1 founders continually referred to a skunks work approach at the team. The question is what does this really mean in relation to a Formula One team? F1 is the top of the mountain when it comes to technology in motorsports, so the idea of a skunk work approach seems somewhat odd given the current approach of most F1 teams.
The answer appears to be found in how technological problems are approached. The McLarens and Ferraris of the world have a ton of financial resources. When they run into a problem, they tend to throw money at it until it is fixed. Hundreds of millions of dollars are often spent to gain a second in lap time over an entire Formula One season. USF1 seems to view this as the wrong approach.
The skunk works approach of the USF1 teams seems to be oriented towards hiring intelligent people and letting them get on with their particular disciplines without a ton of oversight and control from a central source, in this case, Ken Anderson. The team will apparently be more open to using vendors to handle certain design aspects as Anderson noted the team will have roughly 100 employees, but twice as much if you count the vendors heavily involved. Most bigger F1 teams have 800 to 1,000 employees.
So, will this skunk works approach work in F1? Nobody really knows. The days of privateers being competitive in Formula One looked to have gone the way of the dinosaurs until this past year when regulations designed to cut costs dramatically were implemented. The new approach taken by the USF1 team might just turn out to be the best way to go.
Lemmy