Oliver WhiteUSF1 co-founder Ken Anderson has broken his silence and finally spoken about his new team to Formula One and the financial difficulties they have faced in recent weeks and the consequences this all has on the immediate future of the squad. In an interview published in the The New York Times on Friday, Anderson spoke of lack of sponsorship, delaying payments to employees and how the future of team is now in the hands of the FIA.
Although it had initially been reported that new regulations allowed teams to miss up to three races a year before the FIA intervened, the governing body has since clarified that any races missed would constitute a breach of contract and repercussions may be felt. This is relevant to USF1 as Anderson has stated that the team would ideally miss the first four races of the season: Bahrain, Australia, Malaysia and China. Anderson would like for his team to arrive in Formula One at the start of the European season in Barcelona.
We’re working with the FIA. to clarify how many races we can miss. In an ideal world, we can miss the first four races and show up in Barcelona. Ken Anderson.
Acknowledging that sponsorship had fallen through, Anderson admitted to paying the employees a day late last month, but also said that if the FIA gave the team the green light to continue, a plan would fall in place and additional funds would be found in order to ensure the team’s survival. Anderson was also keen to refute rumour that major backer and co-founder of YouTube, Chad Hurley, was still an investor in the team and also denied that team’s fellow founder Peter Windsor had left.
With Campos Meta also going through some difficulties in reaching the Bahrain grid on time (it is reported Campos Meta are now on target), it would seem that only two of the new squads were completely viable to begin with; Lotus and Virgin having already designed, built and tested a Formula One machine. USF1 were one of the first squads to announce their plans to enter the sport, but currently it would seem they are the least viable entrant at the moment.
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