US F1, new backers

US F1 joint boss Peter Windsor has promised that the new North Carolina-based Formula 1 team will boast a '21st century' sponsor package, and refused to deny that video website YouTube will be among its backers.


YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley attended the British Grand Prix with Windsor and his US F1 partner Ken Anderson.


In an interview with American broadcaster SPEED channel, Windsor was coy about US F1's chances of a YouTube tie-up.


"I did see Chad at Silverstone, he was around and it was good to see him there," said Windsor.



"People have tied him to our team, which is incredibly flattering, and who knows?


"We've got plenty of announcements that we'll be making shortly, and we'll be announcing the identities of all of our investors and quite a lot of other stuff as well, really exciting stuff.


"At the moment all I can say is that we've just got our heads down doing what is immediately important to us, which is building the team now that we've got our entry.


"But we have got a great investor group and it's going to take us into the 21st century in a way that you guys have never imagined."


Windsor also confirmed that the loss of the budget cap - a regulation that he had previously cited as key to the US F1 project - should not be an issue for the squad.


"The official limit has gone and of course that means that teams can now spend whatever they want," he said.


"But the point that [co-founder] Ken Anderson and I have been making from the start, that we believe we can do a lot more for less money than the other teams in the pit lane, is still incredibly valid.


"Although the teams are saying that the budget cap has gone, none of them are saying that they're going to carry on spending $250 to 400 million dollars a year.


"They're all saying that they're going to cut back.


"Our point is that if you take whatever that number is, whether it's 30 million or 200 million, we're going to be able to do more with that number because of the way we're doing the team.


"We're starting from zero, which is a big help in terms of keeping costs down and not having to absorb redundant systems, and beyond that we believe in the philosophy of American technology, and I think that's going to give us a lot of advantages in many areas.