Hurley: US F1 can emulate YouTube

Team US F1 primary investor Chad Hurley believes the new grand prix team can do a YouTube and become a huge success by doing things differently.

Hurley, who is a co-founder and CEO of the video sharing website, says he sees similarities between the way he has shaped his business from a total start-up and what US F1 can achieve with its own ambitions.

"The business aspect of what attracted me to US F1 is just that, that it is a start-up," Hurley told AUTOSPORT in an exclusive interview. "And it's a very similar situation to one that would be in Silicon Valley.

"It's a small team of talented, smart individuals trying to break the mould, trying to accomplish something that others think is impossible. I believe in Ken and Peter and the team that they have put together, and I believe that we have a chance to hopefully start from a clean slate and try to build a team in a different way."

Hurley, who helped sell YouTube to Google for $1.6 billion (USD) in 2006, says he is realistic about the timeframe it will take US F1 to be successful, but has made it clear he is not getting involved to simply make up the numbers.

"Obviously we want to be competitive," he said. "I know there is going to be a lot of competition - it's going to take quite a few years to ramp up this team and get the cars into a position where we are competing for the world championship, but ultimately that's our goal.

"We're not necessarily going to get involved and be satisfied with just getting a car onto the track. Our aspirations and goals go much farther than that."

Hurley also thinks his background and involvement in Silicon Valley can help the team find other influential backers to help its F1 efforts.

"I hope so, and I hope it goes beyond Silicon Valley," he said. "I am definitely going to be involved in helping the team with sponsors, helping the team with business relationships, and helping the team with integrating technology - ways that they can leverage and benefit from social media and the Internet broadly. So in many ways I hope to add benefit to the team and what they are trying to accomplish."