Ken Anderson and John Anderson
January 9, 2010 – Ken Anderson, US F1 Team principal, president and CEO, is pleased to announce that John Anderson, a legendary figure in American open-wheel racing, will be US F1's Team Manager, effective immediately.
"I've known John and been close with him for nearly 20 years - to be able to hire someone as experienced, as organized and as successful as he is will only enhance our team as we move forward," said Anderson. "He is simply the best at what he does and knows what it takes to be successful in motorsports."
Anderson, originally from Sydney, Australia, first came to the U.S. in 1980, after some success running a prep and fab shop. "I came to the U.S. for what I thought was a few years and I've never left, and I've had some good runs," he said. "Now to be able to have the opportunity to work with America's Formula One team, especially with my longtime friend Ken Anderson, is an unbelievable opportunity. Ken's mindset of US F1 – to have an open mind, be flexible and explore best practices, is why I'm here and I want to be a part of this."
Starting off in Can-Am in California, Anderson moved to open wheel, working for a veritable "who's who" of American racers and teams as a mechanic, team manager and race strategist, from California to Vermont to New Mexico to Indianapolis. He's worked for Bill Alsup, Gerry Forsyth, Barry Green, Dan Gurney, Mike Curb, Rick Galles, A.J. Foyt Jr., Kenny Bernstein, Bruce McCaw and more, racking up two open-wheel championships and two Indy 500 wins, among other successes.
Most recently, Anderson was the team manager for Gil de Ferran's American Le Mans Series (ALMS) organization. "The parallels with the ALMS car and an F1 car, with their complexity and performance envelope, are very similar," he said. "An F1 car is of course the pinnacle of construction and technology, and to be involved is a high point of my career."
The team manager role has been one that Anderson has been practising since the early 1980s. Not only will Anderson be coordinating the team in the U.S. and in Europe, acting as a liaison between the engineers and shop staff and spearheading testing, but he'll be an informal team psychologist. "It's about getting the right group of guys who can work, live and play together, and also understanding where everyone's strengths and weaknesses are," said Anderson. "Ken and Peter Windsor have put together a strong group, and I can only help to strengthen the bonds and be a part of America's resurgence in the top motorsport in the world."
Anderson is married to an understanding wife, Lesley, and is currently in the process of relocating from Indianapolis to Charlotte.
News from Formula One in the Formation Lap.
Showing posts with label US F1 Team. Show all posts
Showing posts with label US F1 Team. Show all posts
Sunday, 10 January 2010
Monday, 28 December 2009
Team US F1 silence was deliberate
Team US F1 sporting director Peter Windsor says his outfit's plans to enter Formula 1 are fully on schedule - even though it has kept out of the spotlight compared to its fellow new members of the grand prix community.
While Campos, Lotus and Virgin Racing have begun announcing drivers, sponsors and their full plans for 2010, US F1 has been working away in private getting its preparations sorted.
And although that has prompted some to doubt that the team will make it onto the grid in time for the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix, Windsor has now broken the team's silence on its new official website.
"A number of people have asked me why we’ve been relatively quiet over the past six months or so," he wrote on the website. "My answer is twofold - one, while the F1 politics were sorting themselves out there was very little that we could do or say.
"We’re all in the entertainment business we call F1 and there seemed little or no point in adding to the situation from the perspective of a new team.
"Second, since August, we have been building our "house". Literally. We gutted the ex-Hall of Fame Racing/Joe Gibbs NASCAR shop, re-painted it, re-floored it, re-wired it, re-lit it and re-designed it. In three weeks. That’s what you can do in Charlotte, North Carolina, where the economic impact of the motorsports industry approaches $6 billion per year. Ask and you will receive. Brilliant.
"And then, once we had a building (and even before we had one), we began to design parts and to hire our team. Again we were building. People wanted to know what was "going on." We replied that we were "putting together the team." It’s a bit like building a new house. You don’t invite all your neighbours and family around to see it at least until you’ve got the living room almost done, or a few plates in the kitchen."
He added: "Such are the demands of modern media, however, that every passing minute is another step into history - if you’re not saying something, you’re not doing anything. Well, I disagree. I think everyone and every company is entitled to its heads-down time. It reminds me of the time a young Winston Churchill left the clamour of London to travel by ship to cover the Boer War in South Africa for an English newspaper.
"During the voyage he enjoyed two weeks of seclusion from any news about the war he was about to write about. And guess what? The war was still raging when he arrived, he quickly brought himself up to speed - and his mind was so fresh that he was able to compose some of the best pieces of war journalism in the history of the English language."
Windsor says the team’s preparations for its car are ongoing, and that it has no plans to run its 2010 contender in the wind-tunnel until it is complete.
"I noticed the other day that Nick Wirth issued a press release about the new Virgin F1 car being entirely designed on CFD – Computational Fluid Dynamics (rather than in the wind tunnel)," he said.
"The same thing applies to our car, although we see this as a logical process for a new team rather than something about which to be particularly excited. There’s no doubt, though, that the rhythm of life is now different, having worked for both Williams and Ferrari I have no hesitation in saying that."
Team US F1 is expected to confirm its driver line-up in January.
While Campos, Lotus and Virgin Racing have begun announcing drivers, sponsors and their full plans for 2010, US F1 has been working away in private getting its preparations sorted.
And although that has prompted some to doubt that the team will make it onto the grid in time for the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix, Windsor has now broken the team's silence on its new official website.
"A number of people have asked me why we’ve been relatively quiet over the past six months or so," he wrote on the website. "My answer is twofold - one, while the F1 politics were sorting themselves out there was very little that we could do or say.
"We’re all in the entertainment business we call F1 and there seemed little or no point in adding to the situation from the perspective of a new team.
"Second, since August, we have been building our "house". Literally. We gutted the ex-Hall of Fame Racing/Joe Gibbs NASCAR shop, re-painted it, re-floored it, re-wired it, re-lit it and re-designed it. In three weeks. That’s what you can do in Charlotte, North Carolina, where the economic impact of the motorsports industry approaches $6 billion per year. Ask and you will receive. Brilliant.
"And then, once we had a building (and even before we had one), we began to design parts and to hire our team. Again we were building. People wanted to know what was "going on." We replied that we were "putting together the team." It’s a bit like building a new house. You don’t invite all your neighbours and family around to see it at least until you’ve got the living room almost done, or a few plates in the kitchen."
He added: "Such are the demands of modern media, however, that every passing minute is another step into history - if you’re not saying something, you’re not doing anything. Well, I disagree. I think everyone and every company is entitled to its heads-down time. It reminds me of the time a young Winston Churchill left the clamour of London to travel by ship to cover the Boer War in South Africa for an English newspaper.
"During the voyage he enjoyed two weeks of seclusion from any news about the war he was about to write about. And guess what? The war was still raging when he arrived, he quickly brought himself up to speed - and his mind was so fresh that he was able to compose some of the best pieces of war journalism in the history of the English language."
Windsor says the team’s preparations for its car are ongoing, and that it has no plans to run its 2010 contender in the wind-tunnel until it is complete.
"I noticed the other day that Nick Wirth issued a press release about the new Virgin F1 car being entirely designed on CFD – Computational Fluid Dynamics (rather than in the wind tunnel)," he said.
"The same thing applies to our car, although we see this as a logical process for a new team rather than something about which to be particularly excited. There’s no doubt, though, that the rhythm of life is now different, having worked for both Williams and Ferrari I have no hesitation in saying that."
Team US F1 is expected to confirm its driver line-up in January.
Sunday, 27 December 2009
Welcome to US F1 Team
US F1 Team headquaters in Charlotte, North Carolina
Welcome to the world of US F1 Team! You are about to meet the first American F1 team to design and build its cars in the U.S.A. since Dan Gurney did so with his Eagle back in the ‘60s. A lot has changed since then. Or has it?
Yes, F1 has firmly established itself as the biggest sport on the planet in terms of TV numbers, and, yes, there is no bigger sport in the world than F1 when it comes to gross annual revenue.
Ultimately though F1 is about passion – an instinct to excel in perhaps the most demanding sport of them all and a desire to push the frontiers of technology. It is the purest of all marriages – the one between man and machine. Even to enter the FIA Formula One World Championship – to be granted one of only 13 team franchises in the world – is to be an F1 team that designs and builds its own cars. A mini-NASA, in other words (or SkunkWorks, as we would prefer to be known!).
F1 is not only about some of the best racing drivers in the world - it is also about brilliant engineers, machinists, fabricators, composite technicians, tire engineers and mechanics. There is nothing proprietary about F1 - it is still as much about clear-headed, lateral technical thinking as it is about a driver’s perfect use of the brake pedal, steering and throttle.
When we first talked about an American F1 team there were of course many variables to consider. One of them, though, from the start was non-negotiable - at US F1, our car would be built in the USA, taking advantage of much of the hidden US technology already in the F1 pit lane and introducing a whole new raft of great companies, talented people and cutting edge technology. We’re not setting out to change the world of F1, we’re setting out to join the world of F1 with the best that America can produce. It’s a huge challenge – and that’s what makes it worthwhile.
America’s F1 heritage is vast. Phil Hill and Mario Andretti won World Championships, and Dan Gurney won the 1967 Belgian Grand Prix with his Eagle. These men are our heroes - it is because of them, and those like them, that we first grew to love F1. If we’re fortunate, we work hard and we remain positive, we may recapture a small part of what these great Americans achieved before us.
In the meantime, as we watch the US F1 Team grow, as parts are made and the first race approaches, we’re already beginning to find ourselves lucky enough to be able to taste – just a little – of what it was that made Phil the perfectionist he was at Ferrari, or Dan the still-innovative owner of a Santa Ana race shop that still breathes the same racing air that it inhaled back in 1966, or Mario the driver who could jump from sprint cars to USAC Indy cars to Ferrari prototypes to F1 Lotus 79s and win with ease in all of them.
Join us as we take the essence of that heritage and launch a new, American team onto the 21st century F1 global platform. Ahead lies an enticing new world: Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa will be pitted against Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button at McLaren-Mercedes. Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber are continuing their battles at Red Bull-Renault. Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg will be strong forces at Mercedes. F1 has not only survived the global recession, it is expanding still further, with new races in new countries and a 26-car grid.
We invite you to share our journey into F1 – the good moments and the bad, the successes and the defeats. It’ll all be here on this site, and we’re going to cherish every minute of it.
Welcome to the world of US F1 Team! You are about to meet the first American F1 team to design and build its cars in the U.S.A. since Dan Gurney did so with his Eagle back in the ‘60s. A lot has changed since then. Or has it?
Yes, F1 has firmly established itself as the biggest sport on the planet in terms of TV numbers, and, yes, there is no bigger sport in the world than F1 when it comes to gross annual revenue.
Ultimately though F1 is about passion – an instinct to excel in perhaps the most demanding sport of them all and a desire to push the frontiers of technology. It is the purest of all marriages – the one between man and machine. Even to enter the FIA Formula One World Championship – to be granted one of only 13 team franchises in the world – is to be an F1 team that designs and builds its own cars. A mini-NASA, in other words (or SkunkWorks, as we would prefer to be known!).
F1 is not only about some of the best racing drivers in the world - it is also about brilliant engineers, machinists, fabricators, composite technicians, tire engineers and mechanics. There is nothing proprietary about F1 - it is still as much about clear-headed, lateral technical thinking as it is about a driver’s perfect use of the brake pedal, steering and throttle.
When we first talked about an American F1 team there were of course many variables to consider. One of them, though, from the start was non-negotiable - at US F1, our car would be built in the USA, taking advantage of much of the hidden US technology already in the F1 pit lane and introducing a whole new raft of great companies, talented people and cutting edge technology. We’re not setting out to change the world of F1, we’re setting out to join the world of F1 with the best that America can produce. It’s a huge challenge – and that’s what makes it worthwhile.
America’s F1 heritage is vast. Phil Hill and Mario Andretti won World Championships, and Dan Gurney won the 1967 Belgian Grand Prix with his Eagle. These men are our heroes - it is because of them, and those like them, that we first grew to love F1. If we’re fortunate, we work hard and we remain positive, we may recapture a small part of what these great Americans achieved before us.
In the meantime, as we watch the US F1 Team grow, as parts are made and the first race approaches, we’re already beginning to find ourselves lucky enough to be able to taste – just a little – of what it was that made Phil the perfectionist he was at Ferrari, or Dan the still-innovative owner of a Santa Ana race shop that still breathes the same racing air that it inhaled back in 1966, or Mario the driver who could jump from sprint cars to USAC Indy cars to Ferrari prototypes to F1 Lotus 79s and win with ease in all of them.
Join us as we take the essence of that heritage and launch a new, American team onto the 21st century F1 global platform. Ahead lies an enticing new world: Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa will be pitted against Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button at McLaren-Mercedes. Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber are continuing their battles at Red Bull-Renault. Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg will be strong forces at Mercedes. F1 has not only survived the global recession, it is expanding still further, with new races in new countries and a 26-car grid.
We invite you to share our journey into F1 – the good moments and the bad, the successes and the defeats. It’ll all be here on this site, and we’re going to cherish every minute of it.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)