USF1 shuts doors for good

USF1 has officially shuttered operations in Charlotte, NC. That's according to the Charlotte Business Journal, which notes that Ken Anderson, president of the team, sent employees an email yesterday pointing to financial woes as the straw that broke the doomed camel's back. Anderson's pet racing project was supposed to jump into the Formula One fray at the Bahain Grand Prix on March 14, but couldn't quite get its act together in time. Rumors of a shut down have been dogging the USF1 team nearly as long as it's been around, and this time, it looks like the naysayers were right.

Even worse, a handful of former USF1 employees have filed complaints with the North Carolina Department of Labor over missing paychecks. While Anderson's email said that employees could be called back at some point in the future, it looks like it's lights out for good from here.

Link

Not so surprising news

"The USF1 saga may have taken a turn for the worse today as Autosport reports that the hopeful team's operations have 'effectively been shut down.' Team personnel and the remainder of the operation's employees were reportedly given the news today that their services would no longer be needed, though some unknown number of them technically remain employed (albeit unpaid).

Assuming for a moment that this news is accurate – though it's yet to be confirmed, the team's recent woes certainly mean this report is stupendously unsurprising – it's not clear what USF1 investor and YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley will do, though SpeedTV is reporting he may just cut his losses and get out of the Formula 1 game entirely.

Serbian outfit Stefan Grand Prix is thought to be the leading candidate to fill the vacancy left by USF1's departure from the 2010 grid. We'll likely get some sort of response from the FIA within the next few days. Stay tuned, race fans."

Disappointed, but not surprising at all. Lack of funding and sponsorships caused this to fail because nobody saw a future with a US led Formula 1 team. They didn't have a chassis design finished, no official drivers, and flaky investors. It was doomed from the start.