US F1 turns down pay-driver offers

Eurosport - Fri, 07 Aug 12:01:00 2009

US F1 has turned down the opportunity to sign lucrative deals with pay-drivers for its Formula One championship debut next year.

FORMULA 1, us F1 - 0

"We've been offered well over three-quarters of our racing budget by two drivers already, neither of whom have raced in Formula One but have both won races in GP2," co-principal Peter Windsor told Sports Illustrated, adding that neither driver was American.

"Both of them have massive sponsorship they can bring us from their home country.

"Ken (Anderson) and I have got to be very strong, look one another in the eye and say, 'no, we're not going to accept that money, we're not going to hire those guys because we're going to remain true to our convictions'."

US F1's aim is to give both cockpits to young American hopefuls. In 2010, however, one of the seats could go to an experienced non-American veteran, for instance Austrian Alex Wurz.

Favourites for the second seat are Americans including Jonathan Summerton, Graham Rahal and Ryan Hunter-Reay.

Another oft-mentioned candidate is the female IndyCar star Danica Patrick, but she recently played down her interest and revealed that US F1 has not made an approach.

"A lot of people are saying to us 'are you interested in Danica?' and my reply is in some respects, Danica is too big for us now," Windsor added.

"She'll probably go to NASCAR and she'll probably do very well there and she'll probably make a fortune.

"For her to do Formula One, it's a huge commitment at this stage of her career and her expectation level would be very high.

"We're not going to be fighting for the World Championship in year one."

F1-Live.com / Eurosport

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  1. HANK I LIKE THE BIT ABOUT THE SEARCHERS ESP AS IT WAS­ THE SHADOWS ORIG NAME

    From U R SOLES, on Mon 10 Aug 4:09PM
  2. OH MY GOD HANK MARVIN is now talking to himself on here­ & HE HAS THE CHEAK TO CALL ME THICK

    From U R SOLES, on Mon 10 Aug 4:07PM
  3. John Maynard Keynes, sorry but I have no idea where he­ is. I asked Cliff and he asked The Searchers but to no­ avail.

    From Not the real Shadow, on Mon 10 Aug 1:19PM
  4. Anyone know what happened to Kwjibo, I know he was a­­ stupid @rsehole and an unpleasant little scroat but I­ do miss him. NOT.

    Come on Shaun C you can enter, did­ you ever tell us what the C stood for? Well I think we­ could all make a pretty good guess @#$%! lmfao

    There­ is a clue about the ID kwijbo is currently using in the­ question. Please dial 999 with the answer, calls will­ cost £1.50 but mobile charges will vary. Do not dial­ after 21 Aug 2045 because you might still be charged­ but have fek all chance of winning.

    From John Maynard Keynes, on Mon 10 Aug 11:26AM
  5. Putting in 2 untried in F1 american drivers would be­ madness they need someone who has driven in F1 before­ to help with set up if you take on 2 green drivers then­ neither kmows what to expect so even if they think the­ car is great they could still not be getting the best­ from it

    From U R SOLES, on Mon 10 Aug 10:41AM
  6. ineedspanking2 I know you are a hell of a muppet but I­ have to say that I agree wholeheartedly with your last­ post. I am not a septic so this is not a nationalistic­ outburst or anything like that.

    You can add the GREAT­ Mark Donohue to your list, the man who tamed (ish) the­ mighty Penske/Porsche 917/30. Great driver, who I­ think may have been WDC if it hadn't been for his­ untimely death.

    From Doug James, on Mon 10 Aug 10:00AM
  7. PEGEZ you say there has never been a good american F1­ driver thanks for the information all my life I had­ thought PHILL HILL was american thanks for putting me­ right

    From mark, on Mon 10 Aug 9:43AM
  8. bsinn did I understand you right when you said Danica­ has dominated US open wheel racing? Certainly that is­ not my take on the situation in the US, Scott Dixon has­ been pretty dominant over the last couple of years, but­ then he is a Kiwi of course. So, no good to the­ American public they will want a second rater US born­ driver.

    If they chose Marco Andretti let's just­ hope he is much better than Michael who was the worst­ F1 driver I have ever seen.

    Your NOT spoilt for choice­ in US born drivers at the moment.

    From B Mackenzie, on Mon 10 Aug 9:31AM
  9. The sun of dawn needs to realize he's an idiot. ­ Danica, Marco, Graham, Ryan Hunter, to name a few are­ all good canidates. I'm sure by what I see that­ you have written/commented on, you must have alot of­ time on your hands, and again maybe you might be­ crewing for some really great up and coming nobody. ­ Whoever USF1 picks will have an uphill battle, the­ same as Micheal had, its a European sport, and as long­ as its being run by the likes of who's ruuning it­ now, it will continue to leave those from the United­ States out of the loop.

    From papa, on Mon 10 Aug 5:52AM
  10. i see some people have some female issues.
    look,bottom­ line is Danica is just not that great a road racer.shes­ better on ovals.
    Wurz is a good choice,and Rahal isnt­ the worst choice for an american driver.

    From The Tyrant, on Mon 10 Aug 12:05AM
  11. Their challenge will be to break through to the­ American sports fan. When F1 left Indy few people­ cared. There were no prominent American drivers while­ the constructors were taking jobs aay from workers at­ American car companies. I doubt that Danica will be­ interested in taking low wages with a start up F1 team.­ She dominated American open wheel racing and the next­ rung is probably NASCAR. The one name that would make­ sense would be Andretti... as in Marco , Mario's­ grand son. A lot of Americans have heard of Mario and­ would probably be curious about his off spring. Marco­ has a decent, if not spectacular, record with Indy­ Cars. And he is still in his early 20's. The other­ driver should be Sebastien Bourdais... He was Champ Car­ champion 3 years in a row and he played well ( OK I­ assume that most American thought he was from Quebec­ not France). He is an "American racing­ champion" and does know the ins and outs of F1.­ Lets hope Peter and Ken can cut a decent deal.

    From J W, on Sun 9 Aug 11:13PM
  12. Their challenge will be to break through to the­ American sports fan. When F1 left Indy few people­ cared. There were no prominent American drivers while­ the constructors were taking jobs aay from workers at­ American car companies. I doubt that Danica will be­ interested in taking low wages with a start up F1 team.­ She dominated American open wheel racing and the next­ rung is probably NASCAR. The one name that would make­ sense would be Andretti... as in Marco , Mario's­ grand son. A lot of Americans have heard of Mario and­ would probably be curious about his off spring. Marco­ has a decent, if not spectacular, record with Indy­ Cars. And he is still in his early 20's. The other­ driver should be Sebastien Bourdais... He was Champ Car­ champion 3 years in a row and he played well ( OK I­ assume that most American thought he was from Quebec­ not France). He is an "American racing­ champion" and does know the ins and outs of F1.­ Lets hope Peter and Ken can cut a decent deal.

    From J W, on Sun 9 Aug 11:11PM
  13. well here we go again. why not hire some of the more­ astute individuals on these threads who not only know­ it all, but, would or definitely should work for­ extremely cheap wine and bath tub beer. take the­ idiot, son of the dawn shall rise, take it, and do what­ you will, take it and put it out of its miserable­ existence.

    From harleyboy, on Sun 9 Aug 8:38PM
  14. get graham rahal.. he is a good road racer..

    From thomas, on Sun 9 Aug 3:07PM
  15. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    u not going to fight for world gloryy in year one ,two­ , or year 20.....u just gonna be at the back and thats­ it,,,,

    From NUNO, on Sun 9 Aug 2:35PM
  16. lmfao jbolanbum.

    From Jeanette 'No Mates' Bolan, on Sun 9 Aug 11:45AM
  17. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    remember a mr a hamilton asun fans No magic a cheat­­­­­ Kers button a No win ,,itta all a change back toa­­­­­ normal inna next a races Hungary a the best a track­­­­ for­ a Kers Mr a hamilton asun a need the Cheat­­ button­­ toa­ win otherwise a muclaren are a­ rubbish,,,­ mr a­­ hamilton­ asun a lasta 6 a races 0­ pts 0 pts 0­ pts 0­­ pts 0 pts 10­ pts.......a = 10 pts­ from a poss­ 60...he­­ a mr a­ hamilton asun a done the­ anew a world­ champion­­ a J .­ BUTTON the biggest a­ favour,,,lots­ ofa mistakes­­ from­ top a teams thats­ a why a­ mr a hamilton­­ asun a­ win witha cheat a­ button,,still­ itta back toa­­ normal­ ata next a­ race... THE ANEW F1­ WORLD CHAMPION­ J­ .­ BUTTON 09-10­
    mr a hamilton asun­ the a Fake anda­­ Phoney­ Glock­ assisted secret­ stealing 2008 a title a­­­­­ holder.......................
    JENSON A BUTTON THE­­ ANEW­­ ANDA GENUINE F1 WORLD CHAMPION.....mr a­ hamilton­ asun­­ the forgotten man.....itta also a make­ a mea­ laugh a 1­­ a win witha cheating a Kers a button­ from a­ mr a­­ hamilton asun anda all hea fans a get a­ excited­ a­­ saying a now hea will win the a­ title....WAKE UP­­­­ MUPPETS.......................................
    mr a­­ hamilton asun a been the fed from the a silver a­­­­ spoon from a birth ,,,a No a rookie a been given a­­ top­­ a drive from a day a 1 like a mr a hamilton asun­­ anda­­ still he a mr a hamilton asun anda hes a team­­ muclaren­­ had toa cheat anda spy anda steal the a­­ secrets toa­ win­ the a title,,,MR A HAMILTON ASUN ISA­­ THE BIGGEST­ A­ DONKEY A DRIVER ONNA THE F1 A­ TRACK....­ a just ask­ the­ a other a­­ drivers................................................­ ­ .... ....
    NOA GLOCK!!!
    NOA FERRARI A SECRETS
    NOA­­ FAKE PHONEY­­ TITLE,,,,,,,,,,, for mr a hamilton­­ asun....a still you­­ a keep the a FAKE TITLE,,,,a­­ Jenson a Button willa­­ bring a the respect a back­ into­ a F1 ...HE A BUTTON­­ GENUINE F1 WORLD CHAMPION­­ 2009-2010
    anda now a KING SCHUYYY a returns the a­­ biggest anda best a F1 a Legend

    From , on Sun 9 Aug 10:49AM
  18. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Eventually this team will become known as U Sh it­­­ Faggots 1.

    From Boff, on Sun 9 Aug 1:38AM
  19. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Eventually this team will become known as U Sh it­­ Faggots 1.

    From Boff, on Sat 8 Aug 9:13PM
  20. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    It must be only tart's on the forum tonight.

    From Boff, on Sat 8 Aug 9:02PM
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