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One year after announcing grand plans to build a Formula One race team in the United States, Ken Anderson has conceded that it will not be able to make the grid for the 2010 season opener on March 14 in Bahrain because of financial problems.

The future of the team, USF1, is in the hands of the International Automobile Federation, the sport’s governing body, known as the FIA.

“We’re working with the FIA to clarify how many races we can miss,” Anderson said on Friday.

He said the Concorde Agreement, governing the relationship between Formula One teams and the FIA, allows a team to miss as many as three races in a season. But an FIA clarification on Feb. 10 indicated that teams would be penalized for missing races.

Anderson said the team was awaiting a decision by Jean Todt, the federation’s president, perhaps as early as this past weekend. The team would rather miss the first four races, also skipping the Australian Grand Prix on March 28, the Malaysian Grand Prix on April 4 and the Chinese Grand Prix on April 18, and begin competing on May 9 at the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona. USF1 has a satellite base in Spain.

Anderson acknowledged that sponsorships had fallen through, causing the team’s financial problems. He said the team had paid its employees a day late in January. Anderson said he would be able to come up with additional sponsorship money to build a car and race in Barcelona.

“We have a time line in place that if we get a decision quickly, that triggers funding and we’re good to go,” he said. “If it takes another week or two to make a decision, it keeps backing up.”

The team had remained mostly silent through its struggles. But on Friday, Anderson addressed many of the rumors about USF1’s future. He said Jose Maria Lopez, a driver from Argentina, remained under contract. But Anderson did not rule out the possibility that Lopez could sign with another team. Lopez could take his sponsorship, reportedly worth $8 million, and drive for another start-up.

Anderson said that despite speculation to the contrary, Chad Hurley, a co-founder of YouTube who is a major investor in USF1, is still involved with the team.

He also denied that Peter Windsor, another co-founder, had left USF1.

The team’s 3,130-square-meter race shop in Charlotte, North Carolina, is for sale. But a spokesman for the commercial real estate company that is listing the property said the sale had nothing to do with USF1, which does not own the building.

Anderson confirmed the team had a five-year lease on the shop and would remain there regardless of ownership.



The New York Times