The rumor of a new all-American team joining the Formula 1 championship has breezed in and out of the F1 paddock for over a year now but once again the rumor is heating up. Several F1 news sources are reporting that former Formula 1 engineer Ken Anderson is teaming up with Speed Channel pit reporter Peter Windsor to join the championship in 2010. Whispers of this new effort being linked to American Honda persist although there are significant barriers to that becoming a reality.

For one, Honda Performance Development has their plates full with supplying engines to the Indy Racing League and running Acura's LMP1 and LMP2 program in American Le Mans. Even with the recent dumbing down of the F1 technical regulations it would be a major undertaking for HPD to get involved in F1 at this point, especially in light of the global recession that has dried up motorsport funds across every major championship.

However, if American Honda was involved it would most likely be in the form of technical support. It's plausible that they could build engines for the new team and since engine development is frozen their only responsibility would be producing a supply of engines and providing as-needed technical support . Or American Honda could just be a sponsor of the new team

The other major possibility is that Ken Anderson could either purchase parts of the defunct Honda F1 operation or acquire it in full. On one hand this would save the fledgling team a lot of time and expense but it would run counter to their stated goal of an All-American operation (as HF1 is based in England).

Since the rumors point to a debut date of 2010, there may not be any confirmation of these rumors in the coming months. But with the current ongoing financial woes of the F1 World Championship, a new team cannot come soon enough for F1. And for heart-broken Honda F1 fans a team to root for would certainly be welcome.



http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/73121

Last edited by JeffX on February 04, 2009 12:51