The "Surprise" visit was silly and contrived. Peter's "Office" was pretty barren but the machine shop looked good. The mill was obviously setup for a demo program because the tool wasn't in contact with the part and there was no coolant running. I thought the FIA boxes tool was very interesting (and just goes to show how over-complex the rules are these days).

Keep in mind that USF1 is planning on using existing facilities in the Charlotte area rather than having everything in-house.

Time will tell however.

wide-front-wing - 02 November 2009 12:12 PM

yeah what a bunch of hacks, they had the audacity to sign a driver!

Yeah.. and Manor has a cute little flower on there website -- so take that USF1.

http://www.manorgp.com/

'You can't visit a factory because there is nothing there.'
http://paddocktalk.com/news/html/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=119035&newlang;=&topic=8&catid=0

I, too, was struck by the spartan cinder-block walls of Peter's office and the design area. But to compare USF1 to the the facillities of the megabuck teams is, perhaps, unfair.
I have worked in a "Lean Manufacturing" facility, and it was not devised to be attractive to the eye. Rather, it was designed for efficiency. And although I do not agree with this idea, personal items and decorations were discouraged in work areas.
Back in the days, some F1 constructors produced decent, or even good cars in single-bay garages with drop-lights hanging over the cars. I would reserve judgement for now.

These detractors, who may be correct in their assessment, nonetheless remind me of a Teddy Roosevelt quote.

"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."

wide-front-wing - 02 November 2009 10:55 AM

It's pretty scary...

^Really, Guys relax...In five months "wewillsee"

karlfevans Posted: 02 November 2009 09:58 AM

These detractors, who may be correct in their assessment, nonetheless remind me of a Teddy Roosevelt quote.

"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."

Here! Here!

karlfevans - 02 November 2009 12:58 PM

These detractors, who may be correct in their assessment, nonetheless remind me of a Teddy Roosevelt quote.

"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."

This quote is directed at folks who criticize in the worst sense of the word, i.e. slinging mud. There is little, if any, of that going on in this thread. It's merely objective observation.

Does anyone reading this WANT USF1 to fail? Or expect USF1 to fail? I know I don't. I really want them to have spectacular succcess. I think 99% of American F1 fans want that too.

Of course American F1 fans want USF1 to be a rousing success. It will arguably take several seasons for them to get their game up. My fear is that the impatience of the American investor(s) will start to think about pulling the plug if there are no strong showings in the first season. Patience is the key.

Having set up and filmed many so-called "promotional" videos that take place in so-called corporations or manufacturing plants, I felt that the footage was a little strange, and reminded me too much of clients I've had who don't wish to spend money on set design. So we cobble together a few desks and PCs and create an "office."
So my thinking is that we didn't actually see inside USF1, but rather they created a fake set in an empty warehouse to stage the shoot. Quite possibly the USF1 factory is much different.
But why? Well... when was the last time we saw inside McLaren or Toyota? Red Bull was exceptional in that they allowed such access to Speed cameras. I think we've been spoiled by that.

I wish US F1 the best.
However, this RPM segment was an opportunity to show potential sponsors their ability to leverage media access and contacts into additional exposure.
Instead of what should have been a marketing tool, this became another example of the need to hire a PR specialist with damage control experience.
Sorry if this angers anyone, but F1 is a tough game, every part of the organization must perform at the highest level.

I don't see the fuss over their shop. I remember windsor and anderson stating this was gonna be a tight operation. They are more concerned about putting a car on the grid in 2010 i am sure.