History of United States in Formula One
Can you imaging Dan Gurney and Carroll Shelby in a trailer after a race discussing the name of the first formula one team over a few beers? If you can, it’s no surprise that they named it the ‘All American Racers Team’. Dan and Carroll founded the American racing team in 1964 and competed in the 1967 Formula One season with the open-wheeler aptly named the “Eagle”. At the time, the team was based in California which serviced their national racing, but the Formula One team was based in Great Britain using Weslake engines. Therefore the team was aliased as Anglo American Racers. The American Team raced in 25 Formula One Grand Prix Races over 2 years.
The first Eagle was the Lotus 38 in the 1965 Indianapolis 500. Gurney then hired the Lotus designer Len Terry to make their own racing car in 1966 which resulted in the Eagle T2G for Champ Car and the Eagle T1G for Formula One. The ‘Eagle’ never won a race, not did it finish in the points and so they exited Formula One in 1968 to concentrate on Champ Car.
USF1 will be the next American team to grace the Formula One paddocks since since the Eagle in 1967. For much of the last 10 months, USF1 has been designing its race cars from its headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina, which is the capital of motor sport in the United States. The unique location of the facility provides the highest concentration of racing-specific suppliers, technical analysis companies and testing partners in the United States.
The hopes and aspirations of many Americans lie in the hands of Ken Anderson and Peter Windsor. Keeping in mind the reduced costs, fairer rules and regulations and the extensive financial backing, the only challenge left is implementing their knowledge and recruiting a champion driver!
