USF1... not a Mickey Mouse outfit

18/06/2009

F1 has had a week to get used to the fact that three new teams maybe joining the sport next year but there is still a long way to go before any of them actually make it to the grid.

Of these proposed entrants, both Manor Grand Prix and Campos currently have teams in series below F1 which gives them some experience. However, their entries have only been underway for around 10 months so they are short on preparation time. In contrast, USF1 announced its intention to compete in F1 back in February this year, giving it the best head start of the new teams, but, according to Pitpass' business editor Chris Sylt, it is off the pace when it comes to its skill at securing funding.

Each of these new teams will have to find tens of millions of dollars in funding to get their cars to the F1 grid next year with the bulk of this support expected to come from sponsorship. With their longer gestation period you might expect that USF1 had this honed down to a fine art but in fact it couldn't be further from the case.

Sylt has been informed that USF1 hoped to secure sponsorship from the US media company Disney but instead of contacting the executive in charge of its sponsorship and marketing budget, the team approached Disney's senior vice president of Corporate Alliances - the man in charge of finding companies which will sponsor Disney. He passed the USF1 request to the right man within Disney and Sylt found out about the bizarre approach since he has been supplying data to Disney about motorsport opportunities.

Disney has declined to take up F1 sponsorship due to the environmental issues surrounding the sport but, regardless of the end result, approaching the wrong person clearly doesn't make a good impression. If this is how USF1 has been operating one wonders what could be going on at some of the other proposed teams.

Only time will tell what on earth Max Mosley is unleashing on F1.