USF1 Founder Still Hoping To Compete In F1 In '11 Despite Setbacks

USF1 Founder Ken Anderson "insists his outfit has not yet given up on its dreams of entering F1 in the future, despite telling its staff to stop work on its current car," according to Noble & Rencken of AUTOSPORT.com. Sources said that team personnel "were put on unpaid leave by the outfit on Tuesday afternoon, amid continued uncertainty about the future of the outfit." Anderson has "insisted that the Charlotte-based operation remains hopeful of making it onto the grid in 2011," and is "adamant that the team has not closed down." He said that it is "now awaiting news from the FIA about if it can defer its entry from the start of this season until the beginning of 2011." Anderson: "We have applied to the FIA to hold our entry until 2011. It was supposed to be confidential, so I could not really comment on it. It seems to have leaked out though" (AUTOSPORT.com, 3/2). The FIA, which sent F1 Race Dir Charlie Whiting "on a fact-finding visit" to the USF1 HQs last week, is "expected to announce a final entry list in the next day or two" for the March 14 season-opening Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix. USF1 is "one of four new teams handed a slot on the starting grid for 2010 after checks by the governing body," but has struggled to raise finances and is "in no position to race" (Manchester GUARDIAN, 3/3).