After the spectacular failure of the USF1 effort to make the grid in 2010, Autosport have confirmed that an advisor to former USF1 investor Chad Hurley is behind an effort to drum up an investment plan for an existing F1 team.
The report in Autosport's magazine confirms that Parris Mullins, the adviser to YouTube founder Hurley during his efforts to keep the USF1 team afloat last winter, is leading the renewed US bid for their own Formula One team.
Mullins led negotiations with fellow grid stragglers Stefan GP and Campos Meta over a potential merger, but failed to find an acceptable package for the American team, which withdrew from the 2010 season and folded for good last month.
This new bid for an American team on the grid is an effort to form an investment bid for a current F1 team and is not linked to the dubious American 'Cypher Group' team, which has its own Facebook page and little else.
Mullins confirmed that the investment bid was his baby, and added that he felt the USF1 collapse showed that new startups in F1 are not currently a feasible option.
"I am part of a project right now that is trying to enter the sport," Mullins bragged to Autosport in the interview, "I can't give away any specifics right now, but I can say I don't believe a start-up team is possible.
"That is definitely a topic that will be debated for some time until a practical solution is found, but I think personally, given the current state of the sport and its rules, then a competitive start-up team simply isn't possible."
He cited the likes of Ross Brawn's buyout of Honda and Red Bull's takeover of the Jaguar team as examples that their chosen route into F1 was a sound one.
He added that: "One example of a concept that has potential is Renault – which sold a majority stake to Genii Capital. We might see more situations like that in the future.
"Whether it is a group of experienced F1 people defecting from a team and acquiring the capital to take over another, or whether it is simply a major sponsor doing it, or a group of investors buying a team – I am exploring all of those options."
Mullins confirmed that talks with a number of potential investors are already underway, with "a great deal of people" from American business interested in the move into F1.
As to whether Hurley himself, Mullins said that the YouTube founder was not formally involved in this new bid after the USF1 debacle.
"For Chad right now, I can't speak for him. There are still parts of US F1 that need to be put to bed," Mullins mused, "He has his existing responsibilities with Youtube and he has other ventures that he is working on that are not motor sport related.
"As a good friend I would love to work with him again in this sport. I think he has some great ideas and we have collaborated on some great things. I am looking to surround myself with a good group of people, and make another attempt at this – but a proper way."
He added that he had been happy with the amount of support offered by the existing F1 teams during his unsuccessful attempts to save the USF1 bid, despite F1's "cut-throat appearance".
"[We got support from] Martin Whitmarsh saying that FOTA had to do everything in their power to help these teams get to the grid," Mullins explained, "Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo made a similar comment at the unveiling of the F10 – that he wished he could supply an American team with a chassis.
"Bernie Ecclestone reached out several times – and we were offered the Toyotas before Stefanovich[sic], and that was something that Bernie was trying to put together.
"As much as F1 has a cut-throat appearance, really everybody is in it for the greater good of the sport. It has a competitive nature to it of course, but everybody wants to see each other turn up at the races – and that was extended to us. It wasn't just an old boys club. That was the main thing I learned."
Although there was no firm comments on which F1 teams the US investment bid was targeting, an obvious team would be the lachrymose Hispania Racing squad, who are currently crying out for new investment after barely making it onto the 2010 grid.
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