Future looks grim for homegrown Formula One team

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It appears America’s Formula One effort is drawing its last breath.

After asking Formula One’s governing body for permission to skip the first four races of the season, USF1 boss Ken Anderson told the BBC on Wednesday that the team has lodged a request to have its entry delayed until 2011. Anderson said the USF1 project would be over if the FIA did not approve its deferral request.

‘If the FIA say no, we are done,’ Anderson told the BBC. ‘If they say yes, we can put it back in gear and go.’

Since last year, USF1 has been the subject of rumors regarding the team’s ability to compete in the 2010 Formula One championship. Anderson said the team has been running on ‘an insanely tight schedule,’ but emphasized recent sponsorship problems were the primary reason for the team’s inability to make the grid this year.

‘There were issues sponsor-wise in January that knocked us back a few weeks, and those meant we couldn’t make it in 2010,’ Anderson said. ‘The doom-and-gloom people were just waiting for us to fail.’

A team that could take USF1’s place on the grid is another start-up, Stefan Grand Prix. The Serbia-based squad has requested entry into the championship and plans to use Toyota’s F1 cars from last year.

[Updated, 1:42 p.m.: The FIA announced Wednesday that USF1 will not be replaced by another team in 2010.]

The FIA has not released the official entry list for the 2010 season even though the season starts March 14 in Bahrain.

Three new teams have been confirmed -- Lotus, Virgin Racing and Hispania Racing (formerly Campos).

-- Austin Knoblauch