Windsor unhappy with summer shutdown
The move, introduced by the FOTA team alliance last year, was billed as a cost-saving initiative.
But some teams including Williams complained that the shutdown only increased costs by subsequently requiring a more intensive effort to catch up on lost time.
USF1 sporting director Windsor wrote in his blog that the August shutdown is to happen again in 2010, following a team meeting earlier this year.
"I was impressed to hear the McLaren guys say that it was a waste of time and that most of their staff had found it all very frustrating, but sadly these were lone voices: the majority of the teams, led by Red Bull, it seemed to me, are firmly committed to the summer shutdown," he said.
Windsor added that the August shutdown will be particularly frustrating for Charlotte based USF1, because unlike in Europe, "August for Americans is just another working month in which some people maybe take a week or two away".
He also said the US is "much more industrious than the UK" in general, with business halted for Christmas and New Year's days, but Europe basically shut down until today.
"That's 16 valuable days lost in the too-short life of the F1 European winter," said Windsor.
01/03/10 USF1 sporting director Peter Windsor has voiced his objection to F1’s factory shut-down which will take place for the second time this year.
Writing on the USF1 website he said:
"There was an F1 team meeting vote in the early fall about whether the 2009 F1 August shut-down had been a “success". I was impressed to hear the McLaren guys say that it was a waste of time and that most of their staff had found it all very frustrating, but sadly these were lone voices: the majority of the teams, led by Red Bull, it seemed to me, are firmly committed to the summer shut-down. And so shut down we will.
"Every F1 team will have to shut down their factories for a two-week period in August as part of efforts to reduce costs in F1."
But Windsor even thinks the time lost to winter’s seasonal festivities is too costly:
"America is currently much more industrious than the UK. Here, at our home base, we were quiet on Christmas Day (naturally) and then again today [new year's day]. The UK – and most of Europe – basically shut down on December 18 and will not stagger back to life until January 4. That’s 16 valuable days lost in the too-short life of the F1 European winter."
This all comes back to the question of whether USF1’s plans to base its team in America are viable. Windsor certainly doesn’t seem to have any doubts. Read Peter Windsor's full blog.