Ken Anderson and British F1 journalist Peter Windsor have set themselves a seemingly impossible task. In 2010 they will attempt not only to join the F1 grid as one of four new teams, but also to restore the love of F1 in the American market.

Anderson started his motorsport career in motocross, and ended up working for Fox Racing Shox in California. He moved to four wheels when a motocross friend Roger Mears introduced him to his brother Rick who wanted to drive in IndyCar in 1982. Anderson designed his shock absorbers and through this link met team boss Roger Penske.

Penske hired him in 1984 and Anderson went on to establish Penske's shock absorber company, as well as working as Mears' race engineer from 1985 to 1988. He later became the team's chief engineer and it was at this point Anderson had his first contact with F1, a contra deal to use Williams' wind tunnel led to him developing a suspension system for the team.

In 1988 he was hired by Ligier as technical director and then moved to the ill-fated Onyx Grand Prix Engineering. When the team collapsed he returned to the USA and took up the role as technical director for Chip Ganassi Racing. He worked for a string of different American motorsport teams using his expertise to help them to a string of race and championship wins.

In 2008 Anderson joined forces with Windsor to form US F1 and in 2009 the team were confirmed as one of three new teams to join the 2010 grid. Although Anderson has been very vocal about wanting to field an all-American driver line-up this looks unlikely for their debut year. Driver line-up is likely to be the smallest of the hurdles the fledgling team has to overcome in order to be on the grid in Bahrain.

Jo Carter November 2009