The action was brought by FIA president Jean Todt, but judged by a separate Judging body under Graham Stoker. This is a departure from the old disciplinary system under Max Mosley, who was both prosecutor and judge in cases like the Flavio Briatore Singapore case.

The new Judging Body of the World Motor Sport Council imposed some heavy sanctions against USF1, “a fine of 309,000 euros (a sum equivalent to the Entry Fees for the Championship); the disqualification of USF1 (which definitively deprives USF1 of the right to take part, in any way whatsoever, in any competition); and the payment of the costs incurred by the FIA within the context of this disciplinary procedure.”

The door has been slammed firmly in USF1′s face.

The team was born from the enthusiasm of F1 journalist Peter Windsor, who joined forces with American engineer Ken Anderson. They got as far as they did because they managed to get investment from You Tube founder Chad Hurley, but failed to add enough additional sponsor funds, despite Hurley’s connections, to get the project ready in time for the start of the 2010 season.

The whole project seemed to be behind technically too from the outset. The team had been attracted by Max Mosley’s idea of a £30 million budget cap, but as the arguments over that dragged on through the summer of 2009, delaying the new Concorde Agreement, the team lost time waiting for the situation to clarify before committing itself fully. The team tried to argue that this constitued ‘force majeure’ but the Judging body was having none of it.

“The team, whilst well-intentioned, had displayed poor financial management and had underestimated the requirement to present an F1 car for the 2010 season in the time and with the financial resources available to them, ” said the FIA’s report. The team had got through the due diligence process imposed on all new teams by the FIA under former Mosley adviser Tony Purnell.

When it became clear that the team was not going to be ready for the start of the 2010 season, they tried to defer entry to 2011, but this was refused and the action launched, which culminated in this verdict.

“It was wholly unacceptable that the FIA was presented with only three weeks warning of the total non-appearance of the team at the Grand Prix in Bahrain and for the 2010 season, and WMSC members had real concerns about the impact on the championship, not least the deprivation of the opportunity for another team to have provided two cars to run in the championship in 2010 instead of US F1,” concluded the report.

“MotorLand Aragon is the ideal motorsports complex for US F1’s European operation,” said Peter Windsor, executive vice president and sporting director of US F1. “From the excellent location and weather, to the rich racing heritage and diverse track configurations, MotorLand provides America’s first Formula One team in more than 40 years with the perfect facility to manage the 2010 season and train for 2011 and beyond.”

Technology park is to the right

US F1 will have its main R&D and manufacturing base in the US, but plans to have departments for testing, rebuilds, logistics and communications in Spain.

Motorland is almost equidistant between Barcelona and Madrid.

MotorLand has three circuit layouts, a technology park and kart track as well as other entertainment attractions. Like most modern circuits it was designed by Hermann Tilke, although McLaren F1 driver Pedro De la Rosa was a consultant on the project.

Testing is very limited nowadays in F1 and individual tests are not on the agenda any more. Over the winter and into next season there will be even less testing than 2008/09, with a young driver test in November and then nothing more until the new cars come out in February.

FOTA is considering having a group new car launch in late January early February to create a big media event and to save costs for all the teams. It is taking soundings at the moment on how this would work with media schedules. My own view is that the smaller teams would get less airtime and coverage than they do at the moment. The teams could do a lot more online, including launching cars.

What do you think? Should they leave it as it is with teams launching cars alone or should they do a single launch event? Let me have your comments and I will forward them to FOTA.

The Motorland website is at www.motorlandaragon.com/index.aspx?lang=GB