Comments on: YouTube CEO Chad Hurley joins USF1

By: James Reginald Harris, Jr

James Reginald Harris, Jr — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 23:54:01 +0000

I question Mr. Hurley’s reason for investment in formula one racing as not out of love of the sport and would think that his prospective investment should be reviewed by the proper authorities.

By: GeorgeK

GeorgeK — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 02:51:07 +0000

Any news is good news, but show me a sponsor and a team infrastructure please. As a private equity investor I’m hoping Hurley will find the sponsors so he can at the least recover his initial bankroll.

His interview didn’t expose any brilliant insights or novel approaches to sponsorship, other than “new media”.

By: Gman

Gman — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 05:40:22 +0000

All in all, this is a very good news item for USF1 and the sport in general. Any time you get a guy who not just has money himself, but connections to many other sources as well, It’s a good deal for the team involved. Hopefully more such announcements will put to rest the theory of the team actually being a phantom entry that exists in name only and has no real headquarters or staff

By: manatcna

manatcna — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 04:07:21 +0000

Several F1 sites are now saying the same thing re Petrov

By: mp4-19b

mp4-19b — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 02:29:10 +0000

its rumored that youtube will be made a pay & use site in the coming few months

By: Kherubim

Kherubim — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 15:21:20 +0000

The fastest way to become a millionaire in F1? Get in as a billionaire…

Yeah, BMW and/or STR would have been better bargains, and with BMW you know they love their computers…

By: Leaf

Leaf — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 14:14:43 +0000

Well said.
We can only hope additional American business will see the opportunities in worldwide F1 marketing as the team gets up and rolling. As the worldwide recession eases it will help investment.
Additionally, it would be nice to think if that happens it can only bode well for 1 or 2 USA GP’s. You know all the manufacturers want to race here!

By: F1Outsider

F1Outsider — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 13:13:23 +0000

With all the talk about F1 Teams actually making money instead of spending money once the big budget cuts fall into place, Chad Hurley might even be making a smart investment for himself.

By: Ned Flanders

Ned Flanders — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 12:25:49 +0000

I haven’t watched GP2 this season- is Petrov any good? I know he’s doing ok in the championship, but he sounds like a pay driver to me. I get the impression that Hulkenberg is by far the best of the current GP2 drivers.

By: GooddayBruce

GooddayBruce — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 11:45:15 +0000

Brilliant. There is an interview with this joker on Autosport where they big up the positives of bringing a sharp business brain into F1.

Give me a break – there wasn’t really much of a business model behind YouTube was there? Make a website that becomes popular because it gives punters stolen IP for free, wait till it gains critical mass then sell it to some other clown with more money than sense (Google)

Great for making you a quick dollar (or billion) but the Google business ‘brains’ are still scratching their heads trying to figure out how to make money from this very expensive lemon that they bought.

And now Hurley is back, again showing his business acumen by bankrolling an F1 backmarker in the making. And for what? He’s not even promoting a product. Hurley obviously hasn’t heard the old adage about making small fortunes in F1…

Good on him though, cant criticise someone bringing money in to the sport in this day and age.

By: Matt

Matt — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 09:59:47 +0000

if i had his money wouldnt sink it into the F1 money pit. but i would have a nice boat in the harbour in monaco to watch the race from, in the company of several swimsuit models

By: DC

DC — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 09:43:06 +0000

Well, this seems to be another case of a rich guy taking a personal interest in a team (read: Red Bull, STR, Force India). That’s okay, but I would be happier if YouTube itself was going to be a title sponsor. We need corporations to think they can get their money’s worth by sponsoring teams. It has to be an economically viable sport without the patronage of a few guys with deep pockets.

By: IDR

IDR — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 06:00:20 +0000

Well, it seems USF1 web site will become a place to bookmark!

By: IDR

IDR — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 05:57:33 +0000

I’ve read in Marca (Spanish newspaper) Pedro de la Rosa and Vitaly Petrov will be the drivers for Meta Campos F1 team.

So they will have a much experienced driver in developing cars (Pedro) and a new driver (but not very young-he’s 25) coming from GP2 with a huge amount of money in sponsorship (Vitaly)

Marca is not a very accurate source, but sometimes they are right.

By: zerogee

zerogee — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 05:38:31 +0000

Whoops, should have read the whole thing. Primary investor. Hilarious. He is gullible.

By: Steven

Steven — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 01:50:54 +0000

As someone living in the Silicon Valley, I welcome this announcement and proudly regard USF1 as my “home team.” It is great to see a team trying something different than to take the boring path of buying an existing operation. Really, there is nothing more appropriate for an American team than to bring the entrepreneurial spirit of one of the last great industries that America still has.

By: 420

420 — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 01:31:48 +0000

i doubt well be seeing youtube on the side of the car

youtube doesnt actually amke any money for google..its still trying to figure out how to make youtube profitable

By: zerogee

zerogee — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 01:11:05 +0000

Thankfully I don’t think this means Hurley is putting any money in. Because he’ll never see it again (although that would be karmic).

I don’t know if this is sensible on Windsor’s part. He needs people who can navigate the evil laser-equipped-shark-infested F1 waters. Without wishing to be mean, Chad got lucky with YouTube (would that we were all this lucky). F1 is much harder work than a clever idea on the internet. If I had Chad’s money, I’d buy STR, not mess about with USF1.

Don’t get me wrong – if F1 weren’t the way it is, he’d be awesome. IRL needs him whereas F1 doesn’t, if you see my meaning.

By: newdecade

newdecade — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 00:11:07 +0000

Its been suggested that Hurley/youtube might act as a broker for 3rd party sponsors, potentially ones that might only contract for a few races. I can only hope that doesnt lead to monstrosities like the 99 BARs appearing every couple of months!

By: F1Yankee

F1Yankee — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 00:09:10 +0000

until it’s in writing, i don’t expect youtube sponsorship for the team. youtube is owned by google, and is known for making substantial losses.

best case scenario:
USF1 (with any livery) and F1 in general are plastered all over youtube.com, generating huge interest – but only after USGP is back on.