His video site may not yet be as profitable as hoped, but YouTube co-founder and CEO Chad Hurley’s a wealthy young man in need of an outlet. He has becoming the “primary investor” for US F1, the motorsports team debuting in next year’s season.

Hurley, who recently met Formula One Management CEO Bernie Eccelstone at the British grand prix, tells Autosport.com: “I thought it was a great business opportunity and a good investment.” But he will also be bringing his digital expertise to bear: “I am definitely going to be involved in helping the team with sponsors, helping the team with business relationships, and helping the team with integrating technology – ways that they can leverage and benefit from social media and the internet broadly.

“I see tremendous potential for all sports to integrate more media, more social connections, connect with the fans and build a fan base. And that’s exactly what I hope to bring to US F1, bringing my experience and perhaps my opinions of how we could go about that. Obviously video is something I am deeply involved with today, and that is going to be a big part of what we do at US F1. Hopefully we can create compelling content that individuals around the world have an opportunity to view and share, and really feel like they are part of the team.”

Formed by ex Haas CNC Racing technical director Ken Anderson and former Williams and Ferrari manager Peter Windsor, Charlotte, NC-based US F1 will be the only F1 team based outside Europe, the first American team in 40 years and enters the sport after yet another recent period of turmoil, in which most of the series’ teams threatened to form a breakaway competition and the BMW has quit the sport. A spending cap has also opened the window for new teams that are ambitious but less rich than the likes of Ferrari.

“It’s more than a business opportunity for me,” Hurley tells Autosport.com. Because of the design and the technology aspects, and the sport aspects ... What attracted me to US F1 is that it is a start-up. And it’s a very similar situation to one that would be in Silicon Valley – it’s a small team of talented, smart individuals trying to break the mould, trying to accomplish something that others think is impossible ... Building a car, designing a car – my background is in design, more in graphic design, but ultimately the process is pretty much all the same.