Dario joins the anti-groove lobby

The Scot is fighting for the CART title with Juan Montoya at present, and has often been mentioned in connection with Grand Prix drives due to his links with F1 teams.

He used to drive for Jackie Stewart in Formula 3, has Mercedes connections from his two years in the ITC (although his move to the Honda-powered Team KOOL Green in 1998 all but severed these links) and has even been discussed as a potential candidate for a Ferrari drive. In addition, BAR boss Craig Pollock is Franchitti's former manager.

However, the manner in which reigning CART champion Alex Zanardi has struggled to adapt to F1 has helped persuade Dario to stay in the States for now. He blames the F1 regulations, particularly the use of grooved tyres, for Zanardi's problems.

'At the moment, the odds might be stacked against me because of the grooved tyres,' he said. 'Normally, if you can drive one thing quickly you can drive anything quickly. But at the moment, Zanardi is struggling.

'Formula One is what I want, but I have to have a chance to win races. I'm not going to be running around at the back of the grid for the sake of it.'

With the current F1 regulations stipulating a narrow-track and hard, grooved tyres, Champ Cars and F1 cars are further apart than ever. Franchitti says that the Americans are the ones who have made the right choice.

'The cars I drive are less aerodynamically efficient than Formula One cars,' he explained. 'Making it tougher and more physical.'