Lopez would welcome Valles at US F1

Argentinean Lopez is the only driver confirmed at the American squad, who is facing a race against time to make it to the first race in Bahrain next month.

Lopez reckons Valles, who won the Superleague championship with Liverpool last year, would be a strong team-mate.

"I would very much like to have Adrian as a team-mate for a lot of reasons," Lopez told Spanish daily Marca.

"First, he is young, talented and with a lot of experience. Second, because I know him from the time when we were together in the Renault development programme."

He added: "It's hard to talk about another driver. A lot of times they have to be judged by the car they are driving or by the team with which they have been, but Adrian has done well in all the categories he has been in, and that shows he is a talented driver."

Although US F1 looks set to miss all the European pre-season tests, Lopez believes joining a new team was still a good decision.

"Of course it's worth it," he said. "I've fought a lot to achieve this and I've been through a lot of things. It's a chance to return to the top category in motorsport.

"I'm going to give 100 per cent to stay in Formula 1."