Rahal tells Franchitti not to miss the F1 boat

Speaking at last weekend's Australian Grand Prix, former Champ Car racer Rahal praised Franchitti's talents, but set a one-year limit on the 27-year-old's window to make the switch to F1.

"I rate Dario very highly, because he is one of the few guys who can run wheel-to-wheel with Juan Pablo Montoya," said Rahal. "He is still young enough [to make the switch], but if he is going to come here with any team, it has to be this year."

Speaking exclusively on Radio Autosport, Franchitti said: "If I am going to do it, then at some point I'll have to just get on with it and do it. Time is marching on."

Franchitti tested for Jaguar Racing last summer, but was slow in comparison to then regular tester Luciano Burti. Rahal, however, has admitted that the team failed to supply the Team Kool Green driver the environment or equipment to do himself justice.

"The test was poorly done," he said. "The team weren't ready to do it, the car had problems and he wasn't given a chance with the latest spec car. It maybe did Dario harm."

Franchitti agrees, saying: "For sure the Jaguar thing wasn't an ideal test. There were many, many things that didn't go right in that test.

"Basically, the team was in no condition at the time to run a test for me. They had their own fires to put out. They didn't do me any favours by putting me out there and then not being able to give me a full run at it.

"It was nice of them to offer the test, but I think it would have been better to have been conducted at another time."

When Montoya won the 1999 CART title, Franchitti tied with the Colombian on points, only losing out on a tie-break of most victories.

Montoya has since switched to F1 with Williams-BMW and is being touted as a future star of the sport, but Franchitti begins a fifth season of Champ Cars this weekend after choosing to remain Stateside. However, he concedes that if the test had been more positive, a move to F1 for 2001 was not out of the question.

"There was an opportunity there if I liked what I saw and they liked what they saw," said Franchitti. "But the way the test went... It just didn't work from there on."

To listen to Dario Franchitti's interview with Radio Autosport, click here.