USF1 interested in testing Patrick

"She's great. She gets a lot of press," USF1 technical director Ken Anderson told The Associated Press.

"(Indianapolis Motor Speedway president) Tony George would probably be pretty mad with me if I took her out of the IRL but we'll see.

"I don't know if it's something she wants to do. We'd certainly love to test her and go from there," Anderson added.

The USF1 team have already set a February 24 date to announce their plans to enter Formula One, as details continue to appear about the project.

According to The Associated Press report, the team will have a working budget of $64 million and a staff of at least 100, with the aim of putting two American drivers on the grid.

Patrick is one of the most popular names in IndyCar, where she has won one race to date.

Anderson said the team, to be based in South Carolina, are also looking at having a second headquarters in Spain, sharing the factory with the Epsilon Euskadi squad, based in Gipuzkoa.

"We're talking to (former F1 engineer) Sergio Rinland about basing it at Epsilon," said Anderson. "It (Gipuzkoa) is a beautiful city, it's certainly on top of our list. Spain makes a lot of sense with all the winter testing."

Anderson also admitted it made sense to enter Formula One now.

"It's the biggest sport in the world and the biggest TV show in the world," he said. "NASCAR has just become a national sport, never mind an international sport."