Andretti surprised to get Patrick

Speaking at the unveiling of Patrick's new livery for 2007, Andretti said that after the Rahal Letterman driver made such an impact at Indianapolis in 2005, he didn't expect her to become available.

"After Indy I thought 'man, I'd really like to have her in my team one day,'" he said. "But I didn't think it would happen. I was really surprised Bobby (Rahal) didn't sign her up after that.

"When she came to us and said she was available, the deal got done pretty quickly because both sides wanted it to happen."

Patrick stayed at Rahal Letterman for 2006, and finished ninth in the standings. But she is yet to score a maiden victory in the IndyCar Series, while Andretti Green are proven winners.

"It's a huge step for me to be joining such a successful team, but I'll always be grateful to Bobby for everything he has done to help my career," she said.

But after a disappointing season by their high standards, Andretti knows that the team have a lot of work to do to get back to the front.

"We're going to maximise our time over the winter to catch up to the Penske and Ganassi cars," he said. "We have lots of ideas, but we need time. We couldn't do it mid-season."

"Tony (Kanaan), Marco (Andretti), and Danica all need to work together, and I've stressed that to Danica. With them and the fourth guy we're going to have, we'll have a really good, tight team."