Danica Patrick and the new American team granted entry to join F1

A close up of Danica Patrick during a grand prix weekend — Photo: © IMAGO

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Danica Patrick and the new American team granted entry to join F1

Danica Patrick tipped to drive for US F1 team

Dan Ripley Global Editor

Professional F1 journalist and analyst

Monday 3 August 2026 20:57

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There are two US based teams in Formula 1 in Haas and Cadillac and the sport in the country has never been bigger.

In addition to those two teams there are three US based races in Miami, Austin and Las Vegas underlining that once and for all F1 is now a big deal in the United States.

This of course helps when you have US owners in Liberty Media, but even Bernie Ecclestone in his time as F1 chief couldn't crack the Stateside in his many attempts and back in 2009, the country's footprint on F1 was invisible.

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There were no American teams and there wasn't a single US Grand Prix following the last one held at Indianapolis in 2007 won by Lewis Hamilton.

The USA then turned its back on F1 after the fallout of the catastrophic six-car race held in 2005 involving the infamous Michelin tyre debacle.

The US GP ended in 2007 after the debacle of the 2005 six-car race

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United States returns to F1

F1 was heading into a new era in 2010, with plans for an optional £40million budget cap (those in compliance gained more technical freedom) and an expansion on the grid to 13 teams to fill 26 grid slots.

That whole situation became VERY complicated due to teams withdrawing in 2009, but to keep on topic a US based team were accepted in June 2009 to join the 13-team grid in 2010.

The project was led by F1 journalist and former team Williams team manager Peter Windsor and a former Haas NASCAR technical director in Ken Anderson, with the team officially named 'US F1', after Anderson and Windsor announced the project on American TV in February 2009.

US F1 would be primarily based in Charlotte, North Carolina, with a secondary base in at the Motorland Aragon track in Spain to help with the European portion of the F1 season.

Ken Anderson (left) and Peter Windsor launched the US F1 project in February 2009

Danica Patrick sounded out for US F1 drive

The plan was to run two American drivers, and the rumours early on were that Danica Patrick would be one of them.

Back then the Indy Racing League (IRL) driver showed potential to be more than a what was perceived as a marketing gimmick and actually become F1's sixth female driver on merit.

Anderson even admitted he would be interested in testing her in one of US GP's F1 cars to see if anything could come of it.

He said: "Danica's great - she gets a lot of press. IndyCar Series boss 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."

For whatever reason, not only did this test never happen but Danica didn't even get contacted by the team.

At this time, Danica was constantly linked with F1 given a close relationship with Honda, with rumours reporting her testing for the team before they pulled out of F1 in 2008.

Danica: 'Nobody called me'

Danica revealed though in 2022 an F1 drive was never on when she was asked how close she got to the sport.

"Not very, like truly. I don't think I was ever actually like really properly ever offered a test," she told F1's Beyond the Grid podcast.

"It always felt like media fodder. It felt like something just to drum up attention because I never got a phone call.

"There was two or three different times I feel like during my career where there was news articles and media about 'oh Danica might be you know maybe she should come to F1' or is coming to F1 or doing a test or something and I'm like 'nobody's called me!'"

This may have not just been a Danica thing though because at the time, former F1 driver Scott Speed as well as 1978 F1 champion Mario Andretti's grandson Marco were also linked with the US F1 drive and it never got anywhere.

Danica Patrick admits she never got the call to test despite media reports

US F1 car pictures, sort of

The team confirmed its chassis name of US F1 Type 1 in September with renderings of the car posted. And that was about as close as we got to seeing what their F1 car would like like.

Not everything was going to plan. US F1's preparation was affected by months in line with the FIA having to backtrack on their budget plan proposal in the face of many F1 teams including Ferrari threatening to walk out.

There had investors onboard including advertising agency of Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, while YouTube's co-founder Chard Hurley put some money up.

Peter Windsor was helping run the US F1 project

Lopez confirmed in American U-turn

But by November the project over two Americans and no pay drivers had already changed when Argentine Jose Maria Lopez announced he would drive for the team in a deal that saw him bring $8million in sponsorship to the team, this was then officially confirmed in late January 2010.

On the deal, Windsor said: "Securing 'Pechito' Lopez for our debut season has been a goal of ours for a long time," Windsor said.

"We've been following his career since he dominated the Renault V6 Championship in 2003 and we're thrilled to have him on board as we return America to Formula One."

Honda's British test driver James Rossiter was thought to have landed the second US seat but this was never made official.

Bernie Ecclestone doubted US F1's ability to start the season

Bernie Ecclestone smells trouble

Things got even more concerning in December when F1 chief Bernie Ecclestone doubted US F1 would make the start of the season. These were rebuffed by Windsor who said: "I'm surprised Bernie said that. We will be there. We're in good shape."

But they weren't. They missed the first two pre-season tests, then they asked FIA permission to miss the first four races so they could debut at the Spanish Grand Prix in May, which was rejected.

They lost investors, including Hurley, leaving the team in chaos mid-February less than one month before the start of the season at the Bahrain Grand Prix.

When it became clear they would not be able to compete for the entire 2010 season, the final financial backing was gone.

US F1 collapse, fined and banned

One week after an FIA inspection of the team by Charlie Whiting to investigate if the team was able to compete, the team was effectively shut down at the start of March.

It didn't end there either. On June 24 in 2010, the FIA world motor sport council held a hearing into US F1's failure to compete in the 2010 F1 season. They were fined $309,000 plus hearing costs and were banned from any championship under the jurisdiction of the FIA.

For Danica's sake it was probably a good outcome she never got involved, but a very small part of the failed US F1 team exists to this day, and it holds some small hope of a comeback opportunity.

Their X page is still online and according to them, they are not gone, and there will be 'more news soon' as the F1 world still eagerly awaits 16 years later...

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Written by

Dan Ripley - Global Editor

I've been a massive F1 fan since the mid 1990s and continue to study the history of the sport long before that. As an experienced motor sport reporter covering F1, MotoGP and the LeMans 24 Hour race, being part of GPFans has allowed me to work with a diverse team with all sorts of different backgrounds in watching the sport and given me a greater appreciation of F1.

View full biography

F1 Peter Windsor Danica Patrick