SHE has been touted to make her entry into Formula One next year.

But IndyCar star Danica Patrick says she has not been contacted by anyone from the new, American Formula One team USF1 and has no plans to leave the IndyCar Series.

Ken Anderson, one of the principals in the team that will be formally announced tomorrow, has said Patrick is a candidate to fill one of the team's seats.

In a phone interview on Friday, Patrick says she's flattered by the team's interest but is happy where she is.

'You know, it starts with a phone call, and I haven't heard anything,' says Patrick, who won her first IndyCar race last year in Japan. 'It's funny how these things get going. But I'm happy driving in the IndyCar Series, I'm happy in North America.

'There weren't any quotes (in the stories) from me, because they haven't spoken to me,' she said.

'It's very flattering. I think that any time you are in the same sentence as Formula One, it's a flattering thing,' added the 26-year-old.

'I haven't really expressed a lot of excitement and interest in world travel. We'll see what they have to say, though. Maybe they'll call.'

The planned USF1 team, to make its debut next year, is due to be unveiled on Speed TV tomorrow.

Anderson said USF1 will have a staff of at least 100, a working budget of US$64 million ($98m) and an aim to put two American drivers on the starting grid.

He said the team is looking at several candidates, including Patrick.

'She's great. She gets a lot of press,' Anderson said. 'I don't know if it's something she wants to do. We'd certainly love to test her and go from there.'

Asked if she would be interested in at least testing with USF1, Patrick said: 'I don't want to lead anyone on, for sure. It's a costly thing to go testing, that's for sure, and there would be a big time commitment to making a seat and doing all that stuff.

'Time is very valuable and I have very little of it, so unless I was really serious about it, I don't think I would go down that road. But I am happy where I am. It would take a bit to make that change for me.'

Patrick, who has one victory in 64 starts, will begin her fifth season in the IndyCar Series and third with Andretti Green Racing on 5 Apr at St Petersburg, Florida.

Last year, she finished sixth in the standings and has improved her points position each season since joining IndyCar in 2005.

Competitive

'The good news is I'm on a good team,' Patrick said. 'We're always competitive. I'm excited about the changes within the team. I have a new engineer and Mike (Andretti) calling my races now. I think it's going to be fresh and different.'

Patrick, who will take part in a pre-season IndyCar test next week at Homestead-Miami Speedway, says she is anxious to get back in the cockpit after a busy off-season that included her second appearance in Sports Illustrated's swimsuit issue.

The glamorous Patrick, the most marketable commodity in the US Indy Car series, spent some of her formative years competing in junior series in Europe and has expressed interest in Formula One.

There has not been a female driver in Formula One since Italian Giovanna Amati failed to qualify her Brabham in 1992.

This article was first published in The New Paper.