USF1, Formula One’s newest team, is looking at the possibility of recruiting Indycar driver Danica Patrick for the 2010 season, according to various reports.
The competition has been badly hit by the global financial meltdown, which has resulted in Honda pulling out of F1, new rules that are designed to cut costs among the teams, as well as the recent news of ING not renewing its sponsorship of the Renault team at the end of this season.
Formula One has injected some excitement back to its fans in recent years with some novel experiments, including last year’s inaugural night race here in Singapore.
With people all around the world tightening their purse-strings in anticipation for more bad times ahead, the series would need something more to entice fans to fork out money to watch the races, where tickets have traditionally been costly.
And a classic battle between the sexes may just generate enough buzz to save the sport from going further south.
After all, Patrick is not just a pretty face (she famously posed in a swimsuit for the cover of Sports Illustrated, as well as men’s magazine FHM). The 26-year-old became the first woman to win an Indy car race last year in Japan, three years after turning professional.
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