Which Americans are F1-Bound?

USF1 officially broke cover Tuesday, and while Team Principal Ken Anderson and Sporting Director Peter Windsor didn't give too many details on Formula One's first American team in decades, both provided some interesting insight into the team's potential driver selections.

Names like IndyCar star Danica Patrick and Scott Speed, the last American to grace the F1 grid, were mentioned by Windsor as driver possibilities, but admitted that he nor Anderson have yet to formally negotiate with anyone. Windsor said, though, that the goal is to place Americans in both seats when the team debuts in 2010.

While there may be interest, Patrick has gone on the record in saying that she doesn't enjoy international travel – a staple of F1. Speed appears to be happy in NASCAR, embarking on his rookie season in the Sprint Cup Series. However, Windsor wasn't shy to mention that he'd be interested in talking to some of Speed's colleagues currently in NASCAR, with Kyle Busch's name thrown out during the conference.

But in all honestly, will USF1 be able to attract an American star with a household name? There's always Marco Andretti or Graham Rahal, but will either want to gamble their solid IndyCar careers to make a leap into the unknown, with a start-up team?

Don't count out lesser-known names such as Team USA scholarship winners Connor Daly and Josef Newgarden, or A1GP winner Jonathan Summerton, as potentials, although perhaps only being considered to be test drivers at first.

A F1 veteran may be needed to help get the team off the ground, and that would be someone without an American passport, unless Scott Speed has a change of mind. But will Anderson and Windsor elect to go that route?

The bottom line is that there's now two highly sought-after seats on the market right now, in a time where many young Americans are looking for a place to race. USF1 could be all that's needed to put some juice back in F1 for American fans.