Danica Patrick 'possible' for Haas F1 seat

UPDATE #2

Danica to F1? Bernie Ecclestone called her an 'appliance'

This rumor is downgraded to 'false' like it really had any possibility of becoming reality. Of course not. Danica Patrick said she is flattered that her name keeps coming up to go racing in Formula 1, but for now, at least, it's a non-starter. In a wide ranging interview with The Toronto Sun outside her motorhome at Michigan International Speedway on Friday, Patrick said her plate is full right now just trying to master the #10 Stewart Haas Racing Chevy in the NASCAR Sprint Cup series, where she is halfway through her second season in the big stock cars. The offer to go F-1 racing came from her NASCAR team co-owner Gene Haas, who plans on entering the open-wheel fray in the 2016 season with an all-American team.

At the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal last weekend, Haas said Patrick would be considered as a driver for the team. Patrick, however, admitted she might have jumped at the opportunity 10 years ago, but her life has changed a lot since then and that she hasn't been asked by Haas or anybody else what her thoughts were on the subject. "I agree that anything is possible, but nobody has said anything to me," she said. "I am happy where I am at right now as far as racing goes. I am just starting to get the hang of Sprint Cup racing." Patrick didn't, though, absolutely rule out going back to open-wheel racing if the right offer came along. "Out of respect for Gene, if he came to me I would certainly listen, but I am almost getting too old (32) to start a third career," she said. More at Toronto Sun

06/08/14 With Danica Patrick still struggling in NASCAR, could she be headed back to open-wheel racing as one of the drivers for her boss, Gene Haas, who will launch a North Carolina-based Formula One team in 2016? That question was posed to Haas Saturday afternoon following qualifying for the Canadian Grand Prix, and while he sounded intrigued by the possibility, he also sounded as though it would be unlikely to actually happen.

Asked if Patrick would be a good candidate for the Haas Formula One team on NBC Sports Network, Haas said, "I think she would. I think she would. She would bring an awful lot of viewership. I think it would be great for America (unless of course she runs dead last). I think she would be a great candidate." Haas then quickly added, "Whether that's going to happen or not … that's, that's, that's … you know I think that's kind of a long shot there, too."

06/07/14 (GMM) The door to formula one could be opening up for Danica Patrick.

In April, the sport's newest team owner, Gene Haas, said the world's most famous female racing driver will not be making the switch from Nascar.

Patrick, 32, drives for Haas in America's premier tin-top series, but the 61-year-old Californian said in April that it would be "impossible" for any of his existing drivers to juggle Nascar while also preparing for F1.

"It would be really impossible to accomplish that and survive," said Haas.

But perhaps the subsequent decision to delay Haas Formula's grand prix debut until 2016, and Patrick's poor performance in NASCAR has changed things.

Gunther Steiner, who in the past worked in upper management at Red Bull and Jaguar, confirmed to Speed Week on Friday that he will be Haas' F1 team boss.

"I will be the team boss," Steiner said in the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve paddock.

He clarified that the F1 team will be completely separate to Haas' Nascar operation, which is in collaboration with the driver Tony Stewart.

"Tony wants to make money with racing, Gene wants to spend it," Steiner smiled.

But what about Patrick, the diminutive American driver whose early pedigree was in open wheel racing, including her famous IndyCar win in 2008?

"It's too early for this (driver question)," said Steiner. "But, you know, everything is possible."