Jose Maria Lopez says he would welcome Adrian Valles as his teammate at the new US F1 team, after the Spaniard was linked with the drive earlier this month.
Argentinean Lopez is the only driver confirmed by the Charlotte-based squad, which is facing a race against time to make it to the first race in Bahrain next month. Lopez reckons Valles, who won the Superleague championship with Liverpool last year, would be a strong teammate.
"I would very much like to have Adrian as a teammate for a lot of reasons," Lopez told Spanish daily Marca. "First, he is young, talented and with a lot of experience. Second, because I know him from the time when we were together in the Renault development program."
He added: "It's hard to talk about another driver. A lot of times they have to be judged by the car they are driving or by the team with which they have been, but Adrian has done well in all the categories he has been in, and that shows he is a talented driver."
Although US F1 looks set to miss all the European preseason tests, Lopez believes joining a new team was still a good decision.
"Of course, it's worth it," he said. "I've fought a lot to achieve this and I've been through a lot of things. It's a chance to return to the top category in motorsport. "I'm going to give 100 percent to stay in Formula 1."