Newgarden 'should be receiving calls from F1 teams'

New Verizon IndyCar Series champion Josef Newgarden is worthy of consideration by Formula 1 teams, according to one of his oldest friends and rivals.

A.J. Foyt Racing's Conor Daly, who spent 2011-2014 chasing his F1 dream on the European open-wheel ladder, believes Newgarden has the speed and experience to warrant interest from grand prix teams in search of proven talent.

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"Right now, the pace Josef has been on with his steady development, he should be receiving calls from Formula 1 teams," Daly told RACER. "In no way should he not be paid attention to. The guy won the championship in his first season with Roger Penske, and maybe he is receiving calls from Formula 1 teams."

Daly and Newgarden have competed against each other since their karting days, and have been teammates on multiple occasions while rising up the open-wheel ladder. Between the two, Newgarden was the first to leave America for the GP3 series in 2010, and returned home in 2011 where he won the Indy Lights championship.

Daly rose as high as GP2 during his time in Europe, and after seeing the impatient approach to young F1-caliber talent, he's thankful Newgarden continued his education on the Mazda Road To Indy before graduating to IndyCar in 2012.

"It's hard to accept that a talent like Josef, that we've seen for many years, would have been kicked out of the Red Bull system if he had gone to Formula 1," Daly suggested. "Their deal would be, '23rd as a rookie, 14th in Year 2, let's get rid of him.' You aren't given a lot of time to grow, which he's had now in IndyCar.

"The progression is what's impressive about Josef. Drivers are always learning, and he's only been with Penske one year and look what he's done already. He's going to be very difficult to beat here in the future if he doesn't get taken by a Formula 1 team."