IndyCar champion Josef Newgarden should be on the radar of Formula 1 teams, according to rival and friend Conor Daly.
Newgarden claimed his maiden IndyCar championship at the weekend, beating Simon Pagenaud by 13 points.
The 26-year-old raced in GP3, finishing 18th overall, before competing in the Indy Lights series, were he won the title in his first and only season, and switched to IndyCar in 2012, where he has steadily progressed up the ladder, improving his finishing position with each year.
Daly therefore believes Newgarden has the speed and talent to warrant consideration from F1 teams.
"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 also added that F1 gives drivers little to no time to develop, believing Newgarden would not have been afforded the opportunity to grow.
"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 added.
"Their deal would be, '23rd as a rookie, 14th in year two, let's get rid of him.' You aren't given a lot of time to grow, which he's had now in IndyCar."
