US F1 signing Jose Maria Lopez has revealed that the US F1 contender will make its track debut in late February.

Speaking to Reuters following his official confirmation, the Argentine driver said: "The car should be ready between the 20th and 25th of February and then we're going to test drive it in Alabama."

Earlier this month team boss Peter Windsor revealed that the FIA had given US F1 special dispensation to carry out its initial tests at the Barber Motorsport Park in Alabama, though at the time the Australian said this would take place "at the beginning of February".

Speaking about his recruitment to the North Carolina based outfit, Lopez said: "Three years ago when I returned from Europe I couldn't imagine getting this opportunity again. I know how difficult it is to get into F1. Thank God the results and many other things came together. There are five new teams in F1 with more seats available. After a fantastic 2009 for me, which is very hard for anyone to repeat, if it wasn't going to happen this year it was going to be very difficult."

Ahead of its debut season there are many questions concerning US F1, questions such as how will the car perform, how will the Cosworth perform, who will the other driver be. Lopez doesn't appear unduly concerned.

"It's difficult to set objectives because there are many new things, new driver, new team starting from zero," he said. "We must be patient and have confidence in the people working on the car. Today, the objective is to be ahead of the new teams."

The other big question is whether the American outfit will make it to the grid in Bahrain and if it does will it see the season out. Bernie Ecclestone remains convinced that two teams will falter while only on Monday, (McLaren boss and FOTA chairman) Martin Whitmarsh hinted that not all teams will go the distance, thereby opening up the driver market again.

"I might be wrong, but one can imagine that the driver market and maybe the entrants will be slightly more volatile than they have been in recent years," he told Reuters. "I sense that there will be some drivers who think they are gainfully employed at the moment who may be available in the future."