Sole American in Formula struggles to keep his ride

	The only American driving in Formula One, Scott Speed may be the last one for a while, too, if his struggles continue this season. AP

Scott Speed was a participant in the original Red Bull Driver Search of 2002, one of 25 considered for a program to bring an American to Formula One. After three seasons in the program, Speed graduated to successful campaigns in Europe's development series.

But in stark contrast to F/1 rookie sensation Lewis Hamilton, who is toiling for the mighty McLaren-Mercedes, Speed landed with a Minardi team that traditionally has run at the back. Minardi was soon purchased by Red Bull, giving it two teams in F/1. Despite the purchase and a name change to Toro Rosso, the energy drink's name in Italian, good results have been very hard to achieve.

Speed hasn't scored a point, which go to the top eight positions in each race in F/1, in 24 starts heading into this weekend's United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis. He's been ninth twice, including three weeks ago in Monaco, and he's been in the top half of the 22-car field in five other races.

Many press reports have speculated Speed would be replaced since the season began. Red Bull officials, though, steadfastly have denied the 24-year-old from Manteca, Calif., is on the chopping block. Some believe Champ Car star Sebastien Bourdais, who has tested twice for Toro Rosso, already has been signed for '08.

Undoubtedly, Speed is under pressure to start scoring points. He believes Gerhard Berger, the former F/1 driver who purchased a stake in the team last winter, thinks the equipment is capable of better performances than Speed is giving it.

"It certainly feels that way sometimes, because I think Gerhard expects quite a lot," Speed said. But Speed is supremely confident he's extracted what the team's STR2-Ferrari has to offer.

"At this point, I am happy with myself, that's for sure," Speed said. "I think we have had a great beginning [to] the year and I think I have started out better than I did last year. For me, I am happy with everything I have done, and that's the only thing I can control.

"A lot of that [pressure] is out of your control, and I definitely have the view where I don't look at the results as what makes me happy, because results are not something you can control. If you look today at how many people score points who normally would never score points, you can maybe realize that in F/1, to be in the right position to score points, a lot has to go your way. Especially for us, with how competitive we are at the moment.

"If you do a good job in your race, have a good start, make very little mistakes, make good passes, then you have to be happy with yourself."

With its unlimited budgets and advanced technology, F/1 rewards the quality of car more than of driver, Speed says.