“Always wanted Mario Andretti to drive for me” : Zak Brown grants Andretti’s wish to drive a McLaren in Austin
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Mario Andretti, who featured in 128 Grand Prix’s in his entire F1 career between 1968 and 1982, is indeed one of the most prolific racers in the world. Having won the 1978 Formula One World Championship with Lotus, the American has achieved the impossible feat of being the only person who has won all three Championships–F1, NASCAR, and IndyCar, till date. If that is not all, the American has also won the second place at 24 Hours at Le Mans in 1995.
The octogenarian, although retired from racing, has always been quite close to this world of motorsports, and he recently came to the Miami Grand Prix in the Hard Rock Stadium to watch the first-ever race that occured in the Magic City.
Maybe Mario Andretti is no more an active racecar driver, but the longing of driving one of the cars bugs him all the time. So, when Andretti visited the McLaren garage and met with Zak Brown, CEO of the Woking-based team, he spoke about his bucket list. The 82-year-old former World Champion said he wanted to drive a modern F1 car once, and Brown immediately agreed to it.
Zak Brown grants Mario Andretti the wish to drive a McLaren in Austin
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It is not every day that an F1 veteran who has won an F1 title, a NASCAR title, as well as an IndyCar title, comes to you and asks you to let him drive your car. But that is exactly what happened to Zak Brown when Mario Andretti approached him in Miami. When Andretti expressed his wish to drive a McLaren, Brown immediately said yes. Later, as WTF1.com quotes, Zak Brown said, “I’ve always wanted Mario Andretti to drive for me.”
Honoured to stand between @MarioAndretti and @emmofittipaldi on the grid in Miami. Two world champions and legends of our sport.
Struck a deal with Mario to tick something off his bucket list – he’ll be driving a previous @McLarenF1 race car at this year’s US GP in Austin ? pic.twitter.com/FWzEzNzmvE
— Zak Brown (@ZBrownCEO) May 10, 2022
But Zak Brown wanted to make this a bit more fun by striking a deal with Mario Andretti. In Zak’s own words, he gave a challenge to the former World Champion, saying, “But we have to make some kind of bet, because that’s what I do with my drivers.”
In reply to this, Andretti said, “Oh really?”
And then, the deed was done. Zak will let Mario Andretti drive an older McLaren around the Austin track during the US Grand Prix weekend. But he has kept us fans in the dark regarding what the bet is all about.
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Riddhi Mondal
(1821 Articles Published)