Mario Andretti: “F1 team rejection would be the worst moment of my career”
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Mario Andretti
Mario Andretti had a very good career in Formula 1, the highlight of which was his championship win in 1978 when he was driving for Lotus. Not only that, but he is one of only two drivers that have won a race in all of IndyCar, Formula 1, and NASCAR, the other being Dan Gurney. Aside from that, his son, Michael, also owns ‘Andretti Motorsport’ which currently competes in IndyCar, Formula E, etc. and they hope Formula 1 will be one of those series.
Currently, Formula 1’s stance is that if a new team is to join the grid, then it must be a manufacturer. While Andretti has submitted paperwork to F1, there are still questions up in the air if they can actually join Formula 1. Last year, they had been in talks to purchase Alfa Romeo from Sauber, but the talks fell through.
As reported by The Race, in his recent appearance on WTF1’s podcast, Mario Andretti talked about how the talks were progressing, and expressed his disappointment at how ‘complicated’ the whole process was. Recently, his son, Michael, received criticism about his comments criticizing ‘snobbish attitudes’ and referring to Formula 1 as a ‘European Club’.
Andretti requests: “Please take us seriously,”
In the podcast, Andretti talked about the process to join Formula 1, saying: “They can make it as difficult as they please, and sometimes I cannot believe that the process has to be this complicated. But they have to realise how serious we are, how committed we are, it’s not just in and out, it’s a long-term commitment with the investment that will be made.”
Motorsport certainly runs in the blood of the Andretti family: “Please take us seriously, this is all we do, this is all we love. This is all we’ve ever done in our professional life, so what’s the problem here? We want to be on the grid in 2024.”
Except for McLaren and Alpine, reactions to Andretti potentially joining the Formula 1 grid have been lukewarm at best. Andretti feels it is the teams and Liberty Media are currently the problem: “It seems like you could speak with some team principals, and you get an idea or an agreement then all of sudden the situation turns. It’s not very clear where the actual resistance is at the moment. I would say the teams and the Liberty side is probably the main problem.”
Andretti appealed to fans and Formula 1 to not be shut out of the sport: “It would be the biggest disappointment of our life in motorsport, to be totally shut out of something that we love, something we have done, something we have lived for. F1 is how my love for the sport was born. If they reject us, for me, it would be the worst moment of my career.”
Andretti’s two teams in IndyCar and Formula E currently both sit 7th in their respective championships. The current limit of number of cars that can start a race in Formula 1 is 26, which basically limits the grid to 13 teams. The last time Formula 1 had 11 teams on the grid was back in 2016 before Manor Racing collapsed.
Also Read: “I’m getting the European feeling,” Michael Andretti slams F1 for not being open to an American team
Also Read: “I hope it’s not dead,” Zak Brown supports Andretti Global’s F1 entry despite all the resistance
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Aniket Tripathi
(1002 Articles Published)