Mario Andretti
SKILL AND DOGGED PERSEVERANCE LED THE MAN TO A FORMULA ONE TITLE, VICTORY AT THE INDIANAPOLIS 500 AND DAYTONA 500, FOUR INDYCAR CHAMPIONSHIPS, WINS AT PIKES PEAK HILLCLIMB, THE SEBRING 12-HOUR AND A PIT-LANE FULL OF SPRINT CAR RACES.IN ALL,MARIO ANDRETTI WON 111 RACES OVER FIVE DECADES ON TAR AND DIRT. HE IS KNOWN AS ONE OF THE GREAT DRIVERS, NOTABLY ONE OF THE MOST VERSATILE, OF ALL TIME.
Mario Andretti, suave and sophisticated American, is the motorsport legend who loves dark chocolate gelato.
Italian-born, the man also loves fine wine, opera and fast driving in all manner of machines – it’s said he could make a bad car competitive and a competitive car a winner. His motto, ‘if everything seems under control, you’re just not going fast enough.’
Mario was born in 1940 in a northern region of Italy that became part of Communist Yugoslavia (later Croatia). So, the Andretti family moved south, living in a Tuscan refugee camp from 1948 to 1955, before immigrating to New York with little money and little English. But 15-year-old Mario and twin brother Aldo were already captive to motorsport.
‘We became enamoured with it. That’s where my dreams began, 14 years of age. We saw our first grand prix at Monza and then, imagine this is 1954, and about 20 years later I won there: won the Italian Grand Prix.’
In America, the teenage brothers were soon dirt track racing in a 1948 Hudson at the Nazareth Speedway near their new hometown in Pennsylvania. ‘The first time I fired up a car, felt the engine shudder and the wheel come to life in my hands, I was hooked. It was a feeling I can't describe,’ Mario said. ‘I never had a plan B.’
The harder decision was giving full-time racing away some forty years later.
‘It was a difficult decision, as you can imagine, because I loved driving so much. I pushed the envelope as long as I thought it was prudent from the standpoint of being competitive. I had witnessed, you know, some of my counterparts, a couple of them just stayed in it too long. I didn’t want to have a negative memory of the last part of my career. I wanted to be sure I could still be competitive when I gave up. And I think I accomplished that to some degree. ‘I remember this because my wife [Dee Ann] used to remind me that I didn’t even discuss it with her, she was left out; but I just wanted to make that decision on my own. When it became official, she says she thought that I’d be miserable and said she thought I still had at least another couple of years in me.’ Mario laughed and said he has no regrets whatsoever and was fortunate enough to be able to pick some races after retirement: raced Le Mans three more times for instance, winning his class there in 1995 in a Porsche C34.
‘I’ve been so fortunate to last out through the decades, through the ‘60s and ‘70s; especially, you know, when things were not as safe. I dodged so many bullets, I take nothing for granted, believe me – I know how lucky I’ve been.’
(Not so blessed was brother Aldo who had a major sprint car crash in 1969 that finalised his motorsport career. Aldo died in late 2020 from COVID-19.)
Mario Andretti raced sprint cars, Indy Cars, sports cars and Formula One cars over decades and across all continents – taking out the 1978 F1 championship with Colin Chapman’s ground-effects Lotus,
ABOVE: Mario Andretti in Victory Lane after winning the 53rd Indianapolis 500 in 1969
which Mario helped develop over three seasons. He’s the only driver to have won the Indy 500, the F1 crown and the Daytona 500; that 1967 NASCAR win was one of his more notable in a very loose Holman Moody Ford Fairlane and up against that category’s regular champs.
But he never considered a favourite track. ‘I tried never thinking I’m favouring this track versus another. Because if I went somewhere and thought “I really don’t like this place,” I’m beat before I get there. So, I tried to keep an open mind. But, at the end of the day, if you want to ask me what my favourite track is, I’ll say “the one where I won a race” – because you have that special memory, it means the world. And that’s the way I look at it.’ The 81-year-old said he’s not the wistful sort and so there are no classics in his home garage, aside from his father’s 1987 Ford Bronco: ‘it’s pristine, looks brand new and with only 40,000 miles on it.’ Alongside it is a Lamborghini Aventador, an ’01 Corvette, a Maserati Gransport sedan and a Mini Cooper. ‘I’m not the nostalgic type, but with sports cars I love to treat myself over the years, you know. I’ve had Ferraris, Lamborghinis, but I’m always waiting for the next one. The next one will be my best car because it’ll be the newest, all the tricks and everything else, all the equipment. That’s what I have, I usually have the latest in my garage.’
And while the champion said he could have had any of his special race cars for the asking – for instance, his F1 world championship Lotus or the Ferrari 312B in which he won his first F1 race at South Africa’s Kyalami circuit in 1971 – he settled on 1994’s Newman Hass Lola Indycar, his last race machine. He still enjoys road driving, and says he gets kicks from track work with the likes of Indycar’s two-seater and guest passengers. ‘On one particular drive at Indianapolis, I drove the entire month, put on about 600 [965.6km] or 700 miles [1126.54km]. After the race last year, we guaranteed 200mph [321km/h] average with a passenger, which is pretty good. A lot of it is cornering speed, you know, so passengers experience about 4.5G. A lot of people come away dizzy, but that’s the idea. And yes, some of them lose their cookies.’ Mario’s need for speed is also sated by a shed full of high-speed watercrafts on his lake just north of his Pennsylvania home; included there is a world championship
I NEVER HAD A PLAN B. I DIDN’T KNOW HOW, BUT, SOMEHOW, I WAS GOING TO FIGURE IT OUT.
ABOVE: Mario Andretti tests the Alfa-romeo: Pictured at the Balocco racing track near Milan, after a test run in the new Alfa Romeo which Andretti drove in the World Championship in 1981.
if everything seems under control, you’re just not going fast enough
Alfa Romeo Molinari hydroplane. ‘It’s a 1975 vintage, but the thing is immaculate and a real flyer.’
He’s not quite sure why Italians have a reputation for speed: ‘Perhaps since the 1950s you had Ferrari with a worldwide fan base, Maserati, Alfa Romeo. These were the brands everyone understands, high-performance. Then there were the motorcycles – MV, Ducati – that have been at the forefront with [Giacomo] Agostini, 14 times world champion. Look at Valentino Rossi. Then you have [Tazio] Nuvolari, [Alberto] Ascari.’ Mario chuckled and suggested that you can change passports, but not your blood. ‘Guess you have to try to emulate them, that’s how Aldo and I became fascinated by the sport.’ (He loved Ascari’s cool and relaxed style at the wheel.)
Today, Mario is not sure whether motorsport is headed in the right direction.
‘I don’t want to age myself, but honestly when it comes to motorsport, I think the noise of the engines is half the spectacle, so you will never see me a fan of electric racing cars. End of story. I think the future is still bright for all the majors, they’re still going strong and that’s what I’m going to be rooting for [for] the rest of my life. My son Michael has a Formula E team, good for him and all, but that’s not something I’m always supporting. But there’s room for everything, I suppose, and you have to keep an open mind. As long as it remains a category, that’s fine with me, but I wouldn’t want to see it taking over.’
Mario believes the one thing any sort of racer needs is desire. ‘If you truly have the desire to pursue that – just do it. There are always ways to go about it, to learn in different categories and test yourself. Just do it – don’t be discouraged. I didn’t become discouraged if I didn’t get help here or there.’ He noted that his father was in no position to help and, at the same time, concerned about safety for Mario and Aldo. Mario understood that nothing worthwhile was ever easy, but says he was driven by that burning desire that overcame drawbacks.
‘When I fell in love with the sport, it looked so impossible. I never had a Plan B. I didn’t know how, but, somehow, I was going to figure it out. I think I fulfilled pretty much most of my ambitions in one way or another and I just count my blessings now.’
WE BECAME ENAMOURED WITH IT. THAT’S WHERE MY DREAMS BEGAN, 14 YEARS OF AGE.