© P-H Cahier / F1-photo.com
Mario Andretti was always set to be a racer. Born in 1940 the American didn’t retire until 1994 rendering him a driver with one of the fullest CV’s of all time.
Andretti started his racing career in sprint cars on the local dirt ovals where he was given the nickname “Super-Wop”. In 1964 he graduated to the Indy Car series where he delighted the fans with his skill taking the championship in 1965 and again in 1966. A third title followed in 1969 but by the time Andretti lifted title number three he had already achieved his goal with a drive for Lotus in Formula One, rocking the F1 world by placing the car on pole first time out at Watkins Glen.
Between 1969 and 1974 Andretti drove for Lotus, March and Ferrari which included a victory in the South African Grand Prix and Parnelli while he divided his time between F1 and Indy Car and sports car racing.
A full time ride came with Parnelli in 1975 but Parnelli went under and Andretti joined Lotus once more. Lotus was in bad shape at the time but boss Colin Chapman worked miracles resulting in a win at the 1976 Japanese Grand Prix. Things got better in 1977 and in 1978 Mario was crowned world champion taking six victories en route. Andretti remained at Lotus for two more years before switching to Alfa-Romeo in 1981.
© P-H Cahier / F1-photo.com
Mario Andretti then left F1 for a full time ride in Indy Cars once more for 1982. Championship number four came in 1984 and the pace never eluded the American up until the end when Nigel Mansell joined him at Newman-Haas.
In 1993 Michael Andretti attempted to follow in his fathers footsteps. A drive for McLaren alongside Ayrton Senna lasted less than a season before Michael rejoined Indy Car.
Mario Andretti’s tally stood at 12 victories from 128 F1 starts. Who said Americans can’t crack Formula One?
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