Best/Worst: Mario Andretti

Best career move

To find a way to align myself with Formula 1. That was my objective even when I was driving midgets. I had to earn my way to the top in Indy cars, and get attention from the right people. In 1965, as a rookie at Indy, I befriended Jimmy Clark and Colin Chapman, and as we said our goodbyes after the victory banquet – Jimmy had won and I was third and Rookie of the Year – I told Colin, 'Some day I’d like to do Formula 1.'

He said, 'Mario, when you think you’re ready, call me and I’ll have a car for you.'

Formula 1’s financial side was not appealing, and I was doing very well in Indy car through the second half of the ’60s and early ’70s and I couldn’t afford to switch, knowing that one day I might not be here. I was losing a lot of friends in racing and seeing wives left with kids, so I felt a responsibility to my family, especially considering I was already being selfish in pursuing this career. Colin offered me a ride for 1969 after I took pole in a one-off for him in ’68, but I couldn’t ignore Indy car money at that point. But eventually, in the mid ’70s, I reached a situation where I could commit to F1 full-time.

Worst career move

By the end of 1980, racing with Lotus wasn’t fun, so I had the choice to go to Alfa Romeo or McLaren. Guess what my mistake was! I was lured because at the very last race in ’80, Bruno Giacomelli put the Alfa on pole and dominated the race until his engine blew. I thought, “If we can just get that V12 reliable…”

Best race

Probably Monza in ’78. I took pole and, at the restart, Gilles Villeneuve, who was beside me on the front row, jumped the start in his Ferrari. I reacted, then stopped, but post-race they penalized us both a minute. I kept pressuring Gilles throughout the race, even though I was running out of brakes, and then five laps from the end, at the Parabolica, I don’t know how I got the car slowed down enough, but I passed him and won the race.

I was going to protest the penalty, because it moved us back to sixth place, but after what happened to poor Ronnie [Peterson] at the first start, I didn’t have it in me to bother with that.

…and most significant race

Career-wise, it has to be Indy in ’69. The Indy 500 is such a huge deal, people forget I won the championship that year! But my most personally significant win was the 1977 Italian Grand Prix. Monza was where my love of the sport started back in 1954, when I was 14 and found what I wanted to do with my life. To come back 23 years later and win there was so special.

Andretti accepts that his 1969 Indy 500 win was his most significant, but feels it overshadowed one of his greatest seasons. IMS Archive

Worst race

The Indy 500 in 1987. Adrian Newey was my engineer at Newman/Haas Racing and it was spectacular; I’m not sure anyone ever read a driver like he read me. We took pole, and 10 minutes before the start we changed front springs based on his read of the temperature, and man, we were in the Lola’s sweet spot. Its handling stayed completely neutral throughout a stint, full fuel load to light. I had everyone beat, led 170 laps, had lapped the second-place car. Then an engine valve spring let go because I’d been too easy on the engine and running it at revs that happened to cause a bad harmonic.

Best teammate

My son, Michael. He was at the top of his game when he joined me at Newman/Haas in 1989.

Worst teammate

Michael… because he was blowing my doors off.

Best racecar

The Brawner Hawk of ’65 and ’66, which gave me two USAC National [Indy car] championships, with the Dean Van Lines team. It was a copy of a Brabham, and my engineer Clint Brawner was great. By ’66, I had the field covered.

Worst racecar

The Honker II Can-Am car. The designer Len Bailey did great work for Ford so I guess he had a bad dream the night before he designed the Honker. It did nothing right. People said it was a one-off. It was a 10 off...

Best advice for aspiring racers

My main message is, follow your dream. I had a burning passion to pursue a racing career, and at the start it felt like an impossible dream. But I never had a Plan B: I followed my dream and I somehow pulled it off.

This piece first appeared in the March/April 2025 issue of RACER magazine.