Mario Andretti

Mario Andretti

Formula One World Championship career
Nationality	Italian, naturalized American
Active years	1968 - 1972, 1974 - 1982
Teams	Lotus, STP Corporation, Ferrari, Parnelli, Alfa Romeo, Williams
Entries	131 (128 starts)
Championships	1 (1978)
Wins	12
Podiums	19
Career points	180
Pole positions	18
Fastest laps	10
First entry	1968 Italian Grand Prix
First win	1971 South African Grand Prix
Last win	1978 Dutch Grand Prix
Last entry	1982 Las Vegas Grand Prix

Mario Gabriele Andretti (born February 28, 1940 in Montona d'Istria, Italy, now Motovun, Croatia) is an Italian American racing driver, and one of the most successful Americans in the history of auto racing.

During his career, Andretti won four IndyCar titles, the 1978 Formula One World Championship, and IROC VI (the 1978 - 1979 IROC). To date, he remains the only driver ever to win the Indianapolis 500 (1969), the Daytona 500 (1967), and the Formula One World Championship.

The name Mario Andretti has become synonymous with speed in the United States, similar to Barney Oldfield in the early twentieth century and Stirling Moss in the United Kingdom.

Early life

Mario Andretti was born in the town of Montona d'Istria in the then Italian province of Istria. He was born with a twin brother, Aldo Andretti. Istria was occupied and annexed by Yugoslavia after World War II. His family, like many other Italian Istrians, fled in 1948. They lived in a refugee camp from 1948 to 1955. The five members of the Andretti family resettled in Nazareth in Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley in June 1955. Andretti became a United States naturalized citizen in 1964.

Racing career

In 1945, at the age of five, he and Aldo were racing their hand-crafted wooden cars through the steep streets of their hometown. The brothers were hired by a garage to park cars. Andretti described the experience in the book What's It Like Out There: "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. I still get it every time I get into a race car." Andretti's first racing experience was in a new youth racing league called Formula Junior in Ancona, Italy when he was thirteen years old. He had a fond childhood memory watching a stretch of the Mille Miglia race in 1954. He became captivated by Alberto Ascari.

Mario and Aldo worked on a 1948 Hudson Hornet Sportsman stock car in an uncle's garage in 1959 after they moved to the United States. They took turns racing the car on oval dirt tracks near Nazareth in 1959 in the old Hudson. The twins each had two wins after their first four races. Mario had 20 modified stockcar wins in his first two seasons.

IndyCar career

Mario made his championship car debut in the USAC series in 1964 at Trenton, New Jersey, starting sixteenth and finishing eleventh. Andretti won his first championship car race at the Hoosier Grand Prix in 1965. His third place finish at the 1965 Indianapolis 500 earned him the race's Rookie of the Year award, and helped Andretti win the series championship. He repeated as series champion in 1966.

Racing in several series

Mario Andretti
Awards	named the "Driver of the Century" by the Associated Press and RACER magazine 2000 International Motorsports Hall of Fame Inductee 1996 National Sprint Car Hall of Fame Inductee (U.S.) named Driver of the Quarter Century in 1992 1990 Motorsports Hall of Fame of America inductee 1978-1979 (IROC VI) International Race of Champions series champion 1978 Formula One World Championship 1974 USAC national dirt track champion (U.S.) 1972 24 Hours of Daytona 1969 Indianapolis 500 winner 1967 Daytona 500 winner Three time 12 Hours of Sebring winner (1967, 1970, 1972) Four time IndyCar champion (1965, 1966, 1969, 1984) 1969 ABC's Wide World of Sports Athlete of the Year
NASCAR Cup Series career
14 races run over 4 years
Best finish	unranked
First race	1967 Motor Trend 500 (Riverside)
Last race	1969 Motor Trend 500 (Riverside)
First win	1967 Daytona 500 (Daytona)
Last win	1967 Daytona 500 (Daytona)
Wins Top tens Poles 1 3

Andretti raced in numerous different series between 1967 and 1975. He juggled Can-Am, Formula 5000, Formula One, IndyCar, drag racing, sprint cars, and many others. Andretti finished second in the IndyCars in 1967 and 1968. 1969 was a banner year for Andretti. In IndyCar, he won nine races, the 1969 Indianapolis 500, and the season championship. He also won the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. He moved to the Formula 5000 series in the 1973 and 1974, and finished second in the championship in both seasons. He also competed in USAC's dirt track division in 1974, and won the championship while competing in both series.

Other major races that he won in that period include the 1967 Daytona 500 for Holman Moody, three 12 Hours of Sebring endurance races (1967, 1970, 1972), and the 24 Hours of Daytona in 1972.

Andretti competed at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in four decades. In 1966 and 1967 he drove the same Ford GT40s as the eventual winners, but retired on both occasions, once because of an accident and once because of an engine problem. Andretti did not return to Le Mans until his full time Formula One career was over in 1982. Over the next 18 years he competed an additional seven times, four times with his son Michael. His best results were a third place finish in 1983 and a second place at the 1995 race. He said in a 2006 interview that he feels that the Courage Compétition team "lost [the 1995] race five times over" through poor organization. Andretti's final appearance at Le Mans was at the 2000 race, six years after his retirement from full-time racing, when he drove the Panoz LMP-1 Roadster-S at the age of 60, finishing 16th.

Formula One career

Andretti drove his Lotus Type 63 at the 1969 German Grand Prix.

At Andretti's first Indianapolis 500, in 1965, he met Colin Chapman, owner of the Lotus Formula One team, who was owned eventual winner Jim Clark's car. Andretti told Chapman of his ambition to compete in Formula One and was told "When you're ready, call me." By 1968 Andretti felt he was ready. Chapman gave him a drive, and the young American took pole position on his debut at the 1968 United States Grand Prix at Watkins Glen.

Andretti drove sporadically in Formula One over the next four years for Lotus, March, and Ferrari, while continuing to focus on his racing career in America. He won his first grand prix in 1971 on his debut for the Italian team at the South African Grand Prix, and won again at the non-championship Questor Grand Prix in the US three weeks later.

It wasn't until 1975 that Andretti drove a full Formula One season, for the American Parnelli team. The team was new to Formula One, although it had been successful in both Formula 5000 and IndyCar racing in America. The team had run Andretti in the two North American end-of-season races in 1974 with promising results. Despite potential - Andretti qualified fourth and led the tragic 1975 Spanish Grand Prix for nine laps before his suspension failed - he scored only five points. Andretti continued to compete in the States, missing two races to do so.

When the Parnelli team pulled out of Formula One after two races of the 1976 season, Andretti returned to Colin Chapman's Lotus team, for whom he had already driven at the season-opening Brazilian Grand Prix. His ability at developing a racing car soon progressed the Lotus towards the front end of the Formula One grid, culminating in a victory at the season's concluding race at the Mount Fuji circuit in Japan where Mario was a lap ahead of his nearest challenger. In 1977, at Long Beach, he became the only American to win the United States Grand Prix West, in the Lotus 78 "wing car". Andretti's development work at Lotus was to result in the revolutionary "ground effect" Lotus 79 of 1978, a season in which he won six races and took the title — a bitter-sweet victory in the light of the death of his teammate Ronnie Peterson, whom Andretti had grown to regard as a close friend. However, Andretti would find little success after 1978 in Formula One, failing to win another grand prix. He had a difficult year in 1979, as the new Lotus car was not competitive, and the team had to rely on the Lotus 79 which was showing its age. In 1980, he was paired with Italian ace Elio de Angelis, but the team was again unsuccessful.

A season with the unsuccessful Alfa Romeo team in 1981 did little to re-kindle Andretti's Formula One career. Like other drivers of the period he did not like the ground effect cars of the time: "the cars were getting absurd, really crude, with no suspension movement whatever. It was toggle switch driving with no need for any kind of delicacy...it made leaving Formula One a lot easier than it would have been." The next year Andretti raced once for the Williams team, after their driver Carlos Reutemann suddenly quit, before replacing the seriously injured Didier Pironi at Ferrari for the last two races of the year. Suspension failure dropped him out of the last race of the season, but at the Italian Grand Prix at Monza he took the pole position and finished third in the race.

Return to IndyCar racing

He returned to IndyCars in the 1982. He won the pole for nine of sixteen events in 1984, and claimed his fourth CART title. It was the first series title for second year team Newman/Haas Racing, which was owned by Carl Haas and actor Paul Newman.

Mario's son Michael joined Newman/Haas in 1989. Together, they made history as the first father/son team to compete in both International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) and Champ Car racing.

Mario's last victory in IndyCar racing came in 1993 at Phoenix International Raceway, the year that Michael left Newman/Haas to race in Formula One. The win made Mario the oldest recorded winner in an IndyCar event (53 years, 34 days old).

Andretti kept racing to try to win the 24 hours of Le Mans, but has not won the event. His best finish is second in 1995, and third in 1983 (Porsche 956), both with co-driving with Michael.

Indianapolis 500

Andretti also made the saying "Mario is slowing down!" famous at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Andretti has had numerous incidents at the track.

Andretti was the first driver to exceed 200 miles per hour while practicing for the 1977 Indianapolis 500.

Andretti finished second in the 1981 Indianapolis 500 by eight seconds behind Bobby Unser. The following day Unser was penalized one lap for passing cars under a caution flag, and Andretti was declared the winner. Unser and his car owner Roger Penske appealed the race stewarts' decision. USAC overturned the one lap penalty four months later, and penalized Unser with a $ 40,000 fine.

In the 1985 Indianapolis 500, he was passed by Danny Sullivan. Sullivan subsequently spun in front of Andretti, pitted on his own caution, and then passed Mario again to go on for the win. Andretti dominated the 1987 Indianapolis 500 testing, led for 170 of the first 177 laps, but was taken out by an electrical failure before the finish on lap 200.

Mario finished all 500 miles just five times, including his 1969 Indianapolis 500 victory. Andretti suffered broken ankles in the 1992 Indianapolis 500 crashing hard in turn four during the race. His last race at Indy was the 1994 Indianapolis 500.

Andretti was performing a tire test for his son Michael's IndyCar on April 24 2003 in place of the injured Tony Kanaan at Indianapolis At 5:58 pm -- two minutes before the scheduled end of the session -- Andretti powered out of the first turn onto the "south chute" of the circuit. In his path lay a chunk of debris from Kenny Brack's car, which had crashed seconds earlier. The object forced the nose of Andretti's car to become airborne, and Andretti's car went into a rapid double reverse somersault at speeds exceeding 200 miles per hour. Television footage from a local TV station's helicopter showed that the car was nearly high enough to clear the debris fence mounted atop the circuit's outer retaining wall. Andretti's car fell back to earth, having been slowed by its mid-air tumble, and slid to a stop. Luckily, the car landed right side up and Andretti walked away from the crash with very minor injuries.

International Race of Champions

He was invited to race in six International Race of Champions (IROC) series in his career. His best years were his first three years. He finished second in the final points standings in IROC III (1975-1976) and IROC V (1977-1978). He won the IROC VI (1978-1979) points championship with finishes of third, first, and second. He won three races in twenty events.

Legacy

Many Americans consider Andretti to be the finest all-around driver ever, and in 2000, the Associated Press and RACER magazine named him "Driver of the Century." The same year, he was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the United States National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 1996, and the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 1990.

Andretti had 109 career wins on major circuits. He was the Driver of the Year in three years (1967, 1978, and 1984), and is the only driver to be Driver of the Year in three decades. Andretti was named the Driver of the Quarter Century in 1992.

Mario was instrumental in keeping championship car racing at Road America. CART severed its ties with the track as a legal resolution of payment issues from the 2002 and 2003 series events at the track. Andretti was an intermediary between CART President Chris Pook and Road America President George Bruggenthies. After six weeks both sides came to terms and signed a two year contract. The event was named after Andretti.

On October 23, 2006, at the Columbus Citizens Foundation in New York, Andretti was awarded the highest civilian honor given by the Italian government, the Commendatore dell'Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana (known as the Commendatore), in honor of his racing career, public service, and enduring commitment to his Italian heritage. Enzo Ferrari is the only other recipient of the Commendatore from the world of automobile racing.

Head of racing family

Both of Mario Andretti's sons, Michael and Jeff, were involved in auto racing. Michael followed in his father's footsteps by winning the IndyCar title. In 1991, the Andrettis were joined by Mario's nephew John Andretti. The Andrettis became the first family to have four relatives compete in the same series. Mario's grandson, Marco Andretti, won a championship in IndyCars' "Stars of Tomorrow" kart racing series, before moving into the Star Mazda single-seater series. Marco completed his first full season in the Indy Racing League (IRL) in 2006, driving for his father Michael's Andretti Green Racing team. Marco finished second in the 2006 Indianapolis 500, became the first third-generation-recipient of the race's Rookie of the Year Award. Marco is currently set to take a Formula One test drive with Honda Racing F1 at Jerez.

Current Life

Mario and his wife Dee Ann live near their son Michael in mansions overlooking the town of Nazareth, Pennsylvania, Mario's home city since the 1950's.

Andretti is a spokesman for long time sponsors Texaco/Havoline and Firestone. He is also occasionally a spokesman for the Champ Car World Series, although he was spotted at IRL races throughout the 2006 season as he watched Marco compete.

Andretti is vice chairman of a winery named Andretti Winery in Napa Valley, California.

Movies appearances

• Mario and Michael Andretti and the making of the Newman/Haas Racing cars are the subject of the movie Super Speedway.
• Mario Andretti does a cameo in the Pixar Animation Studios film Cars. He plays himself as the 1967 Ford Fairlane in which he won the Daytona 500.
• Mario Andretti appeared in the documentary Dust to Glory as a course official. The movie documents the 2004 Baja 1000 race.

Complete F1 Results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Team	WDC	Points
1968	Lotus	SAF	ESP	MON	BEL	DUT	FRA	GBR	GER	ITA	CAN	USA ret	MEX						Lotus	NA	0
1969	Lotus	SAF ret	ESP	MON	DUT	FRA	GBR	GER ret	ITA	CAN	USA ret	MEX							Lotus	NA	0
1970	March	SAF ret	ESP 3	MON	BEL	DUT	FRA	GBR ret	GER ret	AUT ret	ITA	CAN	USA	MEX					March	16th	4
1971	Ferrari	SAF 1	SPA ret	MON DNQ	DUT ret	FRA	GBR	GER 4	AUT	ITA	CAN 13	USA							Ferrari	8th	12
1972	Ferrari	ARG ret	SAF 4	ESP ret	MON	BEL	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	ITA 7	CAN	USA 6						Ferrari	12th	4
1974	Parnelli	ARG	BRA	SAF	ESP	BEL	MON	SWE	DUT	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	ITA	CAN 7	USA DSQ			Parnelli	NA	0
1975	Parnelli	ARG ret	BRA 7	SAF 17	ESP ret	MON ret	BEL	SWE 4	DUT	FRA 5	GBR 12	GER 10	AUT ret	ITA ret	USA ret				Parnelli	14th	5
1976	Parnelli	BRA ret	SAF 6	USW ret	ESP ret	BEL ret	MON	SWE ret	FRA 5	GBR ret	GER 12	AUT 5	DUT 3	ITA ret	CAN 3	USA ret	JPN 1		Lotus	6th	22
1977	Lotus	ARG 5	BRA ret	SAF ret	USW 1	ESP 1	MON 5	BEL ret	SWE 6	FRA 1	GBR 14	GER ret	AUT ret	DUT ret	ITA 1	USA 2	CAN 9	JPN ret	Lotus	3rd	47
1978	Lotus	ARG 1	BRA 4	SAF 7	USW 2	MON 11	BEL 1	ESP 1	SWE ret	FRA 1	GBR ret	GER 1	AUT ret	DUT 1	ITA 6	USA ret	CAN 10		Lotus	1st	64
1979	Lotus	ARG 5	BRA ret	SAF 4	USW 4	ESP 3	BEL ret	MON ret	FRA ret	GBR ret	GER ret	AUT ret	DUT ret	ITA 5	CAN 10	USA ret			Lotus	12th	14
1980	Lotus	ARG ret	BRA ret	SAF 12	USW ret	BEL ret	MON 7	FRA ret	GBR ret	GER 7	AUT ret	DUT 8	ITA ret	CAN ret	USA 6				Lotus	20th	1
1981	Alfa Romeo	USW 4	BRA ret	ARG 8	SMR ret	BEL 10	MON ret	ESP 8	FRA 8	GBR ret	GER 9	AUT ret	DUT ret	ITA ret	CAN 7	LAS ret			Alfa Romeo	17th	3
1982	Williams	RSA	BRA	USW ret	SMR	BEL	MON	USE	CAN	DUT	GBR	FRA	GER	AUT	SWI	ITA 3	LAS ret		Ferrari	19th	4

Indianapolis 500 results

Year	Chassis	Engine	Start	Finish
1965	Brawner Hawk	Ford	4th	3rd
1966	Brawner Hawk	Ford	1st	18th
1967	Brawner Hawk	Ford	1st	30th
1968	Brawner Hawk	Ford	4th	33rd
1969	Brawner Hawk	Ford	2nd	1st
1970	McNamara	Ford	8th	6th
1971	McNamara	Ford	9th	30th
1972	Parnelli	Offy	5th	8th
1973	Parnelli	Offy	6th	30th
1974	Eagle	Offy	5th	31st
1975	Eagle	Offy	27th	28th
1976	McLaren	Offy	19th	8th
1977	McLaren	Cosworth	6th	26th
1978	Penske	Cosworth	33rd	12th
1980	Penske	Cosworth	2nd	20th
1981	Wildcat	Cosworth	32nd	2nd
1982	Wildcat	Cosworth	4th	31st
1983	Lola	Cosworth	11th	23rd
1984	Lola	Cosworth	6th	17th
1985	Lola	Cosworth	4th	2nd
1986	Lola	Cosworth	30th	32nd
1987	Lola	Chevrolet	1st	9th
1988	Lola	Chevrolet	4th	20th
1989	Lola	Chevrolet	5th	4th
1990	Lola	Chevrolet	6th	27th
1991	Lola	Chevrolet	3rd	7th
1992	Lola	Ford-Cosworth	3rd	23rd
1993	Lola	Ford-Cosworth	2nd	5th
1994	Lola	Ford-Cosworth	9th	32nd

Further reading

Andretti is the subject of several books:

• Mario Andretti: A Driving Passion, by Gordon Kirby
• Mario Andretti Photo Album, by Peter Nygaard
• Mario Andretti (Race Car Legends), by G. S. Prentzas. Ages 9-12

External links

• Andretti Family Official Web Site
• Mario Andretti at the Internet Movie Database
• Andretti Winery