Mario Andretti

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Mario Andretti

#1

Post by PTRACER »

It's my opinion that Mario Andretti is probably in the top 5 - and certainly in the top 10 - of the greatest drivers ever across any motorsport.

He won races both on dirt tracks and on paved circuits - he won the Formula 1 championship in 1978, the USAC/CART Championship four times between 1965 and 1984, the Daytona 500, the Indy 500, the Daytona 24 Hours, the Sebring 12 Hours three times, the IROC Race Of Champions and was even the USAC National Dirt Track champion of 1974!

Very, very few drivers have such a long list of achievements and it seems that, no matter what Andretti drove, he was fast in it. Ignoring the 1980 Lotus and 1981 Alfa Romeo of course...

What are everyone's thoughts on Andretti?
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#2

Post by Cheeveer »

Excellent driver during his whole career, but I believe I haven't seen his best races anywhere. The CART races from the early 90's he was clearly outpaced by his son. But he was past his peak as a driver then, and was doing very well for his age. Compared with other great IndyCar drivers from the 60's, 70's and early 80's, like Tom Sneva, AJ Foyt, Gordon Johncock and Johnny Rutherford, he did much better than them in the late 80's, early 90's.

He deserves his F1 title obviously, even though Ronnie Peterson often played team orders and let him win (debatable).

I like the guy, but I want to hear some stories, or rather see them, to be convinced that he really was one of the fastest drivers ever. One of the most versatile there is no question about.
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#3

Post by bigears »

His pole position at the 1982 Italian Grand Prix was superb.

Very good timing especially after difficult times with Villeneuve and Pironi.
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#4

Post by EB »

AJ Foyt was at his absolute dominant peak in 1964, winning (I think) 10 out of the 13 champ car races that season, including his second Indy 500.

Then along comes this rookie from Italy and wins the championship in his first full season in champ car.

Foyt thinks, yeah well I did get hurt in that shunt at Riverside, and this kid only won 1 race all season compared to my 5, so it was just a lucky championship win, I'll get him next year.

The result? Andretti retains his championship, and with a slightly improved win ratio compared to Foyt: 8-0 in Mario's favour.

That's the phase of Mario's career I enjoy the most. He also came closest to anyone of equalling Graham Hill's triple crown, having come second at Le Mans in 1995 (equalled by JV this year of course).

I have come to appreciate Andretti's talents more and more over time, initially considering him a bit over-rated because of the "versatility" thing. But I was wrong.
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#5

Post by PTRACER »

What would you regard as being his greatest drive EB?
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#6

Post by EB »

PTRACER wrote:What would you regard as being his greatest drive EB?
Umm, ask me one about rocket science.

I know the one he enjoyed the most, that also was unquestionably a great drive, was beating that damn movie star at Sebring in 1970.

But the truth is, Mario's career covers far wider boundaries than my knowledge. I know bugger all about NASCAR and sportscars, and even my obsession with champcar racing tails off drastically once dirt tracks were dropped from the calendar in 1970. So Mario's greatest drive I probably missed.

Over to the older and wiser........
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#7

Post by Cheeveer »

His Daytona 500 win was easy, he led 112 of 200 laps. He never got close to winning in NASCAR again. He was criticized for causing wrecks whenever he drove stock cars. At least according to Buddy Baker.

It feels like he has always been a legend. Already in 1975 when he drove the 6 hour race at Watkins Glen for Alfa, Derek Bell said it felt good to out qualify him, because "it's always to out perform one of the heroes of the sport".

For how long has Mario had the "greatest driver ever" kind-off reputation? In several of his late IndyCar races I've seen him to some dumb mistakes.
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#8

Post by BleedingGums »

Evey driver makes mistakes. However, that's not why he's not in my top 10... :roll:
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#9

Post by CevertAngel »

Mario Andretti.... LEts see...

Good things and Bad.. I used to not like him much. Thought he was over hyped .
Then alot later I realised he wasnt so bad after all. He did have what it took to race well. He did make mistakes as everyone does. But He also could do alot of good on trck racing work.

I wouldnt call him overly talented. Good. But not overly talented.

But years later when he was at Indy and I got his Autograph, I did realise one nice thing about him... HE has a good sence of humor. And thats better than being a pain in the ass.
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#10

Post by futuretiger9 »

Mario's F1 career was rather curious. He was very much a bit-part player from 1968-1974, due to his commitments in the US. Even so, there were notable achievements (pole at The Glen on his debut in'68, and victory at Kyalami in '71). It was only with the advent of the Parnelli programme that he committed fully to F1. This reluctance to join GP racing full-time met with some scepticism in the European media.

The shame for Mario is that his World title in '78 was attributed to the superiority of the ground-effects Lotus, although his own persistence and faith in the project, and his undoubted testing skills, contributed greatly to that success. Ironically, his best year in F1 was arguably 1977, when he could have been champion, but for several engine failures and mistakes (the crash with Watson at Zolder, the collision with Hunt at Zandvoort).

It seems strange to me that these days he is often overlooked in favour of his contemporaries such as Dan Gurney and Mark Donohue when discussing great American drivers. I would rate him up there with Moss and Ickx as all-rounders, especially given the longevity of his career.
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#11

Post by PTRACER »

Today marks Mario's 76th birthday. Last night I watched this interview with him by Peter Windsor where he reveals a lot about himself and his early life, and his Formula 1 career.

I'm still a huge admirer and any thoughts people have on him are definitely welcome!

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#12

Post by duvel »

Mario Andretti, very, very good one :thumbsup:
I've read somewhere about Mario at Montjuich 1971, at the paddock in deadtime between practices every driver was elsewhere but him, sitting in his 312B adjusting mirrors, looking this and checking that...
Somebody (can't remember who) said "..look at him. Maybe Mario's not as talented as Stewart, but Jackie and others don't have same passion. He looks like a child with his favourite toy..."
Not exactly letter by letter but meaning was just this, and I feel to agree.
Depending on him he would be still racing at 76!
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#13

Post by Cheeveer »

Would he have had a shot on the 1982 F1 title if he'd continue on with Williams?
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#14

Post by erwin greven »

Good question! To me very much a "what if" question, because the Williams was not the dominant car that year. The Ferrari was maybe the best car, but the Villeneuve/Pironi story is well known. Also Pironi had his career ending crash at Hockenheim.
Maybe when we solely would look at Rosbergs qualities and put Andretti next to this i think Andretti would have been World Champion yes. Mario's capabilities to set up a car and improving the car in general would have been essential.
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#15

Post by Kai-Star »

Reutemann could have won in '82 too if hadn't quit the season early. So many 'what ifs' when it comes to '82. Probably the most crazy season there has been in F1.

Mario is definitely a great of motorsport when said in general, but just a borderline great when it comes to F1. He had his moments and the '78 championship was well earned. There's certainly been lesser drivers to win the championship. Like others have said here, he does have a good sense of himself, and seems like a very likable person. I hope he lives a long time and keeps giving back to the sport and the fans.
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