The Americans want a place on an extended Formula 1 grid. As Mario Andretti tells Rob Widdows, the sooner the better

Andretti Global, Michael’s racing empire based in the US, is teaming up with General Motors and the Cadillac brand in its ambition to enter Formula 1. This is big news, especially for his father Mario who returned to Europe to race in grands prix in the 1970s and eventually won the F1 world championship in 1978.

For Mario the new project is yet another adventure for a family steeped in motor sport. As you might expect, he’s keen to talk about it, upbeat about the prospects and has no desire to dwell on the somewhat cool response from some of the existing teams.

“For me, I’m living this for Michael. I never had the ambition to be a team owner, but this keeps me close to the sport that I love so much,” he explains. “I fell in love with grand prix racing when I was just a young lad growing up in Italy. It’s what gave me the desire, the ambition, and it’s been my whole life. I’m so proud of Michael’s ambition to compete at this level.

“Sometimes, honestly, I ask myself, ‘Do we really need this?’ – and the answer is yes, we do, we actually do. All along there have been headwinds but you have to have the resolve, the relentless pursuit of your goal, and there’s always the opportunity to succeed. A lot of things have been discouraging, but there’s encouragement. The support from the fans, the people who love the sport, has been so strong.”

Did he, I wonder, feel that their plans have been treated fairly, considered with due respect by both F1, media rights holder Liberty Media and the FIA?

“The new FIA president, Mohammed Ben Sulayem, really understands the importance of growth,” says Mario. “He respects us, he understands our resolve, and if we meet the prerequisite requirements we will be welcome. Now we have secured a new major manufacturer in General Motors to be part of F1. They have resisted this forever, never participated at this level, and now they’re as excited as we are. What’s wrong with that? It’s got to be good for all of us, the growth of F1, the sport as a whole. This is the reward we’ve been looking for after some of the negatives that we’ve had to overcome. We know there’s a process that has to be worked through, we understand that, but we’ve done everything that was asked of us and, so far, we’ve delivered.”