Mario Andretti gave news of the future Andretti F1 – Cadillac team project after the shock news of Michael Andretti's withdrawal.
Formula 1's governing body, the FIA, has given the OK for Andretti-Cadillac – a union of Andretti Global and the Cadillac brand owned by General Motors – to join the Formula 1 grid as a new and 11th team, but Formula One Management was not as enthusiastic and rejected the application.
And it was in October that the shock announcement came that Michael Andretti would give up his daily management tasks at Andretti Global, the team he has led since 2002.
Michael being called to “serve as an advisor to the team” going forward, many questions remain about the future of the Andretti-Cadillac bid, which is why Mario, the father of Michael, Formula 1 world champion in 1978, was invited to give the latest news on the situation.
He suggested we haven't seen the last of the twists and turns.
"This is an issue that concerns my son Michael and his company, not me," Mario commented for the Gazzetta dello Sport.
“What I can say is that there will be new developments and changes coming to the application, and that I fully support my son for all the decisions and choices he has made during this time and that “he will do in the future to manage the situation as best he can.”
If Andretti-Cadillac manages to make it onto the grid, they would join Haas F1 as an American team.
Formula 1 has seen a resurgence in popularity in the United States, sparked by the success of Netflix's hit F1 documentary series, Drive to Survive, with the F1 calendar now including three races based in the country, namely the GPs of Miami, the United States and Las Vegas.
It's a love of F1 “unthinkable” – as Mario said – which emerged in its country of origin.
“It's something extraordinary. In all my years in the United States, I have never seen such strong interest in Formula 1, not even in the 1960s, when it was already followed by the Americans. “
“There were decades when interest was almost non-existent, and then suddenly, after the boom in Netflix series dedicated to the category, an unthinkable love for the sport on the part of Americans erupted.”
