Former F1 champion describes the sport as 'one big family’

Mario Andretti labeled F1 as a big family while explaining the Renault engine deal for his son’s new team Andretti Global. The 1987 world champion’s son Michael Andretti recently applied to the FIA for a spot on the 2024 grid for their new American team.

Speaking on David Land’s Youtube channel, Andretti said:

“We have a lot of friends there in Formula 1, you know, it is one big family type of thing. Michael has obviously been talking with that group, Alpine, to field the sportscar programme and so on and so forth. There are a lot of moving parts and all of it works ultimately.”

According to Andretti, F1 is a closed fraternity where everybody knows the Andretti name. The former F1 world champion also explained that his son had spoken with the Alpine group and finalized the engine supplier deal.

Explaining the process beyond the application for the team, Andretti said:

“We are reliant on a lot of good people and they tell us about all the prerequisites and we have checked every box, every box that has been put out in front of us. That is it, that is all we can do.”

Andretti mentioned that their application for a team meets every prerequisite required according to F1 and FIA norms.

The American racer revealed that he knew many helpful people in F1 who provided them with the needful information to meet every requisite.

The team is reported to have scouted a base for a team facility in the UK, however their entry into the sport has made the top team's insecure.

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Andretti revealed Mercedes feared losing veto over F1 engine supplier deal

Mercedes CEO Toto Wolff has expressed concerns about the value a new team brings to the table, which offended Mario Andretti.

However, when it came to the team’s engine deal there was much speculation about the engine supplier, which distressed Wolff, according to the 1978 world champion.

Revealing the Toto Wolff’s distress, Andretti said:

“There was a lot of speculation even from Toto Wolff, he was concerned about potentially it being Ferrari.”

The reason for Wolff’s distress was his anticipation that the engine provider would be Ferrari, according to Andretti. If Ferrari were to supply Andretti Global, that would equalize their customer count to the same number as Mercedes, nullifying the Silver Arrow’s veto power in the sport.

Therefore, their engine deal made Wolff insecure, until they declared their supplier which was Renault. The Silver Arrows supply four teams on the grid, including themselves on the grid, while Ferrari supplies three, including its own factory team. Losing the power to veto decisions or issues in the sport will weaken the eight-time world champion's stature in the sport.