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#1 - Mario Andretti
Mario Andretti may have been born in what was then Italy (and is now Croatia), but he was made in the USA. Andretti's family moved across the Atlantic when he was 15, and the young Mario didn't wait long to get into motorsport. Thanks to a forged driver's licence, Andretti competed in oval races alongside his twin brother, Aldo. After becoming an American citizen in 1964, Andretti entered NASCAR races, winning the Daytona 500 during his short time in stock car racing.
His open-wheel career began in Indy Car, but it didn't take long for him to graduate to Formula 1. After being a part-time driver between 1968 and '74, he joined Parnelli before joining Colin Chapman's legendary Team Lotus. His second win in F1 was overshadowed by James Hunt clinching his only world championship, but this was the catalyst for more success in the coming years. Four victories in 1977 were followed up by six in '78, enough for his sole title in F1.
Incredibly, his final F1 victory at the 1978 Dutch Grand Prix is also currently the most recent race that was won by an American driver, and over 4 decades have passed without another. In 1982, he was drafted in by Ferrari for the Italian GP, a race he claimed pole and finished on the podium for, despite being 42 and not having raced in F1 in nearly a year.
Andretti Autosport is now one of the biggest names in American open wheel racing, winning the Indy 500 five times and the Indy Car series on four occasions. When the British hear the words "Stirling Moss" they think of speed, Americans think of the same five-lettered word, that's one hell of a legacy. Honestly, we could write a book on Andretti's achievements in motorsport, he's the undisputed king of American drivers.
But who do you think is the best American F1 driver of all time? Is it Andretti or someone else? Let us know in the comments below!
