Relentless American Legend Mario Andretti Sends Thunderous Four-Worded Warning to F1 Grid

Mario Andretti has for many years expressed his desire to have an F1 team of his own. Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff and F1 boss Stefano Domenicali, however, are not huge fans of the prospect. Turns out, this has not deterred the former American champion to follow his dream.

Mario Andretti is arguably the biggest name in F1, which comes from the United States. Having won races in IndyCar, NASCAR, and many more championships, American fans revere the 1978 F1 champion. Therefore, when he made his intentions of floating a team of his own clear, a wave of excitement followed.

Mario Andretti still firm on his 11th F1 team dream

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff, earlier this year, opened up on having a new team in Formula 1. Toto felt the existing teams had invested a huge sum of money and the existing prize money was appropriately distributed among them. Having a new team would mean a 10% dilution of that sum and he would welcome a new team if they compensated the existing teams for the loss.

After Stefano Domenicali had echoed a similar sentiment, it looked like Mario’s dream of owning the 11th team was over. However, it seems it’s not game over yet as he is still putting in the effort for it. Speaking with Gazzetta dello Sport, Andretti told, “We don’t give up.” [Translated using Google]

“Something more is clarified every week. And it seems we are. There is no possibility of entering with a team already present, so we aim to be the eleventh team. Next year we will have 23 races, we also need a few more cars on the track, 22 is not too many. In my opinion, even 24 would be needed. The idea is to be on track in 2024.”

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Turns out Andretti is not the only person ready to jump into the F1 pool. Hong Kong billionaire Calvin Lo recently expressed his willingness to float a team of his own.

Hong Kong billionaire’s 11th F1 team plans

The life insurance giant Calvin Lo’s encounter with the pinnacle of motorsport was purely coincidental. He was once on a business trip in Singapore when he turned on the TV in his hotel room. There was an F1 race on and because he was told about Michael Schumacher a lot, he kept it on. The entire teamwork aspect of the sport really fascinated him.

Speaking on the growing popularity of the sport in Asia, Planet F1 quoted him, saying, “For any new team, Asia, or anywhere outside of Europe, is making the pie bigger.” 

He added, “At least from my point of view, Asia is demanding more F1. Just watching the TV, there’s a 30 or 40% increase in subscribers just because of F1. So for sure, Asia is a huge market.”

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Having more teams and more deserving drivers on the F1 grid will certainly increase the excitement quotient of the sport. Are you excited to see the addition of 2 more cars on the grid?