“This Is Our World Too” – Mario Andretti Lets Slip Boiling Frustrations Amid Unfinished F1 Business

What a year for motorsports! Where in NASCAR we have the France family changing charter ownership rules, Formula 1 is also making bold decisions in terms of teams and drivers. On one side where the Formula 1 defending champion seems to lose his grip, Michael Andretti’s wish to become a Formula 1 team owner was dealt a huge blow when Andretti Global’s proposal to join in 2025 or 2026 was rejected. Andretti and Cadillac had formed a technical partnership to join F1 as the 11th team on the grid. However, their proposal was denied on the grounds of not adding value to the grid as the 11th team by the FIA.

This decision wasn’t appreciated by Michael Andretti and his associates, as they condemned the decision publicly, stating, “Andretti Cadillac has reviewed the information Formula One Management Limited has shared and strongly disagree with its content.” This ruling came early in 2024, but even today, the Andretti’s feel wronged by the FIA.

Former F1 champion, Mario Andretti recently sat down with Dale Earnhardt Jr for one of Dirty Mo Media’s productions, where he shared sentimental reasoning on why an entry into Formula 1 is such an ambitious project. And guess what the post was captioned with? It read, “Andretti Earnhardt Racing? Earnhardt Andretti Motorsports? Talk about a motorsports dream team – don’t tempt us, Dale!”

Mario Andretti believes Formula 1 is their rightful home

One of the underlying reasons was that Andretti Cadillac would rely on existing manufacturers for the supply of engines. Moreover, GM is harnessing its energy and resources to build a power unit in-house, but it won’t be ready until 2028. Another factor was a pushback from the existing 10 teams, who were against the entry of another team into the paddock.

But, despite the shortcomings, Mario Andretti is still persistent in believing that they deserve a spot in the F1 grid; after all, they have contributed to the rise of the sport over the years. “Yeah, I’m really proud of Michael’s ambition, you know. To do that, he’s got some unfinished business there. I mean, let’s face it, I’m the last American to win a Formula 1 race, and Michael is the last American to be on the podium. I mean, this is our world too. So as long as we meet all the requirements, it’s all inside the rules.” Mario revealed this to Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Mario Andretti’s 1978 championship-winning run is the latest by any American race car driver. Before this, Phil Hill won the title in 1961. Apart from his triumphant win in 1978, Mario started a total of 128 races and bagged 12 race wins and 19 podium finishes. Carrying on the legacy, Michael Andretti tried his hand at F1 racing in 1993, which was his only stint, and managed to secure a podium finish at Monza in Italy. While Gene Haas-owned Haas Racing makes up for American representation, Andretti’s certainly has history and critical acclaim to back their entry to F1.

Apart from F1 racing, Dale Earnhardt Jr also tried to persuade Mario to aid his dream of fielding a Cup Series team. Jr went as far as to say, that in case their F1 venture did come to fruition, the Earnhardt-Andretti merger could buy one of the charters available on the market.

Is Dale Jr looking to enter Cup Series racing after all?

NASCAR fans have long been wishing for Dale Earnhardt Jr to enter Cup Series racing with his very own team, JR Motorsports. The feeling is indeed mutual on Dale Jr’s side, but for the time being, he has kept his options reserved, and rightly so. Without a clear idea or roadmap on how the NASCAR charter will run post-2024 and fluctuating pieces of charters, it wouldn’t be a wise call to invest in a Cup Series charter at the moment.

However, the co-owner of JRM isn’t completely turning a blind eye if an opportunity comes knocking on his door. “We’ll see what comes down the road. I’m almost feeling like that if I were to ever get involved in the Cup side, it would be like an investment.” He said this in an interview with Bob Pockrass. Not only that, Dale Jr has now gone on to tease his fans with a potential move to Cup racing in partnership with Andretti Autosport.

“If, for whatever reason, you guys want to change. I was going to say, If y’all wanted to change courses, maybe the Earnhardt’s and Andretti’s could team up and buy a couple of NASCAR charters, and we can go NASCAR racing.” Jr jokingly said, to which even Mario wasn’t hesitant about the idea and, in response, stated, “Alright well that’s open too.”

While it was all fun and laughter, who knows what fate has in store for both Mario Andretti and Dale Earnhardt Jr. What do you think should be the name of their team, and who could be the potential drivers? Can this help the SHR drivers who are struggling to find a team?