18 replies to this topic

[Scudetto]

FYI: I happened upon this terrific interview with Mario Andretti conducted by Pitpass.com's Chris Balfe. Great reading with interesting insight on F1, Enzo Ferrari, Colin Chapman, and Ron Dennis.

Read it at Pitpass.com

[Kaiser]

Great interview,, many thanks!!

[padovani]

Great great great interview.

'There's a lot of selfishness in F1 nowadays,' I comment. 'I like to think back to 78 when you had Ronnie Peterson as your team-mate. Ronnie was a great team-mate for you, as Gilles was for Jody.'

"That has got nothing to do with today or yesterday," Mario responds. "That only has to do with individuals. I've had some of the best team-mates in the world and the worst. The point I'm making is there has to be some chemistry, some mutual respect between individuals. There's a fine line of respecting somebody who is trying to steal what you think is yours. There's no team in this world including McLaren, Ferrari that can provide exactly two of the best. There's only one best, one best engineer, one best overall team to really prepare the car, one best engine and so on. If you've got a strong and a not so strong, the strong will prevail and will be stronger.

"If you got two strong ones… clash! With Ronnie and I, I felt that I had him on the technical side, I didn't worry because I knew how to set up the car better. I had better understanding of the car, and so I never felt threatened in that respect. Because of that we got along, we were not jealous. I didn't worry even if he had a better engine I knew I had it handled. We all play our advantage of course, and at the same time, if you feel that the other side is not so desperate to try to get what you think is yours, then you become more lenient and more compromising. A lot has to do with two individuals being human against one another. There are times when that could never work as there wouldn't be any communication or anything else and then it's a disaster. I've seen all of it, I've seen it then, and I've seen it now. That's something that will continue because it's human nature.

It helps to put in perspective the whole MS/RB/Ferrari thing...

[Zmeej]

Scudinho!

Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!!!

Is Mario the coolest, or what?

Went downstairs and pulled out my Andretti book (the big beautiful one with an introduction by Paul Newman), printed out the interview, then stuck it in among the pages.

By the way, Mister Newman sez this about the '78 WDC:
"He's moral, he's ethical, and he's quick. You can't do better than that."

[badri]

Great read... Thanks Scudetto

[Toxicant]

That sure shed some light on the Michael situation, a lot different version then I’ve read on this BB in the past. How many times have we heard that Michael didn’t do well in F1 because he wouldn’t test or move to Europe.

Gave most of the testing to Mika then didn’t even pay the guy, you wonder why American drivers aren’t lining up to get into F1.

How can you not love Ron Dennis?

[Williams]

Scudetto, great interview, thanks for pointing it out. To my mind Mario is the most interesting and quotable driver of all time, very good with a story. I am glad he decided to do the book with Gordon Kirby, which is an absolute treasure-trove of Mario's anecdotes. Any fan F1 fan interested in reading about F1 past and who hasn't read this book should get it today.

In the interview it was interesting that he quotes his favourite racing series as being CART because of the great variety of tracks. Also interesting to read some the things he still feels very strongly about: Michael's experience in F1, his regrets over losing three championships for six gallons of fuel, and Mansell...

Thanks again for posting this link Scudetto.

[TAB666]

Blah, sure he could setup the cars but Ronnie had sooo much more raw speed ( to bad he never learned to setup the car ). I heard some storys about Ronnie and the setups. One time he was driving the car and came back to the pits complaining about something , the team said they would fixed it and ronnie whent out again and drove fast. He then came back and said that he liked the changes to the setup .... they hadent changed anything on the car

[Robbie]

Scudetto, thank you very much. Some twit on another thread (ghostrider) was mocking me for putting Mario as my favorite driver in my profile. I think MA's achievements speak for themselves: and his assessment of racing is insightful and remarkably objective.

(Pity the interviewer lost his job.........!)

Thanks again.

[padovani]

Originally posted by Robbie


(Pity the interviewer lost his job.........!)

Thanks again.

It must have something to do with the Planet-F1/Pitpass thing.

All the staff on www.pitpass.com used to be at www.planet-f1.com. Then, all of a sudden, they all disappeared from the website. Then, months later, someone posted a link for www.pitpass.com, I followed it, and then realized all the old Planet F1 site staff was there (Chris Balfe, Bob Costanduros, etc, etc, etc...)

Probably some reorg went on at Planet F1, everybody was fired, then they went on to open Pitpass...

[Andre]

That's an excellent site. I will put Pitpass on my favorite list.

Excellent interview. Mario Andretti always has something interesting to say about the good old days of formula 1. Also interesting story about Michael Andretti and Mclaren. F1 could be a lot bigger in the USA if Michael had stayed with Mclaren.


I'll try to find this Mario Andretti book. I hope it's not too expensive.

[Williams]

Originally posted by TAB666
Blah, sure he could setup the cars but Ronnie had sooo much more raw speed ( to bad he never learned to setup the car ). I heard some storys about Ronnie and the setups. One time he was driving the car and came back to the pits complaining about something , the team said they would fixed it and ronnie whent out again and drove fast. He then came back and said that he liked the changes to the setup .... they hadent changed anything on the car

Shows you how things have changed since Ronnie's day. I've also heard stories about technically gifted drivers like Senna who on their first drives were deliberately given setup changes in the wrong direction, and they were able to tell what had happened. A lot of "technical" drivers like Mario, Senna and Gilles started out working on their own karts or cars or however they started out, so by the time they got to the big leagues, they knew how a car worked.

Mario was pretty amazing in that way. When he got to Lotus he was doing things with tyres and suspension changes that even Colin Chapman didn't understand, and was able to go faster because of them. He was doing things like measuring tyre diameters to get matched or staggered sets of tyres for certain tracks, things that the F1 engineers hadn't even thought about yet.

One time Mario had selected a set of tyres to use later on in a race, but then retired due to a mechanical failure. The next time his teammate came into the pits, he told the crew to put the selected set of tyres on the car, and his teammate was thereafter faster then he had been all day. An amazing and gifted man, Mario.

[Peeko]

Great read

[Don Capps]

Of all the "good guys" you would care to meet, Mario Andretti is easy at the top of the list with just a very few others, Dan Gurney immediately popping to mind as one of those of the same ilk. I had one relatively long conversation with him years ago and I was amazed that is exactly what he is -- blunt, funny, serious, articulate, and one of the most "positive" people I have ever met in my life (and I used to deal with Jody Scheckter on a routine basis for years and he is almost the very personification of the term "positive"). I first watch Mario race way back in 1964 when he was just getting into Champ Cars. He was one of those who caught your and you remembered.

An excellent interview and one I hope many take the time to read.

[Don Capps]

Originally posted by TAB666
Blah, sure he could setup the cars but Ronnie had sooo much more raw speed ( to bad he never learned to setup the car ). I heard some storys about Ronnie and the setups. One time he was driving the car and came back to the pits complaining about something , the team said they would fixed it and ronnie whent out again and drove fast. He then came back and said that he liked the changes to the setup .... they hadent changed anything on the car

I would not go so far far as to say that Ronnie had "sooo much more raw speed" than Mario. Mario was not only a master at setting up a car, but damn quick to boot. Mario could drive around problems much like some of the other greats like Moss, Fangio, Ascari, Foyt, and Clark also did. There were a few times when Mario put the bit between his teeth and let it all hang out and it was mind-boggling to realize exactly what was happening. I have always regretted I wasn't at Sebring in 1970 when he willed that Ferrari into victory lane.... Mario not only had raw speed, but the smarts to be like electricity and take the line of least resistance and make the car work for you as much as you could and then better utilize your abilities.

Having said that, I genuinely liked and admired Ronnie, but if I were a team manager I would have not hesitated for a nanosecond to pick Mario if given a choice between the two. Mario was by far the better Racer. As an aside, I have always wondered what it would have been like to have to deal with Ronnie and Gilles in the same team.... Now, that would have been interesting....

[TAB666]

Originally posted by Don Capps



Having said that, I genuinely liked and admired Ronnie, but if I were a team manager I would have not hesitated for a nanosecond to pick Mario if given a choice between the two. Mario was by far the better Racer. As an aside, I have always wondered what it would have been like to have to deal with Ronnie and Gilles in the same team.... Now, that would have been interesting....

True i would prolly have done the same. Ronnie and Gille in the same team would have been magic.

[henryting]

Originally posted by Scudetto
FYI: I happened upon this terrific interview with Mario Andretti conducted by Pitpass.com's Chris Balfe. Great reading with interesting insight on F1, Enzo Ferrari, Colin Chapman, and Ron Dennis.

Read it at Pitpass.com

Mario has always been a talented race car driver. My kind of driver, who can jump into CART, Indy, F1, rally, ovals, sprint car and god know what and squeeze the best out of the equipment available. His view of CART versus F1 says it all in pointing out F1 being a very specialized road car and CART is more diverse for oval, road, street and hence a compromise.

[Scudetto]

Originally posted by henryting


Mario has always been a talented race car driver. My kind of driver, who can jump into CART, Indy, F1, rally, ovals, sprint car and god know what and squeeze the best out of the equipment available. His view of CART versus F1 says it all in pointing out F1 being a very specialized road car and CART is more diverse for oval, road, street and hence a compromise.

Mario is a classy and articulate ambassador for all motorsport. Is there a type of car he hasn't raced competetively in? He's done it all. The only feather missing from his cap is that elusive LeMans win.

[Viss1]

Originally posted by TAB666
True i would prolly have done the same. Ronnie and Gille in the same team would have been magic.

Or disaster. Two "wild cards" in the same team would have been a big gamble, but definitely would have made for some good racing.

Great interview, Scudetto!