IndyCar's Marco Andretti still interested in F1 move, eyes Haas IndyCar's Marco Andretti still interested in F1 move, eyes Haas - F1 news - AUTOSPORT.com
I say go for it, I had my doubts when he grabbed Kurt Busch but seems to be working there. Could be just the opportunity that rare right driver, right team, right chemistry to make it work.
I would like to see it happen. If he learns from his father's mistakes and his grandfather's magnificent career he could be a good one. His biggest drawback is that he isn't 17 and not a Euro.
You don't need to be a "Euro" to get in F1 with reasonable chance, but you need to be well acquainted with the racing scene in Europe.
Frankly, nobody from the current era can compare with the best drivers of Mario's time., particularly with the great man himself. And I don't care how many poles, wins, championships, or millions they might have. But that's a well-worn subject, I concede.......
Haas will be at the back of the pack next year. There is no question about it. Only someone with a proven F1 track record will avoid the scorn. And, it brings up the bad days of his rather whiny Father who didn't like "Europe". His driving record isn't something to shout at and it will appear he's racing under his grandfather's name. I predict-- savaged in the press.
Marco is half as good as his father was, and his father (Michael) was half as good as his father (Mario). This is not a trend that should land Marco in an F1 car.
Bingo...IMO, Michael Andretti may well be the all-time World Champion Whiner. In his mind, he never lost a race that somebody didn't screw him out of. If he were not the grandson of Mario Andretti, Marco would be working at WalMart.
Or... I hate to say this... the talent. Mario had a fantastic technological advantage at Lotus but he knew personally from tragedy the danger of driving F1 at the time... and he did it anyway driving 10/10ths every lap. Indy the same. Mario was more from the era of get your azzz in that car, forget about the possible consequences, and drive as fast as you can to win. I don't think that exists anymore. Maybe we are better off for it but those guys were a different breed and should not be forgotten for what they did.
No doubt about it, Mario was one of the best all-rounders ever. I wish the States could give us another one like him.
Half? More like Half a percent. Mario is one of the greatest all time drivers of anything. Anyone half as good as him would still be running near the top in any one of the categories Mario was involved in.
Phil was my hero too, but for my money finest naturally talented all-round drivers ever were Americans: Gurney, Andretti, Foyt. They all could win in any type of car on any type of track. Pure brilliance.
We didn't see much of Foyt in Europe. He came once to Le Mans and won! But I don't recall anywhere else. It's a great pity that not more US drivers come to Europe nowadays. I suppose that's because between IRL, NASCAR, Tudor, PWC, etc... they have already good championships to compete in. But we have South Americans galore in Europe, supported by their home sponsors too. I can't believe the last GP won by a US driver (Andretti as a matter of fact) was in 1978 !!!
I haven't even heard of marco, let alone seen him race, but f1 history is full of drivers chosen for their name, or their leverage with sponsors, maybe Haas in its early days will be geared towards sponsorship and testing, rather than true expectations of winning, and having an Andretti on the team gives them a great start social media/support wise that will pay dividends in investment for when the results become possible and they are able to slide a top notch pilot in the car?
Marco is a solid driver, but not even a dominant driver in Indy. If Haas is really serious, they need drivers that can help them develop F1 cars that have real experience. There are plenty of talented drivers available, and the "low" guys in F1 don't make that much anyway relative to the total investment. I don't see why they would do this personally.
What Haas needs (desperately) are some drivers who have been around the block and can fill in the blanks. They are going to need as much experience of the tracks, the organization, the set ups, and any other aspects that only someone who has "been there" will know. It's not a training course for Marco. If Haas is really serious, they will get experience and slowly build from there. They are going to make enough mistakes in their first year without driver errors compounding it. Look at Toyota. All that money, talent, experience etc and they never really showed anything. Haas, even with Ferrari's help, will be the same way for a long time. The way to shorten it is to try to reduce as many mistakes as possible, including driving errors.
I can see Perez going there if they get going, renew his Ferrari links with a view to trying to get in the backdoor to a seat at the main team that he probably feels should have been his a few years ago.... treading water at force India. I don't think he is good enough for Ferrari, but he can pedal a mid-table team car
