Michael Andretti to takeover existing F1 team?? Reports . . .

This could be fun. But it could also be his undoing. I hope he has a major sponsor lined up.

https://racer.com/2021/08/20/andretti-pursuing-formula-1-team-takeover/?fbclid=IwAR3d1QBlHbXwKwShQFmJH1o4G85k7644o8HwrvcpDjOmSrh3chA_Wecnfs0

 

That would be cool. AndrettiF1

 

would hate to lose the Williams name so I hope it's Sauber

 

Two words: Colton Herta

 

Maybe he could be a customer for the new "Red Bull" (with back-door Honda support) engine package?

 

Excellent news. Everyone loves Andretti, right? Very much welcome this.

it'll be Haas.

 

Euros and South Americans still have a big grudge against Michael.

 

Unjustified.

Effem.

 

What South American(s) has (have) a grudge against Michael???

 

I struggle to get which other team could be?
Williams has only just been acquired.
Sauber-Alfa, most likely but still a pretty big jump
STR is Red Bull's
Alpine, Aston, Merc, Ferrari, Red Bull, Mclaren....forget it.

Has to be Haas. Strapped for cash, gene looking to get out anyways.

 

I would have guessed Haas or Sauber, maybe the Haas denial is a bluff?

 

Because of his time at McLaren against Senna.

 

It is HAAS.

 

I have to say that I am surprised and impressed by Michael's acumen as a team owner. Pre-Mclaren he was a fearless racer in Indycar but he didn't go All-In to commit to F1. Had he stuck with it he could have succeeded, he finally got a podium at his last race(Monza). There is a cultural barrier in F1 that he needs to address, as a driver(nearly 30 years ago) he approached it as a "Murrican". That **** won't fly, but I sincerely hope that he succeeds.

 

Agreed. It HAAS to be.

All the best,
Andrew.

 

Senna and Michael famously got along well.

 

Yeah, that's what I had heard. Ron Dennis didn't take to Michael because he flew home after every race and spent the minimum time with the team. So Dennis replaced him with some dude named Hakkinen.

 

The problem is Michael ragged that Senna got preference which is why he performed so poorly next to him. Then he had to keep flying back home each week because he said he didn't like living in Europe.

 

I don't think Michael ever uttered a bad word about Senna to the team, nor complained about being treated unfairly. Where/from whom did you hear otherwise?

 

There's plenty of information online, even today

https://jalopnik.com/michael-andretti-wants-a-second-shot-at-formula-one-th-1847529520

Back in 1993 Michael Andretti got his shot at Formula One partnering with Ayrton Senna at the McLaren team for the first 13 rounds of the season. With a string of retirements and alleged sabotage, Andretti scored no more than 7 World Championship points while teammate Senna scored ten times as many that season. Ultimately Andretti was canned from the team and sent back to CART in deference to Mikka Hakkinen, who would be far less expensive for McLaren to employ. He burned out in F1 once, but now according to a report from Racer.com, he’s looking to come back, this time as a team boss.

 

Just realized it's the wrong andretti wanting to buy into F1. Though I do hope if it happens we see more of Mario!

 

"Dean Martin", I like your posts usually but this time you are talking out of your posteriore. There was no grudge at all, in Europe we were just sorry that he did not understand that you had to show committment to F1 by moving to Europe or the UK. This jetting in at the last minute for every Grand Prix and test day was seen as a half baked effort.

As 375+ wrote it it was an uncouth approach. In a way he knew Mario had done that a lot in the past but missed the point that Mario was a household proven name in the old world whereas he was not. That being said no one in Europe cared about him enough to feel a grudge, just felt sorry for him he did not get the point.

As to South Americans in general and Brasilians in particular I don't see why they would have had a grudge, never heard that, Ayrton was well in front anyway and there was no trouble between the two drivers.

I like Michael, he had great battles later with Montoya in Indycar. That year in F1 I ran into him at Charles de Gaulle airport, he was on the same flight from London as I and we spoke at luggage retrieval, I asked him whether he thought Magny Cours -where he was headed for the GP- was Mickey Mouse and he said yes it is a bit but you still have to get it right.

I think if Gene Haas has had enough then there would be no better buyer than Michael for the team...unless Roger P. went for it...

 

Williams and Sauber have been bought by edge funds, so I expect they will be for sale if the price is right and the timing convenient, IMO.
Investors aren't in F1 for the love of the sport, they don't stay for the long run.

Haas is a basket case: chassis designed and built in Italy, bodywork made in the USA, powertrain and suspension sourced from Ferrari, cars assembled in UK. The team doesn't seem to have a strong design team, and is juggling with several locations. But this could be a cheap team to buy.

 

There are several versions.
Dennis had Hakkinen and Andretti under contract already by the time Senna finally made up his mind and re-sign with McLaren. But 3 drivers for 2 cars won't go.
So Dennis kept the 3 of them, but gave Hakkinen the role of tester for one year.
Andretti missed most of the testing time, in the car, nor practised between GPs. That immediatly made him far less competitive than Senna.

The British press, not fully aware of this, (or ignoring it) started to accuse him of not being commited enough since he kept flying to races, and never settled in Europe. Somehow this point was repeatedly mentioned in the British media, to rub salt in the wound, following Michael's average performances.

It was said, probably maliciously, that Michael wanted to go home between races to save his marriage, his wife insisting she wouldn't move to Europe. One of our tabloids printed that "ANDRETTI DOESNT WEAR THE TROUSERS AT HOME!" I have no idea if this was true.
Maybe our American friends can comment on that gossip.

The fact is that when Hakkinen finally was given a chance to race in GP, benefiting from hours of testing, he was immediatly competitive, and could challenge Senna. That seemed to justify Ron Dennis' decision.