Why would McLaren do that? They could not run their own chassis... Nobody would be dumb enough to do that. Never had wife problems? Count yourself lucky. He is a back-marker now, and would be even worse in F1.
Whoever mentioned that he'd only buy it to get Marco in to F1. Nope, not going to happen and I think that no matter how much pride Mario and Michael have in Marco, neither think he'll get to F1. To get into F1 you need a Superlicence. To get a Superlicence you need to accumulate 40 qualifying points over the prior three years. There are only about 40 people who qualify for a Superlicence in that world at any one time. I think from Indy car only Newgarden, Pagennaud, Dixon, Power and possibly Castronevis qualify right now. Maybe JPM as he had one in the past, but I think it's been too long.
SHOW ME THE MONEY Otherwise Andretti racing should shut up and stop floating this joke of an idea. In fact if anyone should buy Force India in the US it would be Haas. Pick the bones and take the best people out. If Force India closes shop (and a lot of F1 teams have over the years), you get it all for a lot less money if you already have an F1 team.
What possible incentive is there for Gene Haas to buy FI? He already has an entry, facilities and an organization in place. He can just try to recruit the talent from FI as will every other team.
None.. which is my point also. It's ridiculous. So, we agree here. But other F1 teams have bought assets from failed F1 teams and picked up the best people. Its not uncommon. IMO Force India is hoping for a major auto maker like Mercedes to make them a B team.
they ran a spec car in the 500 last year and it didn't bother them. McLaren is no longer (just) an engineering company. it's about branding. some speculation is they'd run the IndyCar team through the GT car division to help sell cars here.
Well... that's how Zak Brown thinks McLaren is. And I think this is what is fueling the internal disagreements inside McLaren. Engineering excellence in racing is being replaced by "branding". Brown feels the average joe doesn't know the difference and over time, the purists will eventually fall in line. And he has a point. Look at Indy when they ran a repainted Andretti car. Who got the credit? Andretti or McLaren?
Isn't there some historical revision going on re Michael Andretti? He tried to be a, more or less, 'arrive and drive' F1 racer. How could he even have time to get homesick? He also was sarcastic about the food, saying he didn't like Europe because, ex., he couldn't get a cheeseburger in 'gay Paree'(Andretti's words). I can't see Michael Andretti involved in F1; he can't(er, couldn't) either.
You just can't erase that "Gay Puree" quote once you've read it? To his credit he did get a podium finish(3rd) in his last F1 race(Monza).
The fact is, it was all about Alonso. The whole "McLaren-Andretti Autosport" thing was a footnote to most fans. In essence then, Zak Brown is probably right.
If Stroll thinks the press and F1 fans are against him, he has nothing on what happened to Michael Andretti. That was brutal.
And what really drove it home was his replacement, Mika Hakkinen, was immediately quicker and ultimately successful.
Michael did a half-ass job of F1. He was gifted one of the most coveted seats in racing but didn't commit to F1 with every fiber of his being. He just didn't want it badly enough.
Can't say I disagree. He also didn't help himself with the press. And McLaren also sunk his ship by releasing leaks. But it was really brutal.
i love mario, but no great fan of michael.... BUT i would love to see another american team in F1. with american drivers - rossi, marco, etc.
I would too. I was excited about Haas upon inception, but the concept and reality of an American F1 team are drastically different. If it happens, maybe an Andretti Autosport F1 team would put more of an American face not just in ownership but in drivers too. Michael has softened up quite a bit from his driver's days, his Dad says he's become a workaholic, 12 hour days, 7 days a week.
Micheal's own personal decisions aside, you don't buy into that old rumored story that Bernie in some way gave orders to McLaren to not necessarily give Michael good equipment to throw water on the fire that was Indycar at that time.
did i say those words? no. what i said was i never liked his attitude. is dad was my hero as a kid, and fought for everything he ever got in life with grit and determination and class. his son was a petulant cry baby who said stupid **** all the time, and then flying home every other day, instead of driving fast. BUT, i would overlook my past disgust with him IF he bought an F1 team and made something out of it.
I blame HAAS for that. Why they keep Grosjean and not put in Rossi is beyond me. And "American team" with no Americans? American in name only... Marco... forget it.
Michael Andretti and Mika Hakkinen were both signed early by McLaren as drivers for that year. Ayrton Senna made up his mind, and decided to rejoin McLaren, having failed to get the seat he wanted (at Williams, I think). Ron Dennis didn't hesitate! So Ron Dennis had now 3 drivers under contract for only 2 cars!! Cruel dilemma … His solution was to give Andretti's testing periods to Hakkinen, depriving the American of time to acclimatise to the car, etc... So, Michael Andretti started the season already on the back foot. That must be said in his defense. The comparison with Senna wasn't in his favour, whilst the team noted that Hakkinen lap times in testing sessions improved all the time. That must have demoralised Michael, and added to his refusal to relocate full time in UK (for reasons I didn't know then) pushed him to curtail his F1 experience.
And meanwhile, what must have further stoked the fires of frustration in Michael's mind, Nigel Mansell comes over, takes over his seat at Newman-Haas racing and dominates to win the CART championship!
You are right there. What Mansell accomplished that year in CART left me speechless., more than his WDC, I must say He was never one of my favourite drivers (too much whining).
