Business of Speed Podcast - In Conversation with Racing Legend, Mario Andretti

Episode Date: February 7, 2026

Mario Andretti shares his remarkable journey from an immigrant to one of the greatest race car drivers of all time. He reflects on his early days in racing, the challenges he faced, and the importance of family and teamwork in achieving success. The discussion also delves into the evolution of racing technology, the significance of sound in motorsports, and Andretti's thoughts on the future of racing, particularly with the Andretti name entering Formula 1. Throughout the conversation, Andretti emphasizes the American dream and the unique experiences that shaped his illustrious career.

Hola, Vincenzo. Hola, Lali. How are you? ¿Cómo estás? Estoy muy bien, gracias. ¿Todo bien? Todo bien. Yeah, today's guest was S-tier.

Is that what the kids say these days? S-tier? To me, God-tier. Whatever. It was top-tier motorsport legend. I don't even know if the person himself does not need introduction because even if you don't know who he is, You've heard him in rap songs.

You've heard him probably from the guy, the neighbor, the old man neighbor down the street from when you were speeding through the neighborhood. Yep. I mean, I know I can actually attest to that. This person has won everything from dirt tracks to IndyCar to Daytona in NASCAR, has won Formula One championships. Literally everything he touches, he has won, which is crazy. and I'm gonna say something this never happens to me my palms were sweating knees weak arms were heavy arms were heavy knees weak and it was mom's spaghetti it was I don't think Vincenzo's ever seen me like that I legitimately had sweaty hands I had tachycardia I thought I might have a heart

attack at any moment I feel that if if we're measuring greatness by versatility bar none the goat of all goats really if that's the measure this was a pretty big deal for both of us for similar reasons and and dissimilar reasons but this is someone both of us grew up idolizing it's someone who who is an immigrant like me like your parents yeah just who's overcome so much so and even just the symbolization of this person's name for an italian-american is just means so much as to what he left what he came to do and and in talking to him you know you'll listen to this conversation and it almost sounds like there's no rhyme or reason because we went into this saying we want this to be story time with someone who has been around for a long time

through motorsports i mean through most of these motorsports these series started this person is still around since you know f1 started in its current form in 1950 and this person was around shortly thereafter that you know inception of it same thing with like nascar right through the 60s through that high risk era and yeah i mean just i just think of like you left a country to have a you know a better opportunity more opportunity you were forced out of the country you were in you come here and you decide i'm going to do something that's crazy dangerous and i just want to like there's no money in it there's at the lower levels there's no money i think he's talking about like you'll live here in the podcast he's like 25 to win a race or whatever it was when

they were doing dirt races him and his brother yeah but also to think that i don't think a lot of people realize our guest was a refugee for eight years living like in some kind of warehouse with 14 20 families in one space there's stories about his sister having to sleep next to some old guy who had a terrible cough like true true adversity not not to be taken lightly which to him must seem like some other life but it's actually part of his life and just to reach the upper echelons of of global motorsport overcoming what he did is just mind-boggling i think we were in awe speaking to him and like you were just like let's let the story time i don't even know what what's gonna happen here let's just let him talk you know what shocked me something i

to discuss his memory he'll tell you like oh yeah we went we went dirt racing and there was a guy called so and so and no no no like yeah vividly recalls minutiae from 50 60 years ago crazy i can't remember what i had for dinner last night it was that really surprised me and and i and i regret not asking him if his memory's so good for everything or just for these racing related facts You know, so there's an, and I had asked him something about like, what was, cause he's been involved in so many ventures off the grid too. He didn't really even, I asked him about it. He just kind of didn't even care about it. He's like, honestly, I really only care about the stuff. He's like, he's so passionate about speed, motorsports, and it oozes out of everything he says. And I think that was really impressive that after all these years, 50 plus years of speed, and you're still talking about, you know, the few opportunities that he still does have to drive some of these cars. And that's really, really impressive. And that weighs upon me personally.

We're chasing after something in life that is you're so passionate about and you just go all in. It's just like, I'm here. I'm all in on this. I want to go fast. I want to drive cars. I want to be involved in this world. And that's what he did. And, you know, this man is the only human to win the Indy 500, the Daytona 500 and an F1 championship. He's won, what, four champ car titles on top of that. But what was still, let's see if you remember this one. What was still the championship that he put right up there with his F1 championship? was it the midgets what was it it was yeah the dirt the dirt car championship that he won he's like i would put that one up there with f1 no but also i think that the point of that was that

no other no one no human will ever accomplish that because right now you have to be so laser focused and single-seaters and to get to formula one there's no way lando norris suddenly becomes you know dirt race champion of the world so so i think he he almost mentioned it like yeah there's other accomplishments combos that no one else will ever do there's a little easter egg behind me if people have been paying attention do you want to tell people who our guest is today none other than mario gabriele andretti american italian american legend and yeah we got we got a chance to talk we got an hour to talk to him there's there is a full hour of content here he talked and went on he did not hold back on his stories and sometimes they go a little all over the place

But it was awesome to listen to. And I hope that you guys enjoy it. Enjoy our conversation with Mario Andretti. Enjoy. It almost feels like a sin to call you Mario, Mr. Andretti. No, call me Mario. Absolutely. Yeah.

I'll call you Lali and Vincenzo. Okay. So we are going to, we'll just start the show. So we're going to do an introduction afterwards just between Lali and I. And so we just want to talk to you. This is going to be a little bit different for us because of who you are. And we think we've watched motorsports since we were very little. And I was raised as in an Italian household with Italian immigrant parents and Italian immigrant uncles and aunts.

Mario Andretti was like, that was a that was a compliment. If somebody said to you, you drive too fast, you drive like Mario Andretti. That was like a compliment for me. It's not the same. I'm Colombian, immigrant from Colombia, Mr. Andretti. and it's the same. If anyone, if you were speeding in a car, everyone's like, who do you think you are? Mario Andretti kind of thing? I know that you've heard many stories. When you're naughty, my name comes up. Only in the best ways. In the best ways. On the podcast today is the greatest race car driver of all time, truly, Mario Andretti. Welcome to the business of speed,

Signore, how are you? Wonderful. Thank you. Thank you, Vincenzo. Thank you for having me. Thank you, Lali. Ciao, Mario. Yeah.

No, this is a pleasure for both of us. I come from an immigrant family. Lali is an immigrant herself, and we had some questions for you around your career. This is different from most of our shows because a lot of our shows we talk about the business of racing. But for this, we thought we just want to hear Mr. Andretti talk to us about his career and his life. So we'll have some questions. but you can do, you can answer it however you want. I'm not going to, I won't be upset however you answer. Yeah. That's what we're here for, the truth. Yeah. Something I wanted to get out of the

way immediately was the goat talk. So I'm going to tell you something that I think when we speak of goats and motor racing, I don't think your name should be in the same category as other drivers who are laser focused on one series. We have the Senna's, the Verstappen's, the Lewis hamiltons i think that's very unfair your name needs to live in another category with with uh other drivers of varying disciplines like the de fernando alonso's the juan pablo montoya's even scott dixon who is one who has been very successful in endurance racing so really it's just i just want to uh get it out of the way you are the undeniable goat of all time but you must have some goats and And maybe that's changed throughout the series.

Vincenzo and I were talking about Ascari, your love for Ascari. Over the decades, has that changed for you? Maybe some of the guys you're seeing today? What's your GOAT situation? Well, obviously, there's so much to choose from, you know. But, you know, you go through the decades and the rare talents are that rare. And again, you know, you mentioned Alberto Ascari. Obviously, he was my true inspiration when I was at the age to be inspired.

My twin brother Aldo and I gravitated to the sport when we were just very young teenagers at that point in a refugee camp, really. Because we were having to leave our home when I was eight years old. My area, Istria, was occupied by Yugoslavia. Anyway, long story. But the bottom line is, as far as the question, the goats, there have been many. I mean, Fonjo, you know, the different decades, you know, just provided, you know, all the aces of the moment. And we go through the decades. There are many of them.

And the best part about it is that I got to meet almost everyone, including Fangio, except for Ascari. Alberto Ascari was killed just a year before I came to America, you know, at testing in Monza, you know. But the rest, Moffs and all those individuals through those decades, my formative year decades, I met them all throughout my career. And then, again, while I was active, there were many, you know, like when I broke into IndyCars at top level, who was the top guy? It was A.J. Foyt, five years my senior, you know, and already established champion. And so that's who you had to face and go up against.

And if you're going to make your mark, that's who you had to equal or beat. You know, so I was fortunate, as you said, that along the way, I was very curious about what the sport had to offer at the highest level. As we all know, you know, that you have many categories at the highest level, which you could satisfy a career just by specializing in that one particular area. You could specialize in sports prototypes, or you could specialize in Formula One, obviously, or IndyCars and NASCAR. But I had opportunities because, you know, you just make friendships and so forth. And along the way, when I expressed a wish to compete in another category, obviously, I tried to go for the top level, you know, because you need the equipment. You can't do it alone. And that's really, that's what I was fortunate, you know, to be able to get into that.

You know, some of my first experiences was in a Ferrari, in sports prototypes. You know, can't do much better than that. And so on and so forth. I drove Porsche and on and on. But I derived tremendous satisfaction out of going outside of what, my specialty was always single-seaters. because the purest form of the sport. But what I was curious about how the other side, you know, what do you have to do to be able to,

you know, to obviously not only to taste, but to perhaps win there. And that's where I derived the biggest satisfaction in my career to be able to go there and then win. And so I was very blessed that I had that opportunity. In 1954, you got to see Alberto Ascari at the Mille Miglia. And then I think, I believe it was later that year, you also got the opportunity. You watched him in Monza, right?

Against Fangio. What about racing at that point? Because you were still very young. What about racing intrigued you? Why was it that, how did you fall in love with it at that point? The answer, I'll never know why. Because, I mean, the family didn't even have a car. So, Aldo and I gravitated not only to auto racing, but also to motorcycle racing.

Yeah. Because, you know, just think of this. You know, Nuvolari, Ascari, they raced motorcycles before they went to cars. And I thought that, you know, looking at the impossible dream, I figured it would probably be easier to start with motorcycles. I don't know, in my mind. We followed, you know, because then I got to meet, you know, some of the aces in, you know, in motorbikes also, you know,

because Italy was very prominent at that time with, you know, the Gilera, Moto Guzzi, and all that. So it, the sport just, I don't know, it just, uh, fulfilled something that, that created a fantasy that made us happy. Uh, yeah. Um, yeah. You know, when we came to America, two years after we arrived there, we started building a race car. Yeah. Yeah.

1948 Hudson, right? Yeah. Mario, we've talked to other race car drivers. Cause you say, you say you got, you got hooked right away. And I'm very fascinated with the addiction. Is it to speed? Is it to control? And what we've heard, it's more about wanting to win.

Were you a competitive kid always? Do you hate losing more than anything? Yes. Yes, yes, yes. Yes. You know, there's nothing like winning. And you know, this is the thing that I feel, you know, we were so fortunate in so many ways that uh do you know that i had many firsts in my career at important time and the most

important one was you know i think we did a pretty damn good job not giving ourselves credit but surrounding ourselves you know with uh the geek the person that knows everything when we built the first car you know we we bought and actually by the suggestion from Our buddy, Charlie Mitch, we bought setups from one of the top teams in NASCAR. You know, there was a factory team called Hudson at the time. And again, we paid a lot of money for that. Can you imagine? It cost us $500 to get the setup.

I mean, in those days, it was like $50,000 today. Yeah, exactly. And anyway, the reason we did a good job, you know, building the car is what Aldo, you know, we had two drivers, one car, one helmet. And, you know, when it comes to the first race, it was a matter of who's going to go first. We just tossed the coin. Aldo wins. I was actually happy because we didn't know what to expect. We had one day of testing.

because we befriended the promoter, Jerry Freed. Anyway, and Aldo, they started him last in the heat race, qualifying heat, and bam, bam, bam, he kept passing cars. He won the heat, which paid $25 to get it right away, the window. And then he won the feature, starting last, Because, yeah, the handicapping, they had no history on us. So you just qualify for the race, but you had to be handicapped to where you start. Okay, okay.

And the handicapping, it was zero for us, so you start in the back. Aldo started dead last in the feature, and he's passing Carter. We won the feature. $25 for the heat, $125 for the feature. we racked in 150 bucks the first the first race and and aldo won it and and i i had to do the same thing in the following week which i did and you know then time went on we won we crashed we did a little bit of everything but we had a you know pretty pretty good season actually Mario, at what point did Aldo, if Aldo was into racing, at what point did he stop?

And you continued. I don't think I know that story. Why did he stop and not pursue it? And why did you become the GOAT? Well, Aldo, I'll give you as briefly as I can. We both had the same dreams, same, obviously, objectives. And at the end of the first season, you had to be in the top three in points at at least three different tracks within a 150-mile radius to qualify for the season-ending 100 lapper in Hatfield, Pennsylvania, which was a local, you know, within this radius, local thing. And we actually qualified for both because we were racing in Flemington, New Jersey, and up north from here.

And there were three different tracks that we were racing in between, and Nazareth, of course. And even though Alder and I were alternating one week, every other week, we still qualified. So we were both in that race. And I got a ride with somebody else. with another team from Allentown, and Aldo drove our car. And our car was a Sportsman in an all-Modify series, but it was a fast Sportsman.

Aldo was running second to the Freddie Adams, the track champion down there in Hatfield, with a couple laps to go, and he was qualified for the feature. And I'm already qualified, and I'm trying to slow him down, just stay there. He tried to pass him, hooked the car rail, and the end of the run, demolished the car,

and they gave him his last rites that night in the hospital. And he was in a coma for over a month in Philadelphia. So that was the first downfall for Aldo. I took a sabbatical the following year, and I went on and obviously continued on because it was in 1959 and 60 where I drove my car because we were illegal in a sense that we were underage. But no, we had actually to get by that, you had to be 21 in those days to race professionally. and we were 19 we started building a car in 1957

and we thought we got four years you know until 1961 to race and we were done in two years we were done and we said we're not going to wait and so we had to fudge our way through

and the local editor of Nazareth Key here we befriended through You know, being at the gas station, my uncle's gas station, uncle's station, there we befriended a lot of people. And we said, Celeste Young, I said, you got to do something with our driver's license, the date, birth date. And that's how we, and then, and then, Vincenzo,

we, we, we spurred for racing suits from Salah Sport. I was going to ask you a story, so I'm good. Tell. Yeah, that story, you know, like I said, And, you know, we said with all the zippers and everything, you know, it was a white one and a blue one. I wore the blue, I wore the white. And so we looked pretty professional. And then the other thing is we came up with a story that we used to race

Formula Junior in Italy. It's not well-leaning. You know, if you look at Wikipedia, they still have that story. Oh, my God. Yeah, because the sports editor, you know, the editor of Speed Sport News, Chris Akonomaki, really ran with that story at that time. And when it reached Italy, you know, my relatives and my, you know, my grandparents, they said, Mario Birichino.

They said, how come you didn't tell us you were racing when you were here? Oh, my gosh. We were racing. You know, so anyway, you know, we kind of, you can see, you know, but fibbing, we fibbed our way through to race the first two years. Now, to go back to Aldo, the second year, he, you know, we built another car, obviously, and midway through the season, I was, you know, doing really well with that car once.

In fact, the second year, I won 22 races. And so with that car, during intermission, they still have heat races in the Constellation, then intermission before the feature. During intermission, Aldo said, let's ask Jerry Freedfield, let me take a few laps with the car. And he kept begging me, you know, and I didn't think he was ready, but okay, go. And he just ran and ran, and finally, here again, coming off a turn two there, he just hooked the guardrail and went end over end outside the track and destroyed that car. But he only broke his finger on that one, so he was lucky in that. And so, but again, he didn't race the second, you know, all throughout that year. Then when I moved on out of stock cars and into midgets, obviously, you know, he took over the car and he started, you know, he was driving.

And then as I kept going, then he came out of, you know, the stock car. Then he drove a little bit, the midget that I had been driving, the three-quarter midget. Then he got into sprint cars. I bought a sprint car for him, and it was run by one of those guys, Larry Slaughter, who was one of the original guys on the team. Anyway, Aldo just, he drove that sprint car until, it was 1969, where he had an accident, which was not his fault. It was in Des Moines, Iowa, and this guy, Pete Falls, blew a tire, and the car was sideways. I mean, it was across the track in the middle of the straightaway.

Aldo hit and wound up almost in a grandstand, and that was, you know, his injury was just the end of his career, and that was it. You know, that's the story with Aldo. And it was sad, you know, because he had the same dreams and the same passion as I did. But it just never worked for him. I don't know what it is, how you look at that. I was as fortunate as you could ever be all along. And him was just the opposite.

It just... Yeah. Timing, timing, timing. Right place, right time. But also racing is a fickle mistress. I always say that. It's such a fickle mistress. You've had members of your own family with great success, with not great success.

It's just so fickle, right? One of my two boys, Mike and Jeff, you know, Michael, like a laser. Jeff, you know, there's something on the road. He's, you know, it was there for him to hit it, you know? Yeah. Mario, so there was an interview that you had that you said what got you really absorbed by the sport was the sound. You were overwhelmed by the sounds that you heard. And, again, you could tell me that's not – maybe it wasn't the truth.

Maybe it was just someone – maybe it was another one of those journalists writing something just to write something about you. But what's your – I'm very curious because I love the way cars sound, maybe not the modern ones. What's your favorite sounding car of all time that you've maybe driven or maybe not driven? Well, any race engine, you know, has got something, you know, that just gets you – oh, yeah. perks you up I mean the comment that you probably heard was I remember that when we first came to America you know immediately somehow we expressed uh you know our love for the sport immediately to a cousin Carl our cousin Carl good guy and he he took Aldo and I to uh Trenton and Lighthorn by the first race he took us to Trenton New Jersey IndyCar race and just as we were walking in to

get into the grandstands, the practice was going on, and you hear those officers go by, whoa, whoa, and it's, ah, you know. But then, you know, even in Monza, you know, listening to the sound of those Formula 1s at the time, you know, the sound of a race engine is the sound of a race engine. Obviously, to me, the all-time greatest, like the opera of motorsports, was the, you know, the V10s of the era, like, you know,

when the 90s, you know, 16, 17, 18,000 RPM Formula One engine, you know, that they're trying to bring it back, but it's, you know, obviously, and you cannot duplicate that. But again, you know, Ferrari, you know, even the sports prototypes and everything else, because even those days, you know, when I drove off, we were running 11,000 RPMs, you know. A lot different.

Monza is qualifying. Yeah, I love that. You know, so it's, you know, to me, the sound is half of the excitement of a race when you go to a race. I mean, the start and everything, you know, you watch, you know, I'm sorry, you watch some of those Formula E races and just start, you know, a couple of electric toothbrushes going on wheels and stuff like that.

So, I don't know. Well, we were just in Daytona. We were just in Daytona to just go off that point. And we heard the Valkyrie, the Aston Martin, which has the V12, a naturally aspirated V12. And both Lali and I were just, it's just a feeling it gives you. It's like out of this world. i agree to hear a v12 i heard v12s at lime rock in connecticut the first time i ever heard motor

you know cars and you said sound so the same thing i said this in another podcast and again lolly and i talk about this all the time the sound is what just got us so addicted to it um i heard historics at lime rock uh when i was a little kid and v12s it just that sound it never leaves you. It's incredible. You never forget it. Yeah. I remember driving down to Homestead when IndyCar was racing at Homestead. That was my first taste ever. And I remember approaching the racetrack and just exactly that, just very distant. And I started getting so excited because I knew I was so close. I was finally going to see the car. So I'm with you with the sound. I have a question though. What is the most modern Formula One you've ever had

the opportunity to drive as as a guest driver so to speak what was that i drove a couple year old car mclaren just uh it was about a year ago i think uh it was the it was the mcl 38 i think it was i think whatever one of those uh i drove it in uh laguna seca and then in kona was that so fun yeah yeah i was uh yeah just thank you know i always keep thanking zach brown you know for giving me that opportunity he's quite the guy you know he's a good friend and uh yeah he he loves to support himself loves to drive himself again you know he uh he knew how much i would and yeah i've enjoyed that and he gave me that opportunity yeah he's a big lover of indycar too which is amazing obviously and we appreciate those guys he's a real racer yeah real racer mario how was

it with how was it working with we're gonna bounce around i just i love the stories so how how was it working with colin chapman i know you kind of again based on things that i've read and heard and and watched you turned him down originally because he offered you to see after Jim Clark had died what and then you eventually came back what four or five years later and raced for Lotus um how was that I mean Colin Chapman is arguably one of the greatest maybe not if not the greatest uh Formula One team principal of all time so like what is it like oh it was to me it was quite you know I should say one one of the best things in my career the best opportunities to give me the confidence to have, you know,

not the owner of the team that was the team principal. You're not just sitting on the sideline watching the boys do their job. He was in it with me. And again, as tough as you were, he was tough because, you know, I demand a performance, obviously, like you should, but fair and all in. I mean, just he and I really bonded very well because I was always looking for this, just a better mousetrap, just a little trick here and there, you know, and he was in the probably more sophisticated way, the same, you know, so we were, our thinking was the same and always reaching for the sky. But the point is that what I always said this, what was really very, very good for me that when I would come in, like from Iran or whatever, and after we made a change in the setups, you know, he used to throw stuff at me that sometimes was not really actually, you know, relevant to exactly what I was. But it kept my mind fertile.

It kept me thinking. He said, what if we do this? Yeah, yeah, let's try that. We had that kind of relationship. But he's always, you know, like a machine, thinking, thinking, thinking, and never satisfied with what we had. Always, you know, that's just – and, again, he and I just got on well. I mean, as you can imagine, we got the job done when we needed to.

And, yeah, it was the honor of my life, actually, to be able to drive for him, to have the opportunity at that time. Just to talk a little bit about the honor of your, speaking of honors of life and getting the Andretti name associated now with Cadillac into F1. That was obviously a labor of love. Are you looking forward to the start of the season, the F1 season? What are your thoughts and feelings around that? Well, of course. I mean, this was basically something that, you know, an ambition that Michael, you know, wanted to have.

And then, you know, one thing led to another, you just stepped aside, but I was asked to sort of stay on just, uh, uh, you know, to be part of it. The fact that it's happening and it's happening very well, you know, with a lot of, we have so many good people on the team, a lot of energy and actually long-term commitment, which is everything that will spell some stability for whoever wants to join a team. And we have many people from experience, people that came aboard. And so all the ingredients, in my opinion, as good as you could possibly have for a new team are there because the people in charge of the operation have been there and done that.

And that's something that you can feel very fortunate to have been able to put that together. And they, you know, again, they're people of reputation, insiders that have drawn a lot of interest from individuals, good people from other teams. That's part of the business, you know, you just steal. I mean, that's nothing new there, you know, but you have to sort of earn your way. And even though there's no, you know, you don't have a background yet, but people see that, you know, the investment here is real and the commitment is real. and, you know, to have Cadillac on board, that we have a long-term commitment on this, which is historic in itself

because General Motors and Cadillac is a brand. You know, they were never officially involved in Formula One and they are, you know, and they're in it with both feet, you know, as far as the commitment. So that's a wonderful thing. It's great for the sport in itself. You had, you came up during a time when there was a lot more teams on the grid, a lot more drivers, but reliability wasn't there. The financial disparity was great. Now we have the costs, you know, there's cost caps and whatnot, which are helping competition. How different do you think it, I know it's different, but how different is it really for a team to be successful now versus then?

There's different challenges, right? Back then it was maybe a reliability coming up with money. Now people can come up with money, but how do you actually get successful? How do you win races? It's still going to be challenging for the team to compete. So how do you compare that or what advice, I guess, would you give? well if i had you which i'm sure you have i had the ultimate answer i would bottle it and sell it i mean bottom line you know it's actually like anything is you know it's there's a human element

that's the uh most important part of it obviously to have on board because uh and you need specialties in every corner you know you kind of have uh you know jack of all trades you know just so you have you have to have a team cohesive team that uh is uh you have the best people in every department and uh and and led by a supreme leader you know to be honest with you yeah and uh the The teams that win are the ones that possess that human talent within the team because it's the bottom line. I mean, sometimes you say it's not just the financial side. Yeah, but you got to know what to do with those finances and that people have to know. So it's all about the talent that's involved.

And from a driver standpoint, the same thing. I mean, there are drivers that can do more than others with the same piece of equipment. I mean, you see that in teams that you have, you know, two drivers. There's some teams where two drivers, you know, are all pretty equal and other teams where they're not. And they can blame, oh, well, you know, they gave me a different setup and stuff like that. Well, I don't buy that because, you know, as a driver, you can demand things. You can suggest things. You can be on top of things.

You should know everything that's going on on the other side. You know what I mean? So you can make all the excuses in the world. But, you know, it's all about having the right talent. And you look at, go back at the history of the sport. You know, the individuals that are part of many championships, like Adrian Newey, for instance, you know, like everybody would be very interested to see what happens, you know, with the team now where he is. And obviously, they haven't, you know, they've been there, but now with a clean sheet of paper and everything, I think everybody will see. You know, Adrian Newey, how many world championships does he have to his name?

Wherever he's gone, he won a championship, you know, everywhere. 13, I think. I think he's got 13. And I know him because, you know, he was my engineer back in 87. Indy cars, you know, we brought them over and, uh, you know, uh, so, uh, again, to answer your questions, you know, after rambling so long, you know, it's the talent, you know, and every facet of the sport is rare and, uh, not everybody, not every team possess that.

Austin Martin is so fortunate to have like someone like Adrian Nui now to have so much control of the team and so forth he he knows what is needed and and i would be uh you know i wouldn't be surprised if austin martin shines pretty well coming on that's high praise i'm gonna piggyback off i'm gonna piggyback off this question a little bit and this is almost an impossible question so we'll see how but i want to know do you think it's a harder feat to win a championship in 1978 when you won it or for Lando Norris to have won it last year? Which one do you think is the harder human feat?

Well, I think every season has its quirks. There's always some because you don't know. It's hard to know just whether you really had what advantage, if any, what percentage of advantage you had at the time. Like I said, you know, the reliability factor was the biggest enemy that we had during my time as a driver because, you know, the rules themselves took everything to a limit. You know, engines that are capable of 16,000, 17,000 RPM can only be 12,000, you know, they're actually regulated to 12,500. So, but those engines have to do at least 2,500 miles or you're penalized. And that's the beautiful thing for, I mean, for my style of driving, this would have worked because I was flat out.

I mean, I was not one of those patient guys, you know, and they, you know, and, you know, Parnelli Jones one time, he says of all people, him saying that to me, that Mario can break an anvil with a rubber hammer, you know, and so that was not a compliment. I was, you know, trying to get everything out of this thing, you know, from, from lap one. And I don't know how many drivers were actually really patient, but sometimes a little bit of patience paid off and that's something i didn't have today it's just go right out of the box you know and uh and that would have suited my style tremendously you know really well

i was born a little bit too early but i think i think i think having no patience might be an italian thing i think we all have that mario you won you won four champ car uh championships you won the daytona 500 the indianapolis 500 you won a formula one championship so you've won in everything that you've been in pretty much uh do you have a favorite was one of those your favorite or or maybe something that i didn't name well which one yeah the most important you know you know what's interesting is i won a national dirt track championship yeah yeah you know and i put that alongside a formula one championship it's just i mean i know that's something that's probably never going to happen, you know, again, you know,

to be able to win both, you know, but you know, it's, these are the things that actually I thrive on and I even won the, the IROC championship. Yes. Yeah. I remember. IROC championship, you know, so, and, and again, the one that it's the most meaningful to me, obviously,

because that's when it all started is the world championship because can you imagine me at age 14 in Monza thinking about the impossible and then clinching the world championship there. You know, it's like how could you ever talk about coming full circle? You know what I mean? And when I look back and look at those absolute situations, you know, and, you know, coming to America, 1955, not doing anything. And 10 years later, I was the youngest national champion in IndyCars in 65.

You know, who could have ever, ever dreamt of that? You see what I mean? Only America, you know, and that's, you know, going back to that, I'll always say, and I've said it over and over, if there's ever an example of the American dream, it's me. You know, I am one of them for sure. Because all these opportunities that I've had, that I took advantage of, could have only happened here.

And, you know, I'm as proud as can be of my heritage. Believe me. As a matter of fact, I even received the title of commendatore, by the way. Opa! but no that's because you know well deserved

you know what's interesting though you know Vincenzo like I mean say I'm a Monza and even when

I was Ferrari he said that press says Mario how do you feel what do you feel like Italian or

or American I said the passport does not change your blood oh I agree I said so I'm Italian

proud Italian but i found the dream my life dream in america and i'm thankful for that and uh and that's it that's all i can say it's interesting i feel like we've hit on something very clever as an immigrant from colombia that people don't understand that you can be a proud italian a proud colombian but also feel very american and be very grateful and happy and and have the stars and stripes waving high but also feel very italian or very colombian i i think unless you've lived that duality mario it's hard for people to understand how both things can coexist i do find that

that's funny you got it absolutely yeah yeah um how how do you still go you still go back at all do you do you go back to visit well when you know what whenever it makes sense you know i have relatives you know certainly friends you know that that situation the relative situation is dwindling unfortunately it's you know it's a normal life but uh yeah i look for i was in trenton um at the festival uh it was in last october you know i spent some time there i was really been invited there for quite some time and they have all sports you know individual from even from olympics and so forth in one area in trenta for a festival of uh entire week there and so forth it was it was quite interesting to be able to mingle with

uh individuals that uh you know you never had the opportunity otherwise and so forth worldwide but i was and but again uh i'm you know i go back you know back and forth work whatever makes sense uh we cognizant of time here so i want to ask a couple last things but of all the things that you've done off the track non-racing related what's your favorite because you've got the wine you got the winery that was that's that's close to my heart you know we still make wine like the old tradition even though my grandfather passed yeah we we do i we kept the tradition going because i made it with my grandfather since i was very very little and then we kept doing it all through the years he when he passed away we you know kept doing it and

i feel like i'm maybe the last of even my cousins who still really want to push it thankfully i still have my father so we're able to continue and my brothers is also passionate about it so we continue to do it so the wine i love the wine aspect and the fact that you did but i want to know what your favorite off racing venture has been well i don't have much i never spend much time outside of racing okay he's like one time he's like what not racing something that was i fondly fondly i have great memories of that because we're no longer in it you know uh since the pandemic one thing i you know but the the time that we were there the time that we had it uh the the events that we we uh we you know we participate we had there and so on and so

forth uh there was a lot of pride involved in it and uh yeah i i'll continue to look back that would fund you know that event with fondness but uh my my rodeo my world evolved uh basically in sport. I've had big adventures, some not so good, some very successful, but that's something else. That's something that, but the only thing that really, really makes me look forward to getting up in the morning is anything that has to do with motor racing. I wanted to, there's a fun story. I'd love you to share this story because it's out there a bit, but I don't know if everybody knows about it can you explain to people what is so particular about the front row photo from the year you won the 500 where it's you and AJ there's something funny about that photo well actually

because it's not me and it's it's you know it's you know it's interesting actually that you bring that up because uh that was although you know i i had an accident uh you know just before qualifying actually the four-wheel drive car wheel came off and i had my face was burnt so um and then i put the car a couple days later i put not the four-wheel drive a regular car that that we had also entered. Luckily, I put that on the front row, so the traditional front row photo takes over the next, the following day,

my face was all puffed up. So I asked Aldo, I said, can you sit in there for me? You know something? They're still selling that over at the gift shop in Indianapolis, you know, but not so many, I don't know if anybody actually questioned that that day. Even on the day. You know, because we look pretty, you know, pretty.

I have analyzed that photo, Mario. I've analyzed it. And for some reason, you looked more identical than ever in that photo. He, it's really remarkable. It's really remarkable. He was wearing what I would have been wearing. No one knows. Nobody knows.

But nobody knew, yeah. Nobody, no. hopefully more people yeah we yeah we faked it they faked it the twin one of the you probably have a lot of uh naughty twin stories but that is a quite adult naughty twin story which is hilarious I absolutely love that you know the following week the following week he had that accident in uh Des Moines Iowa the week after wow and uh and you should I I you know I got a call I was in Milwaukee for the race. The race was rained out, but I got a call

just before midnight and I had to go over there because they needed an ex of kin. He was alone. His wife called me up and he said, anyway, his face was

totally destroyed because when he flipped in Iowa, he was in a fence that got his face and he was unrecognizable. So after that, if you look at the photos, you know, a lot of things, the face changed because they had to, I don't know,

they had to have cheekbones rebuilt and everything else. Yeah, right after that, you know, we didn't look like twins anymore. Oh. Yeah. A far different era of motorsport too, huh? Yeah, obviously, I think it was not as kind as the sport is today. Yeah. Mario, are you going to all the IndyCar races this year? Not all, no, no. I'll be sporadically, you know, I'll just, I'll be picking here and there, yeah.

You'll be at the 500, I'm assuming. Yeah, I'll be at the 500, I'll be at Long Beach, you know, I'll be at several, you know, but I'm not going to all of it. When I used to drive the two-seater, I went to most of them, you know, but. Yeah. what is oh go ahead Lali I was just going to say that's one of the big misses of my life is not getting that opportunity

Mario to be in that two seater because man man what a delight for those people they're so lucky to have been able to get a ride with you yeah it was fun driving it because you know I could do my thing you know I used to set it up and

not just be an Uber driver I gave it a little bit of a go So you scared people. It was amazing. You scared them. Yeah. I would love to get a ride with Mario Andretti and just, so anytime you want to,

if it's available ever, just let us know, please. I'll take a ride in a Honda Civic. We will come wherever. In any vehicle. Bicycle built for two. I agree.

Mario, last, last final two questions. So we'll, we'll let you go. What is your favorite racetrack that you've ever driven at? Regardless of the series. You know,

it's amazing that I never ever looked at anything. This is my favorite per se. You know why I approached everyone to say every track the same way from a psychological standpoint. I mean, I could tell you, okay, I just loved going to Monza.

I love, you know, this, but I tried to maintain, keep the same, you know, just like we will. What's your favorite race car?

For instance, every car that gave me a win well what it ends of what it ends of federati's famous quote right a car isn't beautiful until she wins yeah right so so there you go yeah yeah okay okay so i like i love to ask drivers this question this is sort of my but i like to frame it in a very specific way i want you to put aside wins or success or championships or even opportunity because we all know that in racing if you don't have the right opportunity it doesn't matter who's the most naturally gifted driver you've ever raced again doesn't mean most successful just most naturally gifted here again and i i i hate to just select one because there were so many and i hate to leave

some anyone out goes out you know it's such a delicate area there that uh i i'm sort of in that mix of uh you know how come you don't mention that one that one you know it's i wish i could answer that don't worry james hinchcliffe james hinchcliffe said you by the way not you as a racer but he just said you as like an overall best racer of all time so just so you know you not that he raced against but a lot of people i just want as you know think you are just a talent beyond anything we've seen. So it's an honor to have spent this hour with you, Mario. An honor.

Well, thank you so much, Lali. It was our pleasure. Thank you for having me. Sorry if I rambled on a little bit. That's usually what I get. Please. We hope to have you on in the future and we all ramble some more because this is a delight.

Maybe we'll get to record something. Maybe we'll get to record something at one of the races if we get the opportunity. Absolutely. Sure. Thank you so much, Mario. thank you guys all the best ciao Mario

grazie mille ciao piacere