Mario Andretti

Former racing driver Mario Andretti is widely regarded as one of the greatest American drivers in F1 history and in motorsport. He competed in Formula One from 1968 to 1982 and secured the 1978 Drivers’ Championship with Lotus. He also achieved tremendous success in American open-wheel racing, winning four IndyCar National Championships and winning the prestigious Indianapolis 500 in 1969. He won the 1967 Daytona 500 in stock car racing, and in endurance racing, he triumphed in the 12 Hours of Sebring thrice.

Nationality	American
Born	Mario Gabriele Andretti February 28, 1940 Montona, Istria, Kingdom of Italy (current day Motovun, Croatia)

Born in the Kingdom of Italy, Andretti emigrated to the United States at 15. Over his career, he accumulated numerous titles, including the Formula One World Championship (1978), four IndyCar titles—three under USAC sanctioning and one in CART—and significant victories in a wide range of motorsports. Andretti remains the only driver to have won the Indianapolis 500 (1969), Daytona 500 (1967), and the Formula One World Championship. Along with Juan Pablo Montoya, he is one of the few to have won races in NASCAR’s Cup Series, Formula One, and the Indianapolis 500. His career includes 109 major circuit victories across various motorsport series.

Andretti’s Formula One career began in 1968 when he made a strong debut by securing pole position at the 1968 US Grand Prix. Although his early F1 career was part-time, racing sporadically with teams like Lotus, Ferrari, and March, he secured his first victory at the 1971 South African Grand Prix. His full-time drive came in 1975 with Parnelli, followed by a successful stint with Lotus.

Andretti’s peak came in 1978 when he won the Formula One World Championship, driving the innovative Lotus 79. That year, he dominated with six victories, aided by the car’s pioneering ground-effect design. However, the season ended on a sombre note with the tragic death of his teammate Ronnie Peterson.

Andretti continued racing in F1 until 1981, with a brief return in 1982 for Ferrari and Williams. His final win came at the 1978 Dutch Grand Prix, and his final race was the 1982 Caesars Palace Grand Prix.

He became the only person named United States Driver of the Year in three decades (1967, 1978, and 1984). Additionally, Andretti is one of the few drivers to win major races on road courses, paved ovals, and dirt tracks in a single season—a feat he accomplished four times. In 1993, with his final IndyCar victory, Andretti became the first driver to win IndyCar races across four different decades and the first to win automobile races in five.

In American motorsport fandom, Andretti’s name has become synonymous with speed, akin to Barney Oldfield in the early 20th century and racing legends like Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton in Europe.

Mario Andretti Formula One World Championship career

F1 Career	1968 – 1972, 1974 – 1982
Teams	Lotus, March, Ferrari, Parnelli, Alfa Romeo, Williams
Entries	131 (128 starts)
Championships	1 (1978)
Wins	12
Podiums	19
Career points	180
Pole positions	18
Fastest laps	10
First entry	1968 United States Grand Prix
First win	1971 South African Grand Prix
Last win	1978 Dutch Grand Prix
Last entry	1982 Caesars Palace Grand Prix

Mario Andretti Teammates

17 Teammates	Involvement	First Year	Last Year
Graham Hill	6	1968	1969
Jackie Oliver	2	1968
Jochen Rindt	4	1969
Jacky Ickx	18	1971	1972
Clay Regazzoni	16	1971	1972
Arturo Merzario	1	1972
Ronnie Peterson	15	1976	1978
Gunnar Nilsson	29	1976	1977
Jean-Pierre Jarier	2	1978
Carlos Reutemann	15	1979
Elio de Angelis	14	1980
Nigel Mansell	3	1980
Bruno Giacomelli	15	1981
Mauro Baldi	1	1981
Keke Rosberg	1	1982
Patrick Tambay	3	1982	1984
Derek Warwick	1	1984

Race Wins

Win Number	Grand Prix
1	1971 South African Grand Prix
2	1976 Japanese Grand Prix
3	1977 United States Grand Prix West
4	1977 Spanish Grand Prix
5	1977 French Grand Prix
6	1977 Italian Grand Prix
7	1978 Argentine Grand Prix
8	1978 Belgian Grand Prix
9	1978 Spanish Grand Prix
10	1978 French Grand Prix
11	1978 German Grand Prix
12	1978 Dutch Grand Prix

Complete Formula One Results

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	WDC	Points
1968	Gold Leaf Team Lotus	Lotus 49B	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	RSA	ESP	MON	BEL	NED	FRA	GBR	GER	ITA DNS	CAN	USA Ret	MEX						NC	0
1969	Gold Leaf Team Lotus	Lotus 49B	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	RSA Ret	ESP	MON	NED	FRA	GBR
		Lotus 63	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8							GER Ret	ITA	CAN	USA Ret	MEX							NC	0
1970	STP Corporation	March 701	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	RSA Ret	ESP 3	MON	BEL	NED	FRA	GBR Ret	GER Ret	AUT Ret	ITA	CAN	USA	MEX					16th	4
1971	Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC	Ferrari 312B	Ferrari 001 3.0 F12	RSA 1	ESP Ret	MON DNQ	NED Ret	FRA	GBR												8th	12
		Ferrari 312B2	Ferrari 001/1 3.0 F12							GER 4	AUT	ITA	CAN 13	USA DNS
1972	Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC	Ferrari 312B2	Ferrari 001/1 3.0 F12	ARG Ret	RSA 4	ESP Ret	MON	BEL	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	ITA 7	CAN	USA 6						12th	4
1974	Vel’s Parnelli Jones Racing	Parnelli VPJ4	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	ARG	BRA	RSA	ESP	BEL	MON	SWE	NED	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	ITA	CAN 7	USA DSQ			NC	0
1975	Vel’s Parnelli Jones Racing	Parnelli VPJ4	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	ARG Ret	BRA 7	RSA 17	ESP Ret	MON Ret	BEL	SWE 4	NED	FRA 5	GBR 12	GER 10	AUT Ret	ITA Ret	USA Ret				14th	5
1976	John Player Team Lotus	Lotus 77	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	BRA Ret			ESP Ret	BEL Ret	MON	SWE Ret	FRA 5	GBR Ret	GER 12	AUT 5	NED 3	ITA Ret	CAN 3	USA Ret	JPN 1		6th	22
	Vel’s Parnelli Jones Racing	Parnelli VPJ4B	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8		RSA 6	USW Ret
1977	John Player Team Lotus	Lotus 78	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	ARG 5	BRA Ret	RSA Ret	USW 1	ESP 1	MON 5	BEL Ret	SWE 6	FRA 1	GBR 14	GER Ret	AUT Ret	NED Ret	ITA 1	USA 2	CAN 9	JPN Ret	3rd	47
1978	John Player Team Lotus	Lotus 78	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	ARG 1	BRA 4	RSA 7	USW 2	MON 11													1st	64
		Lotus 79	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8						BEL 1	ESP 1	SWE Ret	FRA 1	GBR Ret	GER 1	AUT Ret	NED 1	ITA 6	USA Ret	CAN 10
1979	Martini Racing Team Lotus	Lotus 79	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	ARG 5	BRA Ret	RSA 4	USW 4		BEL Ret			GBR Ret	GER Ret	AUT Ret	NED Ret	ITA 5	CAN 10	USA Ret			12th	14
		Lotus 80	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8					ESP 3		MON Ret	FRA Ret
1980	Team Essex Lotus	Lotus 81	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	ARG Ret	BRA Ret	RSA 12	USW Ret	BEL Ret	MON 7	FRA Ret	GBR Ret	GER 7	AUT Ret	NED 8	ITA Ret	CAN Ret	USA 6				20th	1
1981	Marlboro Team Alfa Romeo	Alfa Romeo 179C	Alfa Romeo 1260 3.0 V12	USW 4	BRA Ret	ARG 8	SMR Ret	BEL 10	MON Ret	ESP 8											17th	3
		Alfa Romeo 179B	Alfa Romeo 1260 3.0 V12								FRA 8	GBR Ret	GER 9	AUT Ret
		Alfa Romeo 179D	Alfa Romeo 1260 3.0 V12												NED Ret	ITA Ret	CAN 7	CPL Ret
1982	TAG Williams Team	Williams FW07C	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	RSA	BRA	USW Ret	SMR	BEL	MON	DET	CAN	NED	GBR	FRA	GER	AUT	SUI				19th	4
	Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC	Ferrari 126C2	Ferrari 021 1.5 V6 t															ITA 3	CPL Ret

Sources:

1. Mario Andretti. Wikipedia.com