Mario Andretti

Mario Andretti was the 1978 Formula 1 World Champion and one of the most versatile and accomplished racing drivers in history, a man who won at the very highest level across multiple disciplines on both sides of the Atlantic. In Formula 1 the Italian-born American took 12 wins, 18 pole positions and 19 podiums from 128 starts, the centrepiece of a career almost without parallel in motorsport.

Andretti made a remarkable F1 debut by taking pole position at the 1968 United States Grand Prix, and went on to win his first grand prix for Ferrari in South Africa in 1971. After splitting his time between America and Europe, he committed fully to Lotus and delivered a dominant 1978 season, winning six races to claim the world title in the ground-effect Lotus 79. Across his wider career he won the Indianapolis 500, claimed four IndyCar national championships and triumphed in the Daytona 500, making him one of the few drivers to have conquered Formula 1, IndyCar and stock-car racing's biggest prizes.

Andretti's name became synonymous with speed itself in the United States, and his 1978 world championship crowned a career that ranged across grand prix racing, the Indianapolis 500 and beyond, securing his status as a true motorsport legend.

Andretti was the consummate all-rounder, equally at home in a Formula 1 car, an Indianapolis roadster or a stock car, blending fearless speed with adaptability across wildly different machinery and conditions. His mastery of the ground-effect Lotus carried him to the 1978 world title, while his triumphs in the Indy 500, IndyCar and the Daytona 500 set him apart as perhaps the most complete racing driver ever. His legacy endures as the gold standard of versatility in world motorsport.