Mario Andretti facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Mario Andretti
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Andretti in 2021
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| Born |
Mario Gabriele Andretti
February 28, 1940 Montona, Istria, Kingdom of Italy
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| Spouse(s) |
Dee Ann Hoch
(m. 1961; died 2018) |
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| Children | 3, including Michael and Jeff | ||||||
| Relatives |
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| Championship titles | |||||||
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| Formula One World Championship career | |||||||
| Nationality |  American |
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| Active years | 1968–1972, 1974–1982 | ||||||
| Teams | Lotus, privateer 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 | ||||||
| Champ Car career | |||||||
| 407 races run over 31 years | |||||||
| Best finish | 1st (1965, 1966, 1969, 1984) | ||||||
| First race | 1964 Trenton 100 (Trenton) | ||||||
| Last race | 1994 Monterey Grand Prix (Laguna Seca) | ||||||
| First win | 1965 Hoosier Grand Prix (IRP) | ||||||
| Last win | 1993 Valvoline 200 (Phoenix) | ||||||
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| NASCAR Cup Series career | |||||||
| 14 races run over 4 years | |||||||
| First race | 1966 Motor Trend 500 (Riverside) | ||||||
| Last race | 1969 Motor Trend 500 (Riverside) | ||||||
| First win | 1967 Daytona 500 (Daytona) | ||||||
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| 24 Hours of Le Mans career | |||||||
| Years | 1966–1967, 1982–1983, 1988, 1995–1997, 2000 | ||||||
| Teams | Ford, Mirage, Porsche, Courage, Panoz | ||||||
| Best finish | 2nd (1995) | ||||||
| Class wins | 1 (1995) | ||||||
Mario Gabriele Andretti (born February 28, 1940) is a famous American former racing driver and businessman. He competed in many types of races, including Formula One and IndyCar.
Mario Andretti won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in 1978. He also won four IndyCar National Championship titles. In 1969, he won the famous Indianapolis 500 race. He also won the Daytona 500 in 1967, which is a big stock car racing event. In endurance racing, he won the 12 Hours of Sebring three times.
Born in Italy, Andretti and his family moved to Nazareth, Pennsylvania in 1955. He started dirt track racing with his twin brother Aldo. Mario quickly became a top driver. He is known for winning races on different types of tracks. His name became a symbol for speed in American culture.
Contents
Early Life and Racing Dreams
Mario Andretti was born on February 28, 1940, in Montona, Italy. He has a twin brother named Aldo. Their family left Italy in 1948 and moved to a refugee camp.
In 1955, the Andretti family moved to Nazareth, Pennsylvania in the United States. They had very little money. Mario's father wanted his children to have more opportunities.
Mario and Aldo discovered a dirt racing track nearby. They bought an old car and started racing it in 1959. They kept their racing a secret from their parents at first. Mario won 21 races in 1960 and 1961.
Mario dreamed of racing faster, open-wheel cars. He said he was "hooked" the first time he drove a race car.
Racing Career Highlights
Mario Andretti became a U.S. citizen in 1964. He raced in many different types of motorsport.
Stock Car Racing Success
Mario Andretti raced in NASCAR events. He won the 1967 Daytona 500 with the Holman-Moody team. This was a huge win for him.
He also competed in the International Race of Champions (IROC) series. He won the IROC VI championship in 1979.
Open-Wheel Racing Achievements
Mario's main goal was to race in open-wheel cars. These cars have exposed wheels and are built for speed.
Early Open-Wheel Races
He started racing smaller midget cars from 1961 to 1963. He won many races. Then he moved up to sprint cars in 1964.
IndyCar Dominance
Mario Andretti made his IndyCar debut in 1964. IndyCar racing is a top open-wheel series in North America. He quickly became a star.
He won his first IndyCar race in 1965. He also finished third in the 1965 Indianapolis 500. This earned him the "Rookie of the Year" award. He won the IndyCar championship that year, becoming the youngest champion at 25.
He won the championship again in 1966. In 1969, he won nine races, including the 1969 Indianapolis 500. He also won the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. He was named "Athlete of the Year" by ABC's Wide World of Sports.
Formula One World Champion
Formula One is the highest level of open-wheel racing in the world. Mario met Colin Chapman, the owner of the Lotus Formula One team, in 1965. Chapman told him to call when he was ready to race in F1.
In 1968, Mario made his F1 debut with Lotus. He even got the pole position (started first) in his very first race!
He won his first F1 race in 1971, driving for Ferrari. This was a very special moment for him.
In 1975, Andretti started racing full-time in Formula One. He joined the Lotus team again in 1976. He helped develop their cars, especially the "ground effect" design. This design used the car's shape to create downforce, which pushes the car onto the track for better grip.
In 1977, he won four races. In 1978, he dominated the season with six wins and became the Formula One World Champion. He was only the second American to win this title. Sadly, his teammate Ronnie Peterson died after a crash at the race where Mario won the championship.
After 1978, Mario didn't win another F1 race. He retired from Formula One in 1982. He had 12 wins, 18 pole positions, and 19 podium finishes.
Return to IndyCar Racing
Mario returned to full-time IndyCar racing in 1982. He joined the Newman/Haas Racing team in 1983. In 1984, he won his fourth IndyCar title at age 44.
His son Michael joined the team in 1989. They made history as the first father-son team to race together in major series. Mario's last IndyCar win was in 1993 at Phoenix International Raceway. At 53 years old, he became the oldest winner in IndyCar history. He was also the first driver to win a race in four different decades. He retired from full-time racing in 1994.
Indianapolis 500 Challenges
Mario Andretti won the Indianapolis 500 only once, in 1969, despite racing it 29 times. Many people talk about the "Andretti Curse" because of his family's bad luck at the track after his win.
In 1969, he completely dominated the race. He was the only driver to finish the entire race on just one set of tires.
In 1981, he finished second but was first declared the winner. However, the decision was later changed back. In 1982, he was involved in a crash at the start. He was very upset about it.
In 1987, he led most of the race but had an engine problem with only 20 laps left. In 1992, he crashed in cold weather and broke six toes. He still returned to race just four weeks later.
His last big run at Indy was in 1993. He led many laps but got a penalty for entering the pits when they were closed. He finished 5th.
In 2003, at age 63, Mario tested an IndyCar for his son Michael's team. He crashed spectacularly but walked away with only a small cut. This was his last time driving a major open-wheel car at Indianapolis.
Sports Car Racing
Mario also had success in sportscar racing. He won the 12 Hours of Sebring three times (1967, 1970, 1972). He also won a 6-hour race at Daytona in 1972. He often raced for Ferrari in these events.
Le Mans Races
Andretti competed in the famous 24 Hours of Le Mans race in four different decades. In 1967, he had a big crash due to a mechanic's mistake. He was taken to the hospital but was okay.
He returned to Le Mans later in his career. In 1983, he finished third with his son Michael. In 1995, he finished second, which was his best result. He drove his last Le Mans race in 2000 at the age of 60.
Awards and Honors
- Named the "Driver of the Century" by the Associated Press and RACER magazine, 2000
- Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame inductee (1986)
- International Motorsports Hall of Fame Inductee
- 1996 National Sprint Car Hall of Fame Inductee (U.S.)
- 1992 Driver of the Quarter Century
- Motorsports Hall of Fame of America inductee (1990)
- 1978, 1979 (IROC VI) International Race of Champions series champion
- 1978 Formula One World Champion
- 1974 USAC national dirt track champion (U.S.)
- 1972 6 Hours of Daytona Winner
- 1969 Indianapolis 500 winner
- 1967 Daytona 500 winner
- 1967, 1970, 1972 12 Hours of Sebring winner
- 1965, 1966, 1969, 1984 IndyCar champion
- 1969 ABC's Wide World of Sports Athlete of the Year
Mario Andretti is the only driver to win the Indianapolis 500 (1969), Daytona 500 (1967), and the Formula One World Championship. He has won 109 official races on major circuits. His name is famous for speed in America.
He is one of only three drivers to win races in Formula One, IndyCar, the World Sportscar Championship, and NASCAR. He also won races in midget car racing and sprint car racing.
In 2000, the Associated Press and RACER magazine called him "Driver of the Century." He was named "Driver of the Year" in the U.S. three times. He was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2001.
In 2006, he received a high honor from the Italian government. In 2019, a street in Indianapolis was renamed "Mario Andretti Drive" to celebrate his 1969 Indy 500 win.
The Andretti Racing Family
Mario Andretti's sons, Michael and Jeff, also became race car drivers. Michael won the IndyCar title in 1991. Mario's nephew John Andretti also raced in the series. This made the Andrettis the first family with four relatives competing in the same series.
Mario's grandson Marco started racing in IndyCar in 2006. He finished second in the 2006 Indianapolis 500. He was the first third-generation driver to win the "Rookie of the Year Award" for that race.
Life After Full-Time Racing
Mario Andretti still stays busy after retiring from full-time racing. He gives many speeches and is a spokesperson for different companies.
He is also the vice chairman of a winery called Andretti Winery in California. He owns gas stations, a car dealership, and go-kart tracks. He also tests cars for magazines.
In 2015, he received the America Award from the Italy–USA Foundation. Mario Andretti will be part of the board of directors for the Cadillac Formula One team, which will start racing in 2026.
Mario Andretti in Movies and TV
Mario Andretti has appeared in several racing films. He was a main character and narrator in The Speed Merchants (1972). He also drove an IndyCar in the IMAX film Super Speedway (1996).
He has made guest appearances in other shows and movies. He was on Home Improvement with his son Michael. He also had cameo roles in the movies Driven (2001), Cars (2006), and Turbo (2013). In Cars, he was voiced by himself as a talking version of his 1967 Daytona 500 winning car.
Images for kids
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Andretti at the 1984 Pocono 500 in Long Pond, Pennsylvania in August 1984
