Former F1 world champion picks drivers to watch this season

Mario Andretti picked the Ferrari and McLaren F1 drivers as his favorites for the 2022 season in an exclusive interview with RacingNews365. The 1978 world champion was also impressed with the Alpine drivers and Pierre Gasly in 2021 and believes there is no dearth of talent on the grid in 2022 to look forward to.

Picking his favorites from the top four F1 teams, Andretti said:

“I think Lando [Norris] is at the point where he could be a force to be reckoned with. Daniel Ricciardo has [also] shown tremendous ability to be up at the top with a top team… I think Carlos Sainz has really shown some promise; he’s shown to really be coming into his own, in his own comfortable position there, with Ferrari. I think he has pushed Charles Leclerc a little bit and made him a bit nervous at times – you could see [it].”

Apart from Mercedes and Red Bull, Andretti believes Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz could be extremely competitive in 2022. The former Formula 1 driver was impressed with Daniel Ricciardo’s resurgence towards the second half of the season and feels the Australian is still in top form.

Impressed with various performances in the mid-field, Andretti said:

“We’ll see what Alpine will do with Esteban [Ocon]. Esteban is certainly not afraid of Fernando [Alonso]. There’s so much to look forward to here. And look at [Pierre] Gasly’s performance throughout the season – that was brilliant.”

Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly have been on an upswing performance-wise since the 2020 season. The two Frenchmen have impressed many since the Alpha Tauri driver’s victory at Monza in 2020 and the Alpine driver’s win at Hungary in 2021.

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Mario Andretti believes F1 has no dearth of talent on the grid

The Italian-born American driver believes there is a plethora of talent on the 2022 grid. While he wished to watch Norris and Sainz closely for the upcoming season, the driver praised the plenitude of talent in the pinnacle of motorsport.

Praising talent on the 2022 grid, Andretti said:

“You can go up and down the entire field! There’s always something interesting to look forward to. There’s lots of talent, incredible talent out there, no question. At this moment, Formula 1 is as rich of talent as ever.”

In Andretti’s era in the sport, drivers raced simultaneously in several other championships along with F1. Known as the most successful American driver in the sport, the former world champion had raced in the USAC Championship, NASCAR Grand National Series and the World Sportscar Championship in his debut year in F1.