“Bernie was worried about our series. I was used as a tool": When Michael Andretti opened up on what led to his disastrous run in F1 with McLaren

Mario Andretti is a four-time IndyCar champion and an F1 champion, which led to an array of hopes attached to his son, Michael Andretti's debut in 1993. However, his son wasn't able to fare as well in comparison to his father, but the 62-year-old's try at F1 might have been sabotaged by former F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone as he revealed.

Andretti made his debut with McLaren, a renowned top team in the series. The American driver was paired up with three-time F1 champion Aytron Senna.

The Brazillian scored three victories in the first half of the year, while Andretti struggled to finish races. He spun or crashed out of seven races of the 13 race starts he made and scored a solitary podium at the Italian Grand Prix, which became his last race in the championship ever.

Though Andretti had an underwhelming record driving in F1, he was the CART champion two years prior and had beaten out a grid full of stars. Witnessing the oddness of his subpar performance, the Andretti camp had alleged that McLaren and F1 were sabotaging the IndyCar star.

Michael Andretti pointed out this fact and said in November 2012 (via The Race):

"Bernie was worried about our series. I think I was used as a tool. They wanted to discredit me because I was one of the big guys in IndyCar."

Despite his troublesome F1 career, Andretti was a leading figure in getting the Cadillac team onto the F1 grid.

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Michael Andretti was happy for GM/Cadillac's F1 success despite his withdrawal from the project

Michael Andretti at the 2023 Southwire Portland E-Prix - Source: Getty

However, this dream of his could not be fulfilled as long as he was heading the charge, and Michael Andretti understood it. After leaving his position as the head of Andretti Global, the team opted for a new approach with GM being the central outfit this time around.

This was enough for the F1 landscape to grant them an entry for the 2026 season. Reflecting on the sacrifices that his son had to make, Mario Andretti stated how his son was selfless in the whole saga and was happy with the United States getting another outfit onto the grid. He said (via Motorsport Week):

"The aim was to get an American team on the grid, and we have achieved that. Michael is also happy, even though he has withdrawn from the project. He simply said: ‘If I’m the obstacle, then I’ll clear the way’. Looking back, we could certainly have done a few things better. But I never look back, only forward. In the end, all that matters is whether you achieve the goal."

The 2025 F1 season will begin on March 16, at the Albert Park Circuit in Australia. On the other hand, the open-wheel racing scene in America will break covers two weeks earlier at the St. Petersburg Grand Prix.