"Never give up on your dream": When Mario Andretti's letter to his younger self captured his racing dream

Mario Andretti, the 1978 Formula 1 world champion, is a huge name in motorsports with a well-known legacy as a racing driver. While he was recently appointed Chairman of Cadillac's 2026 F1 entry's board of directors, he wrote a letter to his younger self in 2016.

The deeply personal letter talked about a plethora of things. Moreover, one of the main topics he stressed was his dream of becoming a racing driver and making it big in motorsports.

One specific part of the detailed letter was as follows.

"When you find that oval dirt track in Nazareth, I’m telling you, it will open a whole new world for you. No question. Your dream is still to race at Monza, which is now far away — across an entire ocean. But you gotta start somewhere. One of the most important pieces of advice I can give to you, Mario, is to never give up on your dream. Never settle. Not for second place, not for anything less than being a world champion, like Alberto Ascari. Don’t have a Plan B. Keep your chest out there and don’t have any reservations, because everything you dream of will happen to you," Andretti wrote [via The Players' Tribune].

Mario Andretti's legendary racing career is embellished with multiple accolades, including being a four-time IndyCar National Champion, F1 world champion (as mentioned earlier), and winner of the iconic Daytona 500.

Mario Andretti on 'wanting to race' in the pinnacle of motorsport, F1

Mario Andretti talks to the media attends F1 75 Live at The O2 Arena - Source: Getty

While Mario Andretti cast light on never giving up on his dream of being a racing driver, he also talked about wanting to race in F1. The 84-year-old made his first appearance in the sport at the 1968 United States Grand Prix.

In line with this, Andretti wrote in 2016:

"You’d close your eyes, and instead of seeing the crowd of fellow immigrants surrounding you on that ship, you’d see Alberto Ascari, the world champion, flying around the track at Monza. Instead of the sound of the Atlantic ocean outside the ship’s walls, you’d hear the sound of Ascari’s Ferrari engine booming as he came out of a turn. That’s where the dream was cast. You remember watching Ascari and thinking, 'I want to race Formula One. I want to race at Monza. I want to be a world champion.'"

With Mario Andretti entering F1 again in a Chairman role from 2026 onwards, his wealth of knowledge will play a key role in helping Cadillac find its feet early in the sport. In 2026, the Detroit, Michigan-based Cadillac will become the second American team on the modern F1 grid. Currently, the sole American outfit on the grid is the Kannapolis-based Haas team.