"I still have the competitive spirit": When Mario Andretti considered a comeback with his family

Andretti is one of the most renowned names in the world of motorsports headed and founded by Mario Andretti. While he retired from IndyCar in 1994, in 2013, he expressed his intentions to have a final comeback at racing along with his son Michael Andretti and grandson Marco Andretti.

The 84-year-old is one of the few drivers to have won both IndyCar and F1 titles. He won his F1 championship in 1978 driving with Lotus and has four IndyCar championship trophies in his arsenal.

Mario Andretti's incredible career inspired his following generations to take up racing, who have been fairly successful in their ventures. Moreover, in 2013, he considered having a comeback at endurance racing along with his family, where he asserted that he still had the competitive spirit to race toe-to-toe with other drivers, via USA Today:

"Marco[his grandson] would do it. [But]Michael doesn't want to do it. He's much younger than I am and he says he's too old. You figure that out. But if I can convince Michael to do it, I'll do it. I would. I still have the competitive spirit, which is good."

The 84-year-old was unable to get his wish fulfilled due to Michael Andretti's resistance. However, his wish to stay in F1 has been going smoothly. Andretti under the TWG badge, along with GM, has been granted the opportunity to form the 11th team on the F1 grid.

Mario Andretti reckons F1 could expand to a twelve-team grid

Mario Andretti at the F1 Grand Prix of United States - Practice & Qualifying - Source: Getty

Mario Andretti is one of the advisors of the GM/Cadillac entry. He is expected to play a pivotal role in shaping the team's future success. The 84-year-old also gave his opinion on how the FIA and FOM (Formula One Management) have been relatively open to allowing another team to enter the grid:

"It looks like the FIA might invite a twelfth team to join. So, again, there’s always a need for an engine. To have another manufacturer, to be able to supply that, it actually reinforces the basics of Formula 1. They [GM/Cadillac] are very ambitious now, the schedule just keeps going up, there is incredible commitment. So to ensure yourself, that you’re going to have a full grid and so on, this is a step forward for that."

On the other hand, the IndyCar season is slated to start on March 2 at St. Petersburg. Josef Newgarden took the chequered flag home in the last iteration of the race.

However, IndyCar later disqualified the Team Penske driver for exploiting the push-to-pass system. This meant that the runner-up finisher, Pato O'Ward, inherited the race win two months after the conclusion of the Grand Prix.