Mario Andretti names Ferrari's 2-time F1 champ who inspired him to pursue racing

Mario Andretti is an icon of the motorsport world, having won both IndyCar and F1 titles. However, the 85-year-old was inspired by one Ferrari F1 driver in his time, the legendary Alberto Ascari. The Italian driver won two championships with the Prancing Horse and inspired Andretti to get into the world of racing.

The four-time IndyCar champion and 1978 F1 champion was born in Italy in 1940. With F1 becoming official in 1950, Andretti started showing interest in racing. But, one driver caught his attention, i.e. Ascari.

Alberto Ascari was also born in Italy and became the first F1 driver to have ever won two consecutive championships. Witnessing the Italian's racecraft, Mario Andretti started racing after moving to the United States and soon climbed the ladder of stardom.

Opening up about how the Ferrari F1 champion became his idol, the 85-year-old said (via Formula Reports):

"Actually my real hero became Alberto Ascari because I was just as a teenager, understood much more and that's when Formula 1 became official. I was 10 years old when Formula One became official in 1950. [Giuseppe] Farina wins with Alfa Romeo, but then Ascari with Ferrari became a magic thing for me, and he was the absolute hero of the moment." (42:13 onwards)

"He was probably the one that inspired me more than anything, and as I'll include my twin brother Aldo [Andretti] the same way, we both sort of gravitated to that. So if I have to blame someone for wanting to become race driver, it was Alberto Ascari for sure."

Since retiring from racing, Mario Andretti is slated to make his comeback on the F1 grid as a stakeholder with the Cadillac F1 team.

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Mario Andretti wants Cadillac to feature at least one American driver

Mario Andretti at the F1 75 Live event - Source: Getty

Cadillac will join the F1 grid in 2026, and Andretti is a part of the board of directors of the soon-to-be F1 team. His role is understood to be concerned with the selection of drivers for the newly formed team, owing to his capability to spot talent.

The former F1 champion then revealed that he wants an American driver to join the grid with the Cadillac outfit, as Mario Andretti told ESPN (via GP Fans):

"Again, we would like to have at least one American driver, that is the objective. If it comes immediately that is good, if not we will always be looking for that."

The last American driver on the F1 grid was Logan Sargeant. He made his debut with Williams in 2023 but was dropped mid-way through the 2024 season after a string of subpar results.

Thus, Andretti's dream of getting an American driver in the F1 stable will help the nation get a driver of their own to cheer on during an F1 season.