"Michael wanted to spread his wings" - Mario Andretti thanks his son for birthing Cadillac F1 dream

IndyCar and F1 legend Mario Andretti has lauded his son, Michael Andretti, for kick-starting the Cadillac F1 bid which his partner at Andretti Global, Dan Towriss, later saw through to fruition.

Michael Andretti lobbied for an F1 entry for over two years before the series ultimately rejected his bid in January 2024, citing concerns about competitiveness and value addition. In September, he abruptly stepped down from his role as chairman and CEO of his namesake organization, Andretti Global.

After he handed the reins to partner and Group 1001 CEO Dan Towriss, he renewed the F1 talks for a 2026 entry and it got approved in November last year. Michael's father, Mario Andretti, was appointed as the director of the Cadillac F1 team.

While many believed that Michael's presence was the cause of the earlier rejection and his absence caused the turnaround, his 4-time IndyCar champion father has given credit where it's due.

"This is basically my son's dream," Mario Andretti told FOX News' Jason Chaffetz on the 'Jason in the House' podcast [24:30 onwards]. "When he stepped out of the cockpit as an IndyCar champion, he wanted to continue his career. He knows that the driver career is limited age-wise. He was at the top of his career as a driver, winning. But he wanted to look at the long term and that is (to) become a team owner... He was always very ambitious."

After explaining how his son's genius steered Andretti Global to five Indy 500 victories, Mario elaborated on how Michael's global ambitions birthed the Cadillac F1 project. He said [25:58 onwards]:

"He and his partners, which are obviously still part of it, initiated the idea to start a Formula 1 team because he also owned the Formula E team in Europe for several years since its inception. They won the world championship in 2023. He also had a collaboration with a Supercars team in Australia. Michael wanted to spread his wings. And what is the ultimate in motor racing is the world championship, which is Formula 1. So that's when he and his partners decided to get a seat at the table in Formula 1."

Cadillac F1 will compete at the pinnacle of motorsport as its 11th team in 2026. For the initial years, they have entered into a technical partnership with Ferrari to use their engines. That partnership will conclude once General Motors creates its own engines for the team by the end of the decade.

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Mario Andretti gives a deeper look into his role for the Cadillac F1 team

F1 Grand Prix of Miami - Source: Getty

Mario Andretti revealed how his role at Cadillac F1 will be limited to an advisory one. The 84-year-old will not be involved in the day-to-day operations of the team. On the 'Jason in the House' podcast, he shared some details of his expected work, including driver selection for the team.

"Cadillac invited me to stay on as advisor to some degree. My interest is not to write checks, by the way. My interest is only the hands-on type of thing, maybe. Driver selection, I'll be part of that. Driving is the only thing that interests me and to be part of the plans, the technical side of the car, and blah, blah, blah... that sort of thing," he said.

In November 2024, Mario Andretti revealed that Andretti Global's IndyCar driver Colton Herta was one of the prospects for their F1 project. In January this year, their other IndyCar driver, Marcus Ericsson, was called up for simulator testing for Cadillac F1.

As per The Race, Cadillac F1's bid is in the final stages of approval by the FIA, and the announcement is expected in weeks.