Q&A Mario Andretti: a world champion’s view on Formula One’s US footprint

Mario Andretti

Mario Andretti is, quite simply, motorsport royalty. The 1978 Formula One world champion is also an ambassador for the United States Grand Prix and the Circuit of the Americas (COTA), the purpose-built circuit in Austin which will stage its third Formula One event this weekend. Last year the event attracted 113,162 on race day, a slight dip on the first event in 2012, but there is a sense that Formula One has made a breakthrough in the USA in recent times, thanks to the race and also the arrival of NBC as the country's Formula One broadcaster – world championship leader Lewis Hamilton appeared on NBC's morning show, Today, in Manhattan on Wednesday morning. With a US team in the works for 2016, there was plenty for Andretti to discuss as he took time out of his busy schedule – although retired from racing his legendary status means he is in constant demand – to speak to SportsPro.

How would you reflect on the first couple of years of the US Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas?

The event was very successful right from the beginning. Yes, you could say there was a lot of curiosity around the first event but it carried on last year and I think it established itself in a very positive way. What I've seen, it's not just the race itself or the venue it's the community, the city of Austin – it has really opened its arms, with typical Texas hospitality; it really comes alive. It's a very interesting town, it's not overwhelming, it's very homely, but also sophisticated, it has a lot to offer in the sense of restaurants and cultural venues. It all works. Last year or the first year, the town is basically closed to automobile traffic. This plays out very well for the real race fans, but also the ones that just want to be there and be seen. I think it has a lot to offer in that respect and that's why I think the attendance is going to continue, but you never stop promoting the event – you have to continue to create the buzz.

How and why did you get involved as an ambassador?

I think there was skepticism right from the outside, when you looked at the magnitude of the project and that it was privately funded – usually, it doesn't happen these days; Taj Mahals such as that are usually funded by governments. This certainly was not the case. Yes, they have some small grants and so forth but nothing to compare with the overall investment. Because of that, you looked at the business model and said ‘it will never work'. But somebody stepped up to the plate and the individuals there involved are substantial and local and they want to prove a point. There's probably a lot of pride involved and it seems to have worked. Because of the skepticism, they needed to align themselves with individuals who would have a degree of credibility to assure that the project was going to go on. When I was approached, for instance, I was as skeptical as anyone. I was reading about it and saying ‘oh gosh, I hope it happens' and then when I was invited to meet personally I became quite impressed. Why? Because I could see the commitment: any given day, they had 900 bodies there working on the project and showing me the progress. I put my own reputation on the line to tell the world ‘yes, you can count on it' and they backed it up and so it became a reality. There are many of these so-called castles in the sky that happen now and then and you say ‘well, it would be nice if it would' but then they all go by the wayside, just like all the interest that was created initially by the announcement of the race in New York. They had a big formal announcement, with the governor of the state of New Jersey, and that fizzled out. Unfortunately, some of these proposed events never happened. This one did and in great fashion as well.

To what extent has the return of the US Grand Prix and NBC's coverage of the sport over the past couple of years helped to build wider awareness of in Formula One in the United States?

To some degree, I think the interest in Formula One in the United States is somewhat underestimated. Formula One has been here for many, many decades and the only thing that I think became a negative in the last 10, 12 years or so was the fact it was not stable – the events were happening on temporary circuits and even Indianapolis did just not have the ambience of a road racing circuit; it's fabulous for the oval, but it just didn't work out. I don't know if the interest dropped but there was nothing to really hang on to and look forward to every year because you didn't know… Now, finally, there's a solid base, a solid event that you can look forward to for the foreseeable future. That, I think, will only grow the fan base and I think they're getting better and better TV coverage here – even though live races are at an ungodly time, nevertheless you can watch it on TV. What they've begun to do is to repeat the event at more of a sensible time of the day. All of that I think is going to play well in the future. The other thing that would be so great is if somehow American talent, an American driver, could infiltrate Formula One, with a top team, of course. It's somewhat of a building project; one block will sustain the other, but the theatre is here. If we can produce some local players it will work even better because there will be much greater interest in the mainstream media.

What do you make of Gene Haas' plan to launch a US Formula One team for 2016?

Obviously, from what we know, or think we know, there's a bit of skepticism. Do I hope that this becomes a very successful operation? Absolutely. Is everything that he's trying to do, can that work? It remains to be seen. But the fact there is an honest effort to try and have a team in Formula One is good news – you can see that there's an investment here and it's substantial. Just the fact that something like that is happening is a good thing. Will it be successful as they hope? That remains to be seen.

You're a racer. How do you feel about some of the innovations, gimmicks introduced to Formula One in recent years – double points at the last race, DRS etc.?

You have to have somewhat of an open mind and sometimes you go up against some of the purists' way of thinking. With double points for the last event, if it is seen to be somewhat of a failure then they can always revert back to normal. Sometimes to try certain things is not a bad thing – you have to be proactive, to keep thinking always and Formula One is general is maintaining its purity by maintaining its technical interest, but it is still a show. You are still performing, it's still a sporting event. Sometimes gimmicks will draw a degree of criticism but at the same time you can't fault the management system for trying to embellish certain things – when double points was introduced it created a lot of buzz and not all of it was positive, but at the same time let's see what happens.

There have been suggestions this year that there is too much data, too much information available to the drivers which has led to suggestions Formula One is getting easier. Do you worry about that?

As a driver you have to adapt to whatever tools you're given. Your job is to take whatever is given to you to the maximum. The human element has had to adapt as the decades progress. When you look back at the 50s and 60s, the champions of that era, Fangio and Moss, they had so much to work with and if the Schumachers were back in the 50s and Moss and Fangio in the 80s, 90s and 2000s, the top drivers would still be champions. The human element has not improved that much, it's the tool that you're given that has different capabilities. You can argue the drivers of today have a lot more responsibility in the car, making adjustments and whatever, but so what? If we were given the same thing when I was driving I would be doing the same thing. You work with whatever you have. If the tool allows you to improve your performance, so be it. Sometimes they say the cars of today are easier to drive, but if they're easier to drive you're supposed to be faster – it's all relative.

If you could change one thing about modern Formula One, what would it be?

I would probably go back to a normally-aspirated engine, for the sound of it. SportsPro Media