Mario Andretti's greatest racing cars – Indy, F1 and Le Mans

The American would win Sebring three times in 1967, ’70 (in a Ferrari 512 S) and ’72 (in a Ferrari 312 PB), the first coming in the MkIV’s debut.

That first victory came in partnership with Bruce McLaren, and the car utilised the same 7-litre engine which the Mk II had, and with a NASCAR style steel tube roll cage, it was a sturdy yet rapid machine built for endurance.

“The Mk IV was so comfortable that it was more like a passenger car than a race car,” Dan Gurney is quoted on the Mk IV in Preston Lerner’s piece from last year.

 

Hawk III (1969) – Indy 500 winner

Four years after his first title Andretti had won it all in American single-seaters.

The Hawk III was ultimate optimisation of Brawner’s racing vision, and in Andretti it had the perfect driver.

The power-to-weight ratio in the light-chassis Hawk had always been to its benefit, and now with a 700bhp Ford engine propelling a 640kg chassis, Andretti had a rocket on his hand, using it to seal his only Indy 500 win, in 1969.

Having totalled his ground-breaking 4WD Lotus 64 in qualifying, Andretti had to fall back on his trusty Hawk III to first qualify second for the race, and then win it by leading 116 laps.

It was the fastest 500 to date at 3hr 11min 14.71sec, shaving five minutes off the previous time, and would be the only occasion – thus far – an Andretti driver would claim the US’s top prize.

 

Lotus 49B (F1 pole on debut) (1969)

Whilst getting on with being the undisputed heavyweight of the US racing scene, Andretti was also busy making waves in F1 at the wheel of the ground-breaking Lotus 49B.

Having taken pole on his debut at the ’65 500, Andretti had impressed eventual winner Jim Clark, who sang his praises to Lotus team boss Colin Chapman.

The Lotus principal had given Andretti a shot at Monza, before the F1 authorities banned him for having the temerity to fly back to the US in the middle of the Italian GP weekend to compete in the Hoosier 100.

It was at Watkins Glen that Andretti finally got a proper shot at F1, and like at the Brickyard four years earlier, he immediately put it on pole – beating grand prix regulars Jackie Stewart, Graham Hill and Chris Amon.

Andretti would shadow Stewart in second for the early part of the race before a clutch issue put him out, but the American, like with so many of his other cars, was immediately at one with the Lotus 49B.

 

Ferrari 312B (1971) – First F1 win

Andretti may have claimed his first F1 pole for Lotus, but the first win came for his beloved Scuderia in South Africa.

The car had been introduced the previous season with a flat-12 engine, Jacky Ickx taking it to second in the drivers’ championship.

The following season though, it was Andretti who was first off the mark. Offered Scuderia drivers when his US commitments allowed, the American qualified fourth on his Ferrari debut.

Andretti initially fell back at the start, but gradually made his way through the field. Team-mate Clay Regazzoni led for the first 11 laps, before Denny Hulme commanded the race up until lap 75.

Andretti had been following the Kiwi for much of the race, before the McLaren driver’s rear suspension gave way, allowing the American to win in his just his second F1 start.

 

Parnelli VPJ-4 (1974–76) – Car that led Andretti to title

The VJP-4 would be the physical representation of Andretti’s F1 frustration in the mid-’70s, but would eventually lead him on the path to becoming world champion.

Due to various embarrassing mechanical failures, it took Andretti eight races to score points in the Maurice Phillipe-designed Parnelli, a fourth at Sweden in ’75, the best he would ever do with the team.

Earlier on in the following ’76 campaign, Andretti was sat in the VJP-4 on the grid at Long Beach when a journalist with a microphone asked him how it felt for his F1 career to be ending – Parnelli was pulling out.

Eating breakfast at his hotel room the next morning, a depressed Andretti bumped into an equally morose Colin Chapman, whose Lotus was struggling. The two decided to unite once again, and the rest is history.

 

Lotus 79 (1978) – F1 title-winning car

The ground-effect Lotus 78 might have represented the breakthrough which put the Andretti/Chapman axis on the road to F1 glory, but the 79 was the realisation of their shared dream.

Improvements to its predecessor’s venturi tunnels meant under-car air pressure issues were resolved, optimising performance.

In turn this allowed a smaller rear wing to be used, reducing drag and creating a formidable weapon for Andretti to do battle with.

You might sense a pattern emerging – he took pole on his debut with the car at Zolder in ’78 by. Over a second, easily winning the race.

Andretti would win four more races with the car that year, going on to claim the F1 drivers’ title he so coveted – the second and so far last American to do so.

 

Lotus 80 (1979)  – The ground effect car that went too far

They weren’t all winners – the Lotus 80 was supposed to be the logical end point of ground effect, but the car was a disaster.

First bringing the term ‘porpoising’ into vogue, the bucking 80 simply couldn’t be harnessed to deliver the desired results.

An extended chassis was intended to work as one long ground effect unit, with another GE system under the front nosecone, but the idea simply wasn’t workable – Carlos Reutemann refused to race it at all.

Andretti did secure a third on his debut with the car, but would then only use it twice more – Chapman and co had to admit the 80 was a failure.

 

Ferrari 126C2 (1982) – Final F1 car

Most of Andretti’s F1 success came with Cosworth DFV power, but for his final race – stepping in for the injured Didier Pironi at the 1982 Italian GP – Andretti drove the fearsome turbo-powered Ferrari 126C2 at the track where he first saw Alberto Ascari and began to dream of racing.

The car would forever be tinged with tragedy: Gilles Villeneuve lost his life when he was flung from one at Zolder earlier in the year, and Pironi’s career was ended by the horrific injuries he suffered when he crashed into the back of Alain Prost at Hockenheim.

Andretti manage to shut out those thoughts though, putting the car – you guessed it – on pole for his first go behind the wheel, sending the Monza Tifosi into raptures.

After falling back at the start, the Italian-born driver would eventually secure a podium finish for what would be his last ever F1 race.

 

Lola T800 (1984) – Final IndyCar title

Whilst the Ferrari podium was an uplifting footnote to an F1 career which had disappointingly petered out, Andretti was still making hay in America.

For 1983, Andretti had joined the new Newman/Haas team, winning in his first season for it and finishing third in the championship.

The next season, in which he drove the Lola T800, would turn out to be his best for the squad, with six wins helping to clinch the title by 14 points from Tom Sneva.

Designed by Nigel Bennett, it would be the first Lola IndyCar made partially from carbon fibre, helping it to be a potent force throughout the season.

Andretti would win first time out with the car at Long Beach, after putting it – yes – on pole by 0.7sec from Derek Daly’s Bettenhausen.

 

Lola T93/00 (1993) –Final IndyCar win

The Lola T93/00 will likely always be known as the car which a buccaneering Nigel Mansell took to an IndyCar series win on his debut, but it would also bring Andretti his final career victory at Phoenix in 1993.

After the Penskes of Paul Tracy and Emerson Fittipaldi both crashed out from the lead, calm and steady Andretti took a popular final victory, his 54th in car racing.

Andretti would also pilot the 850bhp Cosworth-powered car to pole at Michigan, setting a staggering average lap time of 234mph, a then-closed course record.

 

Panoz LMP1 Roadster S (2000) – Final race

36 years after his professional debut, and six years after he had retired from full-time competition, Andretti got behind the wheel of a Panoz LMP1 Roadster S to take on Le Mans one more time.

The 60-year-old partnered David Brabham and Jan Magnussen in a strong outsider entry, the pair having already had success with Panoz in the US.

In the end they would finish 15th overall – it was a fine way to cap off an incredible career for Andretti.