‘Life is good’ for Mario Andretti after dream McLaren F1 drive

Mario Andretti joked that driving a modern Formula 1 car has given him another 10 years of life, after a “bucket list” drive in a McLaren at Laguna Seca in October.

The 82-year-old drove several laps of the Californian circuit in the MP4-28a from 2013, and described an “exhilarating” experience at the Velocity Invitational event.

As the V8 wailed through the Corkscrew, spectators were also watching a form of parallel history: Andretti in a F1 McLaren after turning the team down for the 1981 season.

It follows a deal made on live TV at the Miami Grand Prix in May. Andretti, who retired from full-time racing in 1994, told Martin Brundle that driving a modern F1 car was “a bit of an itch to scratch”. Standing beside him was McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown, who said that he would make it happen around the US Grand Prix.

“I was in seventh heaven since May, and now it’s finally here,” Andretti told Motor Sport from his trackside motorhome, shortly after stepping out of the car on Saturday afternoon. “No one will ever understand how much I love driving a racing car. At this stage of my life, to have this chance is huge. It gives me more life, probably again another 10 years.”

Comparing the V8’s power to that of the turbocharged Ferrari 126C that Andretti raced in 1982, he said: “I was so satisfied to see what I was hoping: the power and the sincerity of the chassis, I mean it was so nimble… the braking, all those qualities, just tremendous.

“It was similar, to some degree, when the turbocharged era came, in the late ’70s and early ’80s. I drove the Ferrari when I substituted for Didier Pironi in Monza, ’82, and there you probably had some equal because [in] the qualifying mode, there was like 1100hp. And that was unbelievable as well.

“I haven’t had that pleasure for many, many years as you can imagine. So to just do this again. It was just perfect. Life is good!”

But amid the exhilaration there was a touch of ruefulness as to what might have been if he had accepted McLaren’s offer 42 years ago: “When I came out of Lotus [in 1980], I had an opportunity to either go to McLaren or Alfa Romeo because of my Marlboro sponsorship. And I went with my heart instead of with my head.

“Well, if I’d have gone with McLaren I think I would have probably stayed racing in Formula 1 for a couple more years instead of just coming away.”

His stint with the unreliable Alfa lasted one season. So what might have been at McLaren, which won races throughout the early 1980s and then the title, with Niki Lauda, in 1984?

“It could have possibly been mine, for sure,” he said. “But it is what it is. All in all I have no regrets.”