Mario Andretti bites back at F1 chief Stefano Domenicali after "not smart" jibe

15 February 2023 , 21:03

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Stefano Domenicali thinks Michael Andretti's "greedy" outburst at F1 team bosses was "not smart" (Image: Getty Images)

Mario Andretti feels his son has nothing to apologise for despite being criticised by the top Formula 1 chief over his attack on the sport's team bosses.

Michael Andretti is one of the front-runners to launch a brand new team to join the grid. Andretti Autosport has teamed up with General Motors through its Cadillac brand to submit its plans through the FIA Expressions of Interest process.

If successful, they could join the grid by as soon as 2025. But there has been significant resistance from the existing teams to their potential entry, with only mooted engine supplier Alpine and McLaren – run by Andretti's friend Zak Brown – giving their support.

The rest are not keen on the idea of diluting their profits with another team, and feel new parties are only now interested in the sport because of its recent popularity spurt. In response to the opposition facing his bid, Andretti lashed out at those team bosses, calling them "greedy".

That reaction was, in the view of F1 chief executive Stefano Domenicali, not a good move. "In my view, [it's] not smart to say that the teams are greedy to protect themselves," he told Sky Sports. "That's my opinion, but there are others that are much less vocal that would like to come in Formula 1.

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"So there is a process to respect and we will make sure together with the FIA that the person will be respected and, if all the elements are there, they will be very welcome. There will be a lot of dimensions to consider and we don't have to overreact because someone is pushing the system."

Mario Andretti doesn't believe his son Michael has done anything wrong (Getty Images)

Reacting to Domenicali's view, Mario Andretti said he sees nothing wrong with what his son said about those opposing his F1 entry bid. The 82-year-old told Planet F1 : "All we've ever done is shown excitement, maybe myself, at the prospects of seeing Michael entering Formula 1.

"I don't think there should be anything wrong with that. For the rest, we're following every bit of protocol, I think everything is in place right now. That's all we can do. You can look at this thing in different ways, but I don't feel that we have violated or have done anything wrong, just showing the excitement of doing this.

"So, if we're a bit open about it, speaking with the press and so forth... that's life, that's the way we do things. But I don't know where anyone could say we've done something really wrong, so that's the way I look at it."

Daniel Moxon