“I look forward to an F1 race more than ever right now” – Mario Andretti loves the unpredictability of Lewis Hamilton vs Max Verstappen and is happy to see the resurgence of McLaren and Williams.
Mario Andretti knows all about winning, having won the F1 and Indy Car titles, apart from a race in NASCAR. No wonder then that the American is pumped up to witness Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton neck-to-neck this season.
Verstappen has won seven races to Hamilton’s five but has three DNFs compared to the reigning champion’s one. Not a surprise then that are separated by just two points, after a brilliant set of 15 races so far.
“I think the battle is going to go right to the last race. I can’t see it any other way, which is good.
“They’re both almost on equal ground. Each one can on any given day get the job done, that we have seen.
“At Zandvoort, any misstep on either side could have made a big difference. I watched the strategy that Red Bull played, they just played right off of Mercedes, let Mercedes make the first move – it was brilliant. All the calls were good. Max had to really work for it, but that’s the way it’s supposed to be.”
Andretti glad to witness McLaren and Williams resurgence
A racing legend associated with ‘speed’ in America, Andretti raced for Ferrari but is glad to see their traditional arch-rivals McLaren and Williams make a recent resurgence, after seeing the last decade being dominated by modern teams Red Bull and Mercedes.
“There’s nothing new to see Mercedes being so dominant in the last few seasons, but to see the mix-up that we’ve seen this season. It’s not as predictable, which is always a good thing.
“With Max being on the game, [Red Bull designer] Adrian Newey providing him with the equipment and Honda doing their job, it looks like Red Bull are a serious contender to the Mercedes team.
“Then you see the resurgence of McLaren as well, even Williams all of a sudden throwing some punches, and seeing [Esteban] Ocon win with the Alpine. There was some really, really good stuff so far.
“I’m very anxious now to see how this thing [the title fight] will unfold! I look forward to a Formula 1 race more than ever right now.”
