Ehhehhehheh, olettekos jo kuulleet että Andrettin F1-urapa olikin floppi, eli hän tuskin ansaitsee elää. Muuttaisi Saharaan häpeämään.
Tässä tekstiä Autosportin Ask Nigel -palstalta Observerille ja muillekin Andrettia väheksyville.
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Dear Nigel,
Michael Andretti is retiring from racing after the Indy 500. He was rubbish in Formula 1, but he won loads back home. How come? Did McLaren stitch him up? Or is American racing easier than F1?
Paul Graves,
UK
Dear Paul,
Michael Andretti's single F1 season, with McLaren, was a huge disappointment, not least to himself - and not least to me, I should say, for I had seen him in many CART races prior to that, always thought him a consummate racer, and believed he would do well in F1. However, even before the end of the 1993 season, Ron Dennis replaced him with Mika Hakkinen. Ironically, his last race, Monza, yielded his best result of the year: third.
Why didn't it work out? There were several reasons, I think. I have known Mario for more than 30 years, and have very rarely disagreed with him on anything of consequence, but when he suggested to me, in 1992, that Michael should go either to McLaren or Ferrari, I wondered about it.
A little while later, I remember mentioning it to Bernie Ecclestone, and he responded thus: "Those are the two teams I think Michael should not go to! If he goes to Ferrari, the pressure's going to be huge for any new guy in F1, but for him - because he's called Andretti - it would be ridiculous. And if he goes to McLaren, he's team mate to Senna - and anyone's going to look second-rate in that situation..."
That was one thing. Another was that Michael came to F1 at the very height of the 'gizmo' era, when the cars could hardly have been more different from the CART cars to which he was accustomed. As well as that, in 1993 the practice periods were shortened, and so were the qualifying sessions, in the sense that each driver's laps were restricted for the first time. For a driver new to the scene, with no experience of any of the circuits, this was hardly ideal.
I also think Michael made a great mistake in resolutely refusing to live in England. It's true that his father, through all his years in F1, commuted between Pennsylvania and Europe, and made it work for him, but really he had no choice, in the sense that he was also competing in Indycar racing at the same time! Hard to believe now, but it's true.
As well as that, in the years between Mario's time in F1 and Michael's, the sport had changed fundamentally in many respects, one of which was that testing had become an almost daily occurrence. Ron Dennis had Senna on the books, of course, but also a desperately ambitious - and quick - test driver, in the shape of Hakkinen. While Michael was back in Nazareth, Mika would be pounding round Silverstone.
Both the Andrettis have always argued that McLaren had only to pick up a phone, and Michael could have been there in a matter of hours, but while that's undoubtedly true, Mika was right there, on the spot - and impressing the team constantly with his quick times. Few doubted that Ron would have him racing a car as soon as possible.
Michael's refusal to live in Europe also sent out the wrong message to his team. From the start, some at McLaren murmured that it meant he wasn't as committed to F1 as he should have been, that he wasn't necessarily looking at in the long term. Symbolically, that had a big effect on the way they perceived him. He is a 'very American' American, and never really seemed at ease in Europe, never seemed to be enjoying himself very much over here. He's a nice fellow, and was very well liked within the team, but frankly few were surprised that the relationship didn't work out.
It's a shame, because I never felt we saw anything like the best of Michael Andretti in F1. You say he was 'rubbish in F1', and in terms of results you're right, but I never thought his essential talent was in doubt. In the rain at Donington in 1993, Senna scored what some choose to consider the greatest victory of his career, while Andretti flew off the road on the opening lap. In the warm-up, though, run in similar conditions, Michael was just 25-thousandths slower than Ayrton...
) ajanut noita Indy 500 kisoja, mutta muita ei ole... Andrettin syy IRLlään vaihtaminen oli kylla toi Indyn voittaminen. Mutta kun Andretti heittaa hanskat tiskiin, niin taasen yksi jenkki vahemman IRLlässä, kun tilalle tulee nuori Britti. !