Marco Andretti: McLaren sabotaged my dad's car

[WhiteBlue]

Did McLaren 'sabotage' Andretti's F1 chances?
May 22, 2008 10:36 AM
Chris Jenkins
Associated press

INDIANAPOLIS–Although Marco Andretti would jump at the chance to race in Formula One if the right team came calling, his eyes are wide open to the sport's dark side of politics and backstabbing.

And the third-generation member of one of racing's most famous families doesn't have to look far to find an example of F1's ruthless nature: His father, Michael, drove in the elite international series in 1993 and came away looking like a failure.

But Marco said the team his father drove for, McLaren, went out of its way to make sure he didn't get a fair shake.

"If you ask me, it was sabotage," Andretti told The Associated Press on Wednesday, as he prepared for Sunday's Indianapolis 500. ``It was."

According to conventional racing wisdom, Michael Andretti didn't succeed in his lone F1 season because he wasn't committed enough, wasn't properly prepared or simply didn't measure up.

But Marco said people don't know "the real story" behind his father's poor performance that year, insisting the team tried to make his dad look bad so they could get rid of him and make room for a promising young driver – Mika Hakkinen, who would go on to win two world championships.

"They wanted him to fail," Andretti said. "I don't know, it was a very bad deal. The reality of it was, they had Mika Hakkinen ready to come in for a lot less than what my dad was getting paid, and that's all it was. Right then and there, they had to make him look (bad)."

Andretti said McLaren's efforts to sabotage his father's career went beyond simply giving better cars and engines to his teammate, Ayrton Senna – something that might be expected, given Senna's status as a three-time world champion. Andretti insists the team intentionally made his father's cars more difficult to drive.

"They would make the car do weird things in the corner electronically, stuff out of his control," Marco Andretti said.

The situation only improved, Andretti said, when Senna stepped in.

"And I think my dad's biggest supporter over there was Ayrton Senna," Andretti said. "Because he was one of the few who knew what was really happening in the team, and I think he believed in my father. It was at Monza that he really said, 'Give him my car. Give him exactly what I had."'

Michael Andretti finished third in the 1993 Italian Grand Prix at Monza, his only top-three finish of the season. It didn't matter, as Andretti was replaced by Hakkinen in the final three races of the season and returned to race in the U.S.

A McLaren team official did not immediately answer a request for a response to Andretti's comments. Senna died in a crash at the San Marino Grand Prix in 1994.

Michael Andretti didn't want to go into detail about the '93 season, but didn't deny his son's version of the story.

"I'm not going to go into all of it," Michael Andretti said. ``Let's just say it was not a pleasant experience. It was a time where I think I was sort of caught in a political battle of auto racing, and because of that wasn't a very good experience."

But Michael said he understood why Marco would speak out, saying he probably would do the same thing if something similar happened to his father, racing legend Mario Andretti.

"If my dad went through that, I would obviously probably approach it a different way and tell that story," Michael Andretti said. "But it sounds like sour grapes coming from me."

So given all that baggage, why would Marco Andretti want to try F1?

"Because I want to tackle it, you know what I mean?," he said.

Marco Andretti tested a Honda F1 car in 2006, but he isn't willing to make the jump unless it is with a team that can win. He believes the F1 establishment wants him to fail, too.

"I don't have any other mentality other than to go over there and win," Andretti said. "Because I think it's a bigger story if I go over there and fail, really. It really is. Because that's what people are waiting for, to be honest, over there."

Andretti, 21, enjoys IndyCar racing and says he could foresee spending the rest of his career in the series. But he concedes that IndyCar, which races mostly on oval tracks, isn't the best place to attract attention from F1 teams that race on road courses.

"The reason it's tough right now is, if I go win Kentucky, Ferrari's not going to come say, 'Hey, we want you,"' he said. ``But maybe (winning) a series championship and the Indy 500, that could help."

Michael believes his son has the potential to race in F1, but also thinks he might find happiness by staying in IndyCar.

"He's one of the bright young stars here in America, and open-wheel racing I think now is about ready to rocket (in popularity)," Michael Andretti said. "I think there's something to that, for him to look at that, to think, 'Maybe I can help take IndyCar racing to the top.' I'm sure that's in the top of his mind."

the young man seems to be a bit excited. that must be very unlikely.

[Miguel]

McLaren in 1993 was a team whose only objective was to keep Senna for the next race. Remember that what some consider the best ever only raced for McLaren in a per-GP basis. On the other car of the team we have an F1 rookie who refused to move to europe so that he could test more and visit the factory more often.

The result? Disaster. I mean, I don't expect McLaren to really support Andretti other than technically if Andretti refuses to fully commit to the team from the very beginning. I mean, if I believed the driver isn't giving it all, I'm not going to spend all night working in his car, unless he was my son or something.

However, I don't believe he had different equipment. Heck, that may even be more expensive. Less technical attention? Sure. By the way, didn't Mika test for McLaren that year? He probably made more km than Michael.

[donskar]

How pathetic:

"They would make the car do weird things in the corner electronically, stuff out of his control," Marco Andretti said.

Marco had one season where he displayed some great potential and since seems to have fizzled.

I apologize for having replied to this thread. I don't mean to extend its life.

(I can't help but see images of Michael's engineer wrapping his car and helmet in tin foil to resist the aliens' efforts at car control.)

[Spencifer_Murphy]

I find this hard to believe for two reasons:

1. If this is true, why did Michael not say anything, instead this comes up 15years later?!

2. Michael was NOT commited enough - he lived in the states while his team was in the UK - even Fernando Alonso moved to Oxford when he drove for Renault the first time round - and he only lived in Spain!

3. They don't need to make Michael look bad to switch him with Mika - they can do whatever they like, if they believe Mika is the better driver they dont need to prove it.

I'm not saying he was given equal machinery to Senna (like was said before - Mclaren would likely have been doing EVERYTHING they could to keep Ayrton for the next season - but its not like Senna needed preferable equipment to beat Michael Andretti is it now?)

[checkered]

If you ask me, it was sabotage. It was.

They wanted him to fail. I don't know, it was a very bad deal. The reality of it was, they had Mika Hakkinen ready to come in for a lot less than what my dad was getting paid, and that's all it was. Right then and there, they had to make him look (bad).

They would make the car do weird things in the corner electronically, stuff out of his control.

And I think my dad's biggest supporter over there was Ayrton Senna. Because he was one of the few who knew what was really happening in the team, and I think he believed in my father. It was at Monza that he really said, 'Give him my car. Give him exactly what I had.'

...

I don't have any other mentality other than to go over there and win. Because I think it's a bigger story if I go over there and fail, really. It really is. Because that's what people are waiting for, to be honest, over there.

The reason it's tough right now is, if I go win Kentucky, Ferrari's not going to come say, 'Hey, we want you'. But maybe (winning) a series championship and the Indy 500, that could help.

Oh boy, Marco going on

record with this stuff was somewhat of a shocker. It seems he's surprisingly oblivious, as a person with a stated desire to try out F1, to some very basic realities therein. From what he's saying, Michael went to McLaren already believing that the sport was political and it'd ruin everything; did he even understand that in his first year he was under no external pressure whatsoever to match Senna, the yardstick for any driver, but to deliver decent results consistently and prove his winning ability from there on? It seems not. Perhaps he expected to, but that's a personal assertion the translation of which to others has to be functional rather than immaterial. The notion of a "bargain price" Hakkinen is, if possible, even more naïve. There's no shortage of talented people lining up to drive in Formula One, that's just a fact of Formula One life and not some ominous way to pressure someone in particular.

Sure, active suspensions, traction control, semi-automatic gearboxes and such do "weird things" if you're not used to those, indeed "stuff out of drivers' control" if he doesn't know what to expect and make use of. Exactly my point about so called "driver aids" and the purported ease with which F1 cars can be controlled with them, btw ... The frailty of that equipment must've also seemed nearly unfathomable to someone used to reliability and mechanical control of his vehicle. But sabotage, in a sport where even lesser mistakes can get someone killed, that'd carry some fairly hefty legal liabilities with it. Also, the loss of money associated with a nonperforming driver is a major concern to a struggling team; that McLaren held on to Michael for almost the whole season rather than draw conclusions sooner is indication enough that they gave him every opportunity they could afford.

The notion of Senna giving his setup to Andretti in Michael's final F1 race at Monza - as "proof" that Michael lacked support from his team - is a classic: Ayrton, while he could be ruthless in competition, had a rarely tuned empathy for those around him coupled with an acute sense of occasion. He must've seen that whatever Michael's preferences were, Andretti's setup hadn't and couldn't come close to what he himself routinely achieved. Of course this amounted to support, but it misses the larger point - Ayrton gave Michael an experience he could relate to and cherish, hoping that he'd have something positive to reflect on from his shortlived bid at Formula One stardom. A feeling of hope and understanding of a sport that, partly by chance, had dealt such a harsh hand for him to play with. Quite a present.

Marco reckons that "F1" would want to see him fail for entertainment purposes. Proof that not jadedness, nor pessimism, nor adopted negative preconceptions can make up for inexperience and doing one's own homework. In the whole sphere of F1, I have scarcely seen or heard a negative comment about the prospect of him emerging as a F1 driver. In fact, his test with Honda was met with such enthusiasm that the team had to play down its importance. Despite his surprising take on his father's trials, I'm no less welcoming of him. It'll take more than trashing McLaren to get on the good side of the likes of Ferrari, though. I hope Marco can yet balance his talent, respect for the experiences of his father and a realistic appraisal of what F1 demands of him as a driver.

I'm not going to go into all of it. Let's just say it was not a pleasant experience. It was a time where I think I was sort of caught in a political battle of auto racing, and because of that wasn't a very good experience. If my dad went through that, I would obviously probably approach it a different way and tell that story. But it sounds like sour grapes coming from me.

He (Marco) is one of the bright young stars here in America, and open-wheel racing I think now is about ready to rocket (in popularity). I think there's something to that, for him to look at that, to think, 'Maybe I can help take IndyCar racing to the top.' I'm sure that's in the top of his mind.

I wonder if he's ever read this?

[WhiteBlue]

F1 is incredibly demanding in so many fields. Drivers like Prost, Senna and Schumacher with tremedous dedication, engineering understanding of the complex cars and the capability to gel together a team were 100% on the task. It is hardly a micacle that Andretti did not make it. The technology was run away from the time when Mario had F1 experience and he gave him bad advise. I'm surprised that Mario and Ron did not talk to sort this out. Tx for the link to F1 rejects. That was a pretty good write up. =D>

Marco could learn something if he would read it and listen to Montoya. He'd better start training his neck 4 months before the next test.

[Belatti]

I believe 100% this article

http://www.f1rejects.com/centrale/andretti/index.html

At a test in February 1993, Andretti was hampered badly by constant electronic gremlins. He went back to the States, while Hakkinen got into the car just as the problems sorted themselves out, and Mika was able to get significant miles behind him. Had Michael relocated to England, it is conceivable that McLaren would have changed their program and put Andretti back into the car for more experience. Of all the things that went wrong for the American, this was completely self-inflicted. What made Michael decide to keep living in the USA? Pride? Naivety?
The answer was probably a mixture of the two. On being asked about where he would live soon after he was signed, he said, "Hopefully, I'll be able to do it without living [in Europe]. I think it's very important to have a home to go home to." Mario had managed to commute during much of his F1 career, so why couldn't Michael do the same? Mario supported his son's choice: "All he needs is one or two tests. He doesn't need to grind away. Michael's not a test driver like some of those other guys, you know, there to do the donkey testing. He's there to go for it."

For a start, Mario was also committed to a full US racing program for some of the years he was doing F1, which necessitated remaining in Pennsylvania. Secondly, the job description of a Grand Prix driver had changed since Mario's day. Gone was the era when a driver could simply breeze in, drive the wheels off the car, and walk away with a result. From the 1990s onwards, an F1 driver needed the time in the car and the time spent with the team, both to familiarise himself with, and get the best out of, the ever-more nuanced beast that was a Grand Prix car, as well as for the sake of team morale.
Michael made it clear that, if the team wanted him to test, he was a phone call and a six-hour flight away. That, he thought, was commitment to the cause. In the eyes of the team and its mechanics though, a six-hour flight and accompanying jetlag was very different to someone who was half an hour's drive away, and who would drop in at the factory from time to time. That, they thought, was commitment and team spirit. Michael dropping in on race weekends was akin to arrogance. Alexander told Michael that he should live in England and visit the factory a few times a week.

Andretti just didn't get it. And then there was his then-wife Sandy, who by all accounts very quickly made herself a nuisance within the squad. Used to the all-access, big-stars-and-trappings approach of American motorsport, she asked for not only pit passes but also headphones to listen in on her man when he was in the car. This was a completely unprecedented request in the world of the F1 paddock, a closely-guarded sanctum where access is limited, where rights are on a needs-must basis only, and where partners and wives stand unobtrusively looking worried but never actually get involved.
Perhaps it was not only just a case of Sandy being over-anxious for her husband, but also a fact that she liked the limelight herself. Her outfits, more suited to a day at the Kentucky Derby than the F1 pits, attracted disdain. Despite her eventual divorce from Michael, the way she swooned over son Marco in front of the media scrum after he came within metres of winning the Indy 500 as a rookie perhaps gives an insight into her personality. Legend has it that Dennis especially employed someone to take her shopping to get her out of the way on race weekends.

Stupid Michael, stupid father, stupid wife stupid son
They simply don´t get what F1 is about. In many ways Indy looks amateur compared to F1.

After a slow start at Interlagos, Michael progressively found more pace and eventually qualified 5th, less than a second behind Senna in 3rd who himself was in sublime form on home soil. Feeling pleased with himself, he was quickly put back in his place by a no-nonsense Dennis, who greeted him with a terse, "What the hell are you smiling about? You're only 5th."

Again
Amateur!

His refusal to relocate even in the face of adversity created the impression, rightly or wrongly, that here was a man so proud, so self-confident that he felt he could just saunter in and get on the pace, but when it was clear that he couldn't, he made no perceivable effort to change, to work harder with the team. If one makes his own luck in F1, Andretti did not help his own cause. Invariably, more glitches, more mistakes would follow. To say that something was a vicious cycle is a cliché, but it certainly applied here.

Marco: no excuses [-X

[Rob W]

We can't be too hard on Marco... he's just spent too much time driving round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round in circles.

The centrifugal force makes some people think they're special.

R

[WhiteBlue]

lol

[nae]

as seen buy us all last year Mclaren dont seem to like demanding drivers
if they can fall out with a twice proven world champ becuase of whatever
an american premadona that thinks he is special isnt going to last long
especially if he didnt have the commitment to test often enough to get to
grips with the 'odd things' his car does

true or not it sounds like sour grapes to me, and if his son is genuinely
interested in 'doing F1' its hardly the statement to fire up teams to hire
him

as an aside F1 drivers are as much about fitting in, doing sponsor duites,
testing and many other factors, sure ultimate speed comes into it but if thats
all you have and you dont manage the rest well your history

[Mr Alcatraz]

Idiotic statement by Marco! I would leave those accusations to my father
This doesn’t bode well for his F1 aspirations, no matter whom he thinks he’s going to drive for!

[donskar]

Marco qualified well for the Indy 500 tomorrow. Let's see how he does. Agree that those insane statements could be the kiss of death.

[tarzoon]

We can't be too hard on Marco... he's just spent too much time driving round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round in circles.

The centrifugal force makes some people think they're special.

R

Marco could learn something if he would read it and listen to Montoya. He'd better start training his neck 4 months before the next test.

Yep, as you can see he really is training hard for f1...

http://youtube.com/watch?v=hZK4_uSgN6k