The majority of our legends raced in an era when the world's best contested many categories other than Formula 1. But which driver was the best all-rounder? Graham Hill was the only one to do it in Monaco, Indianapolis and at Le Mans; Jim Clark made it look as easy in a Lotus Cortina as he did a Lotus F1 car; while John Surtees did it on two wheels as well as four. As for Stirling Moss...well, he's Stirling Moss isn't he?
Yet there is one man who deliberately set out to
really do it all, who danced on the limit longer than anyone and won in a mind-boggling array of disciplines. What's more he succeeded. Ladies and gentleman, we give you 1978 World Champion Mario Andretti.
Besides a love of motor racing, just what was it that fuelled Andretti's desire to try anything and everything? The answer lies in his childhood, one spent worshipping Alberto Ascari and even seeing the great Italian double World Champion race at Monza, before his family uprooted and emigrated to the United States in 1955.
Andretti had a love of Formula 1 and was suddenly landed in an alien world: one of stock car rac-ing on dirt tracks at State fairgrounds. It was a rough-and-tumble world that seemed about as far as removed from grand prix motor racing as rock 'n' roll was from opera. Yet Mario, together with twin brother Aldo, adapted immediately when they decided to take the plunge.
Although both were instant race winners, Aldo's career never recovered from a serious early accident. However, Mario grabbed the baton with both hands and his career flourished. Having switched to single-seater midgets and then sprint cars, by 1965 Andretti was Rookie of the Year at the Indianapolis 500.
He also won that year's IndyCar Championship, the first of three such titles he would claim in the next five seasons, with success in the 500 coming in 1969. Andretti also demonstrated his versatility by winning NASCAR's Daytona 500 two years earlier, all the while continuing to pound the dirt tracks in sprint cars. Successful in sports cars too, he even had a go at drag racing.
However, Andretti's heart remained in Europe. That 1965 visit to the Brickyard was crucial and formative, bringing him to the attention of Lotus founder Colin Chapman. In between wrapping up his second F1 title that year, Jim Clark won the Indy 500 for Lotus. Andretti sought out Chap-man and told him of his ambitions. "When you're ready, call me," was Chapman's reply.
The call was made three years later and Andretti was entered by Lotus for the 1968 Italian GP at Monza. Home at last - except that Mario was not allowed to take part. An arcane rule pertaining to his also racing Stateside that weekend put paid to any dreams of a fairytale start to his F1 career. Instead, Andretti headed to Watkins Glen one month later and put the car on pole position.
Andretti won his first grand prix for Ferrari in South Africa three years later but his American commitments were such that he did not race F1 full-time until 1975. Driving for Parnelli, Andretti had a good-looking car but not the results to match. The team folded early the following year, which was when a chance meeting with Chapman changed everything.
At that time, Lotus were in the doldrums but Andretti nevertheless took Chapman's offer of a ride and won the Japanese Grand Prix at the end of the 1976 season. The combination was now on a roll and armed with the 78 - the car which ushered in the 'ground effect' era - Andretti could have taken the title the following year. He claimed four victories in 1977 and would have won others but for reliability problems.
There were no such worries in 1978, though, when Andretti romped to the Drivers' Championship in the sublime Lotus 79. For the boy from Italy, taking the title at Monza should have been the icing on the cake. Fate dealt a cruel hand, however, when team-mate Ronnie Peterson succumbed to leg injuries he sustained in a fiery startline crash the day after the race.
Andretti never won another grand prix. His F1 career tapered off over the next three seasons and yet there was still one more glorious moment to be had - and Monza was, inevitably, the setting. Drafted in by Ferrari to replace the injured Didier Pironi for the final two races of the 1982 season, Andretti put the car on pole for the Italian Grand Prix. It was the stuff of Hollywood and entirely in keeping with the man and his charisma.
That the same scenario was given serious consideration by Ferrari a full seven years later in the wake of Gerhard Berger's serious shunt at Imola is testament to the third phase of Andretti's career. Returning to the States full-time, he remained a contender throughout what is now seen as something of a Golden Age of IndyCar racing. Another title followed in 1984, although further success in the 500 itself eluded him before his eventual retirement a decade later.
The last race of note came at Le Mans in 2000 although Andretti hit the headlines three years later when, invited by son Michael to test at Indianapolis, he flipped the car at 200 mph-plus. Once again Mario escaped serious injury and yet his need for speed is such that he
still cannot prise himself away from the cockpit entirely.
In amongst his other commitments, Andretti can currently be found giving lucky passengers the ride of their lives in IndyCar's two-seater. At the age of 72, the man who has done it all is clearly still doing it for all the right reasons.
