Exclusive: Mario Andretti on “personal” factors that meant Michael was not part of Cadillac F1 plan

Mario Andretti insists that there is no lingering sadness within his family that their eponymous team had to morph into Cadillac to secure an entry in to Formula 1.

In an exclusive interview with Autosport, the 1978 world champion has opened up on how there will be unanswered questions about why Andretti’s operation faced hurdles which have now been cleared for F1’s latest squad.

Earlier this week, Liberty Media announced that it had agreed in principle with General Motors for its Cadillac brand to enter F1 in 2026.

This comes in the wake of previous efforts by the Andretti-Cadillac operation being rejected because it was not felt that it would bring any benefits to F1.

The new project took off after Andretti Global chief Michael Andretti stepped back from day-to-day involvement, a move viewed by some as a key element in helping transform how F1 saw the plans.

While the latest effort means Michael Andretti will not see through in his dream of running an F1 operation, his father Mario, who will be a director on the board of the Cadillac operation, insists there is nothing to be upset about.

Asked if there were bittersweet feelings about Michael not being a part of it, Andretti said: “Yeah, but you know what? There’s a celebration here with him as well.

“There’s no big issues that I see among the group here that would linger or anything else because, I guarantee ultimately it wasn’t just [about] Michael. It’s not that simple.

“There were a lot of things going on, but it happened. It may have made it look like that was the key factor; but it wasn’t.

“One way or another, he might’ve stepped aside a little bit more about the day-to-day situation with them [anyway], so we’re not losing a beat anywhere by going forward here.”

F1 accepted a plan for Cadillac because it felt that a works team in the long term would justify expanding the grid to 11 teams more than the previous customer plans for Andretti-Renault cars that was originally on the table for 2025.

There remains some intrigue though about how big a role the departure of Michael Andretti played in moving the project forward.

Sources have insisted that his exit was not a demand that F1 had laid down, but Mario Andretti thinks there were some “personal” issues at play amid the controversy over its F1 entry rejection earlier this year.

Asked why Cadillac had got approval where Andretti did not, he said: “I don’t know if there’s one thing that all of a sudden brought the thing to fruition. There seemed to be some personal things there that personally, I still do not understand. But it seemed like it came down to that.

Michael Andretti, Owner, Andretti Global

Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images

“If that was the case, you could see that Michael decided to step aside – I think he was thinking of that anyway, but then you’d have to ask him that.

“The fact is that it all came together. We can totally analyse the thing until the cows come home, but there were so many things that were not totally clear.

“Again, I wish I could give you a detail that: ‘Yes, if you do this, this, and that and the other.’ But it just all of a sudden started to come together and there were other things that were going on in the background that might have made a difference. But the fact that it’s there now, that’s all I’d like to think about and talk about quite honestly.”

Boost for USA and F1

Andretti says he is hugely proud to be involved in the Cadillac plans, as efforts continue to finalise which customer engines will be used from 2026 prior to its own works power unit from 2028. Ferrari remains the most obvious choice, but Honda could also be an option.

Speaking about the impact of Cadillac’s arrival in F1, Andretti said: “You always try to feel that you’re going to contribute. That’s for all to be able to relish and hope.

“But since you have three F1 races – which is unprecedented in that series – in the United States, to have a full-fledged American team with an American driver is something else that I think should be appealing to the fans, and to hopefully root for one of their own.

“It’s all that. There’s a lot of work to be done to get to that point, but that’s what makes it worthwhile, ultimately.”

Cadillac F1

Photo by: Cadillac Communications

Andretti also believed that plans for Cadillac to get involved in F2 and F3 to create a ladder of opportunity would be great news for bringing through the next generation of American talent.

“Like Michael always said, he was always big to have the ladder system,” added Andretti. “He used the ladder system to bring drivers to the top. He’s done that in IndyCar, with the Indy NXT. Their intention is to field teams in F3 and F2, eventually. It will be an opportunity for some young talents here from the States to enrol in that side.

“So, there are a lot of good things potentially happening in the future. And it’s a challenge. It’s interesting to feel that you’re part of that.”