Mario Andretti, Circuit of the Americas, 2023

Mario Andretti says Cadillac Formula 1 team principal Graeme Lowdon has given him personal assurances over their project, ahead of their first appearance in a grand prix next month.

His son Michael Andretti initiated the project which led to the arrival of F1’s first new team for 10 years. However Formula One Management initially resisted their efforts to join.

In 2024 Mario Andretti revealed Greg Maffei, the CEO of F1 rights holder Liberty Media at the time, told him they would “never let your team in.” However the team’s entry was eventually approved after Cadillac came on board and rebranded the operation.

Cadillac has kept the 1978 world champion on board as a consultant. He said team principal Graeme Lowdon reassured him about the project.

“I looked at him straight in his eyes and I said, ‘Graeme, I’m relying on you’,” Andretti recalled. “He said, ‘Mario, I will not let you down’.”

The team is joining F1 as the series introduces its most ambitious regulation change in a generation. “This is exactly what I thought would be the best possible time to enter,” Andretti told the BBC. “When there’s a new rule book, everyone is starting from scratch.

“There are no illusions here. You’re up against the best on the planet in that respect and you want to be one of them. There are mountains to climb here, no question. At the same time, everyone is willing to just go for it. That’s the beauty of it: get on the track and start making some noises.”

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Cadillac’s first F1 car ran increasingly reliably over the course of testing, but covered significantly less ground than most teams. Its quickest time was more than three seconds off the pace.

However the team appears to have built solid foundations for its first attempt at F1. Andretti said he will be relying on Lowdon to keep him up to date.

“Any time that I want to learn something about progress and so on and so forth, I call him or if he calls me about anything, I’ll just express myself in the best way. But we definitely have a good, constant relationship. He’s my go-to guy.”

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