A top candidate for the Greatest Of All Time, motorsport and Formula 1 legend Mario Andretti returned to a F1 car by driving 2013 a McLaren MP4/28 at Laguna Seca this weekend.
The 82-year-old drove modern-era car at the Velocity Invitational at the iconic California venue. The video shows his first few laps as he got used to the car, later on he got faster and faster.
“My bucket list is pretty much satisfied,” Andretti told RACER afterwards. “Anything that we do after this will be icing on the cake.
“It’s sweet but obviously I left a lot on the table. It’s all about getting the proper gearing and some of the problem for me was the way my helmet was vis-á-vis my steering wheel. I couldn’t see the numbers on my downshift. In some corners I got it right and in others I didn’t.
“In general, though, it is what I expected. It’s a sweet feeling as a driver, so satisfying. The car just does what it should do.”
Andretti had an illustrious F1 career that spanned 1968 to 1982, winning 12 Grands Prix in 128 starts and winning the 1978 F1 world championship with Lotus.
He also had a fine IndyCar career, winning four championships and dabbling in NASCAR with success too. To date, he remains the only driver ever to win the Indianapolis 500 (1969), Daytona 500 (1967) and the Formula 1 World Championship.
The Mercedes-powered McLaren MP4-28 – which Mario drove at Laguna – was driven by Jenson Button and Sergio Perez for the 2013 F1 World Championship campaign, the final year of normally-aspirated V8s in F1 before the current hybrid-turbo era.
