Mario Gabriele Andretti (born February 28, 1940) is an American former racing driver and the 1978 Formula One World Champion. Andretti competed in Formula One from 1968 to 1982 with a total of 12 Grand Prix wins and seven further podium finishes.
Part-Time Formula One Involvement
Andretti first caught the attention of Jim Clark at the 1965 Indianapolis 500, where the two stood on the podium together. Clark was racing for Team Lotus at the time, which had given Andretti his first Formula One appearances.
After a DNS at the 1968 Italian Grand Prix, Andretti’s first Formula One race was the United States Grand Prix a month later where he became the first driver to start his first F1 race from pole. Andretti was offered a full time Lotus seat after Clark’s untimely death at the end of the season, but declined due to American racing commitments. 1969 only consisted of three F1 starts that all resulted in retirements, but Andretti notably won the Indianapolis 500 that year.
The following season, he achieved his first F1 podium at the 1970 Spanish Grand Prix driving a STP March and finishing behind Jackie Stewart and Bruce McLaren.
Scuderia Ferrari
Andretti signed with Ferrari in 1971 to race a partial season, and won his first F1 race with the Italian team. Despite being offered the position of No. 1 driver for 1972 by Enzo Ferrari himself, Andretti declined another full-time Formula One opportunity but still competed in several rounds with Ferrari that year.
Parnelli
After sitting out of Formula One in 1973, Andretti competed in the final two F1 races in 1974 in his IndyCar team-sponsored Parnelli VPJ4. Staying with the team for 1975, Andretti finally contested his first full season of Formula One with mixed results.
Lotus
Andretti entered the 1976 Brazilian Grand Prix with Lotus due to Parnelli opting to skip the season opener. After returning to the American team for the next two rounds, Parnelli pulled out of Formula One and Andretti drove for Lotus for the remainder of the season. Andretti would stay with the British team until the end of the 1980 season, taking the bulk of his Formula wins and podiums and most notably the 1978 world title.
Alfa Romeo, Williams, and Ferrari
Andretti drove for Alfa Romeo for a single season in 1981, in what would turn out to be his final full season in Formula One. In 1982, he competed in the United States Grand Prix when Carlos Reutemann abruptly quit and retired from Formula One. Later in the season, Andretti replaced the injured Didier Pironi at Ferrari for the last two rounds where he notable scored his final pole position, podium finish, and world championship points at the 1982 Italian Grand Prix.
Yema
Andretti notably wore a Wesley’s Rallye when he won the 1969 Indy 500. The chronograph was manufactured by Yema, which released the Rallye Andretti Limited Edition in 2019 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Andretti’s famous win. The French brand retained many of the vintage details, with notable changes limited to the updated Yema logo, some design elements on the dial, and an automatic movement instead of hand-wound. The production run was limited to 1,969 pieces.
Yema also released the Rallye Mario Andretti Special Edition as a more relaxed homage to the original, powered by a mechaquartz movement and no specific mention of the Indianapolis 500.
Related Pages
References
https://yema.com/pages/our-story
https://www.watchtime.com/featured/vintage-eye-for-the-modern-guy-yema-rallye-andretti-limited-edition/
https://deployant.com/review-yema-rallye-andretti-limited-edition/
https://www.watchgecko.com/blogs/magazine/yema-rallye-mario-andretti-special-edition-review
https://www.neueuhren.de/yema-rallygraf-meca-quartz-kollektion/