Mario Andretti Rebuts Jeremy Clarkson Over Recent Column

Mario Andretti has refuted Jeremy Clarkson’s skepticism about the challenge of driving modern F1 cars, highlighted by Clarkson following Carlos Sainz’s recent Grand Prix win in Australia.

The debate over the evolving nature of Formula One’s challenges took a new turn with Mario Andretti, confronting criticisms laid out by The Grand Tour host Jeremy Clarkson. The TV presenter had recently questioned the difficulty of piloting contemporary F1 cars in light of Carlos Sainz’s victory at the Australian Grand Prix shortly after recovering from appendicitis.

Andretti, during an exclusive interview with Lydia Mee via Sports Illustrated, provided a passionate defense of the sport’s enduring demands. He refuted the suggestion that technological progress has diluted the challenge of Formula One. According to Andretti, the intrinsic qualities required to excel in racing—resilience, passion, and skill—remain as critical today as they were in the past.

“In so many ways, obviously, there’s a difference because of the progress and new rules, everything. I can only tell you just in one sentence, yesterday’s champions would be champions today, and today’s champions would have been champions yesterday,” Andretti remarked.

“The human element. [You’re] asked to give 100 percent of whatever you have under you. And you can dissect this thing until the cows come home. A lot of people say, ‘Oh, yeah, in the old days, we used to do this and that’. It’s up to the individual. Carlos Sainz would have jumped in a car then and today.”

Further illustrating his point, Andretti shared anecdotes from his own career, which spanned over 900 races. Despite suffering significant injuries, including broken ribs and a cracked sternum, he returned to racing just two weeks after an accident. He continued:

“I remember I had a couple of accidents that kept me out of two races. Over 900 races in my career and fortunately, I only missed two races because of that, and because I could not wait to go back.

“I had broken ribs, I had a cracked sternum, and I still entered two weeks later, a 500 mile race. And why? Because I wanted to, I didn’t have to, but I did. So it’s all about individual. And you overcome so many obstacles when you have that passion to do it. And Carlos Sainz did exactly that.”

Reflecting on Sainz’s performance in Australia, Andretti expressed admiration for the Spaniard’s determination to compete and succeed under challenging conditions.

“You could say, ‘Oh gosh, I had appendicitis, I’m not going to drive for another three weeks’. He’s a true racer and he had a strong objective. He didn’t want to have anyone else in his cockpit. I know how I felt when I had someone else substituting me. He goes out there and he performed spectacularly, obviously.

“That was so wonderful to see because that’s what really gets my emotions going. That’s the quality that I want to see in a real racer.”

These comments follow Clarkson’s recent column in The Sun which questioned how easy it is to drive a modern Formula One car. Clarkson wrote:

“Just a few days after having his appendix out, Ferrari Formula 1 driver Carlos Sainz flew to Australia, climbed into his car and won the race. Naturally, many people saw this as a heroic display of stiff-upper-lip determination and spunk.

“I wonder, though. We keep being told that these F1 cars are road-going fighter jets. That they are a volcanic o**y of noise and G-forces. And that you need to be superhuman to control one.

“Really? I only ask because Carlos, pictured in hospital, was plainly in some discomfort before the race but he seemed to manage for nearly two hours in the car. Which leads me to believe that walking up to a Formula 1 car is actually harder these days than driving it.”