Andretti: I Was as Quick as Senna

[chili pepper]

Talk is cheap...and that's all this is. No way to prove it now as he's too old and Senna is long gone.

I can say this much, as an American, if I'd been given a shot in F1 in 1993 with Senna as my team mate (the latter alone being enough to be giddy as a schoolgirl about), I'd have been plenty happy to live at the McLaren facilty (in the bog, if necessary) if I thought it would have made even the slightest difference in any aspect of the experience.

No disrespect to the Andretti name intended. Mario has always been a favorite of mine. One of those guys who can and has raced just about everything, and been competitive as well.

 

[Kuckoo]

Senna won five races and finished second in the championship in a car that Andretti couldn't figure out how to stop spinning and crashing in. It was embarrassing to watch. He very nearly killed himself and Gerhard Berger in Brazil. Britain and Germany were low points, out of many to choose from. On top of that, once given the drive, Hakkinen immediately displayed properly, in the same car Andretti failed with all season.

He can (and does) say and blame whatever he wants, but it was clear to anyone with two neurons to rub together that Andretti was out of his depth in F1.

 

[gianlucaP]

ì

 

[Copef1]

Senna won five races and finished second in the championship in a car that Andretti couldn't figure out how to stop spinning and crashing in. It was embarrassing to watch. He very nearly killed himself and Gerhard Berger in Brazil. On top of that, once given the drive, Hakkinen immediately displayed properly, in the same car Andretti failed with all season.

He can (and does) say and blame whatever he wants, but it was clear to anyone with two neurons to rub together that Andretti was out of his depth in F1.

I watched the whole season. Michael had a bunch of retirements, many of which were not his fault. He finished on the podium, in third for his final race with the team. Mika only raced the final 3 races, and he retired twice, and finished 3rd in one. So to say Mika "immediately displayed properly", is kind of a load of crap. Mika didn't win a race until the final race of the 1997 season, almost 5 season's later. Could Michael have won races had he been given 4 more seasons? Who knows. Michael was for sure one of the best, if not the best IndyCar driver of his generation. Was he as quick as Senna in testing as he says? I've never seen the lap times, so who knows. Senna is one of the top 5 F1 drivers ever, so comparing yourself to him is always going to be met with skepticism.

 

[Loren Thomas]

Umm... I read the whole article and I never saw where he said he was AS QUICK AS Senna. He said he was "right there with" him in testing and through most of his qualifying lap at Silverstone. Don't make up stories that aren't there.

 

[Kuckoo]

I watched the whole season. Michael had a bunch of retirements, many of which were not his fault. He finished on the podium, in third for his final race with the team. Mika only raced the final 3 races, and he retired twice, and finished 3rd in one. So to say Mika "immediately displayed properly", is kind of a load of crap. Mika didn't win a race until the final race of the 1997 season, almost 5 season's later. Could Michael have won races had he been given 4 more seasons? Who knows. Michael was for sure one of the best, if not the best IndyCar driver of his generation. Was he as quick as Senna in testing as he says? I've never seen the lap times, so who knows. Senna is one of the top 5 F1 drivers ever, so comparing yourself to him is always going to be met with skepticism.

I watched, and taped, every race that season, too. Andretti made it to third in a very high attrition race, a lap down on 1st and 2nd. One of the very few times that season where he didn't nerf himself (and sometimes someone else) out of the race...
... then Hakkinen comes in and outqualifies Senna in only the very next race after Andretti left. That was pretty much end-season. Only two or three races left by that stage. So ya, pretty immediate result. Everyone was talking about, got ink in Autocourse, etc. It was news. Saying he didn't win races for another several seasons is disingenuous and misses the point, as we all know how hard McLaren fell once they switched to Peugeot.

 

[DND]

I think al unser jr. Would have been the better American choice to go to F1 at that time

 

[Deleted member 113561]

The fact is, in 1993, Senna was at his peak. He was absolutely phenomenal that year. Anybody would have been overshadowed by him.

Just no
Ps. What you write is your opinion, it can't be a fact!

 

[Warlord_Gonagy]

Hmmmm....... *strokes beard*........

Nope.

NEXT!

 

[Pedro17]

Umm... I read the whole article and I never saw where he said he was AS QUICK AS Senna. He said he was "right there with" him in testing and through most of his qualifying lap at Silverstone. Don't make up stories that aren't there.

Fake News has worked its magic again; just look at all the posters that are fired-up over a claim that was never made.

 

[traind]

Lol, of course you were Michael

No where in that interview did Andretti really imply he was as quick a driver in an F1 car as Senna. Yes, he said he was up there with him in practice sessions. But he also said that he needed another year in F1 to be running near the top. And he acknowledged Senna was amazing and he was still learning. The title of the article here is deceiving.

 

[SS454]

Michael Andretti was always my favorite driver of the CART days, but he is flat out delusional here. The closest he ever got to Senna in Qual was 0.523 at the Canadian GP. Typically he was well over 1 second slower.

After he got the boot, Mika Hakkinen stepped in and out qualified Senna in his first race with the team.

 

[InsaneOzzie]

The title of this article gives the wrong impression and opens Michael up to ridicule that is unwarranted, it implies he was as quick as Senna, but after reading the full story that's linked, not once does he claim he was "as quick", the closest he goes is to say "he was right up there" during testing, there's a big difference between the two comments.

So before readers just take this story on the deceptive title alone, which in my mind is judgemental, I suggest ignoring this and read the full story via the link first, at least you will get the full story.

 

[juluka]

Journalism click bate...never said he was as fast or faster...said he was "on par" and at "pace" with the field...tells me more he felt he belonged and less that he was better...never liked Michael, enjoyed following his father...but let's not make Michael look more arrogant than he already is, and let him continue to live in the world of what could have been...plus, we got Mika and Erja to entertain us with those icy looks for years to come as a result of Michael's attitude with the team......

 

[Richard Dastardly]

The title of this article gives the wrong impression and opens Mario up to ridicule that is unwarranted, it implies Mario felt he was as quick as Senna, but after reading the full story that's linked, not once does Mario claim he was "as quick", the closest he goes is to say "he was right up there" during testing, there's a big difference between the two comments.

Michael, not Mario. Now Mario was a quick guy and still who I think of if I need an american F1 pilot; if he was 20 years younger that might have been something to see.

 

[InsaneOzzie]

Michael, not Mario. Now Mario was a quick guy and still who I think of if I need an american F1 pilot; if he was 20 years younger that might have been something to see.

Just realised my mistake.......fixed

 

[traind]

Here is quote from a Top Gear interview with Andretti just a few years ago

"But again, I was being compared to the best, and a lot of the time when we were testing, I would be right on pace with him and that made me feel good. Then you get to the race, and seriously, I’d be a second or two seconds off the pace. But he was a quality person…”

 

[chili pepper]

I think al unser jr. Would have been the better American choice to go to F1 at that time

Now that's an interesting one I hadn't thought much about before. Talk about another guy (ok, a family) who could drive almost anything and do it well...

 

[antirussia81]

Andretti: I Was as Quick as Senna

 

[Copef1]

I watched, and taped, every race that season, too. Andretti made it to third in a very high attrition race, a lap down on 1st and 2nd. One of the very few times that season where he didn't nerf himself (and sometimes someone else) out of the race...
... then Hakkinen comes in and outqualifies Senna in only the very next race after Andretti left. That was pretty much end-season. Only two or three races left by that stage. So ya, pretty immediate result. Everyone was talking about, got ink in Autocourse, etc. It was news. Saying he didn't win races for another several seasons is disingenuous and misses the point, as we all know how hard McLaren fell once they switched to Peugeot.

Yeah, Hakkinen out qualified Senna, then threw the car into the wall on lap 33 of the race. Hakkinen also had two full seasons under his belt at this point with lotus, where he had plenty of DNF's, just like Andretti. We will never know if Andretti would have been better, because history played out where he only got 13 starts. Michael says he was on pace with Senna in testing, not that he was faster than him in a race, or qualifying. Can you disprove that? Michael got thrown into a team beginning a decline, with Senna as a teammate. A difficult situation for anyone. Hakkinen had 6 full seasons in F1 before he won, Michael had 13 races. When he got back to IndyCar he started winning again right away, if fact he won his first race back at Surfers Paradise.