Cadillac F1 names debut season chassis after refugee immigrant, American legend Mario Andretti – Jalopnik

Mario Andretti is one of America’s greatest racers of all time. No one else has ever achieved the incredibly varied victories that Andretti has, including the Daytona 500, 12 Hours of Sebring (three times), 24 Hours of Daytona, Indianapolis 500, the Pikes Peak Hill Climb and hundreds more. He is one of only two men in history to have won the Formula 1 World Championship racing under the American National Flag with Stars and Stripes, the other being Phil Hill. Because of Andretti’s legacy and all he accomplished, the Cadillac Formula One Team dedicated its debut chassis design to him and named it the Mario Andretti Cadillac 2026 or MAC-26.

When the new Cadillac makes its way onto the grid in Australia in just a week’s time, it will bear Mario Andretti’s name. Look, I’m no motorsport legend, but this seems like incredible dedication from the team. MAC-26 probably won’t be as successful as Super Mario – it would be virtually impossible for a brand new team to fight for wins in its first year – but it’s so great to get this car with its name on the grid.

During 128 starts in F1, Andretti won twelve, finished on pole eighteen times and set ten fastest laps. He raced for Lotus, March, Ferrari, Parnelli, Alfa Romeo and Williams and achieved his greatest success in 1978 when he beat Ronnie Peterson and Carlos Reutemann to the title. It will take Cadillac a long time to keep up with these kinds of statistics, and there is no guarantee that they will ever be able to do so. This is a new car in a new era of F1, and while I hope the American team does well on its debut, it would be an incredible gamble to even get a win this year.

If you want to hear the story straight from the man himself, watch this video from NBC Sports. It’s quite moving. Don’t worry, Mario is not a cannibal.

America is such a beautiful country with an incredible history. We are a nation of immigrants, and welcoming them into the Andretti family has led to the creation of one of the most incredible dynasties in motorsports. It may have taken a world war, an ethnic migration, a refugee camp, the Italian diaspora and decades of hardship, but Mario became the legend he was always destined to become once he reached America. Italy provided him with the inspiration, it’s where he caught the motorsport bug, but America raised him to be a world champion.

We, as a nation, are better when we come together. The millions of immigrants who come to this country to build a better life are merely following in the footsteps of great men like Mario. We have always been the shining beacon on the hill, and we must try to be that again. The MAC-26 Cadillac Formula One chassis is an example of that former greatness. This country is my country, this country is your country, this country is Mario’s country.