Mario Andretti remembers convincing Colin Chapman to focus ‘100%’ on Team Lotus

Mario Andretti is something of a motorsport legend wherever you look — and in a recent interview for the “Deadly Passions, Terrible Joys” podcast, Andretti gave us another piece of his legacy: Convincing Colin Chapman to return to racing.

In the mid-1970s, when Andretti joined Team Lotus, Colin Chapman was busy with side ventures producing road cars and boats. But it was Mario Andretti who convinced him to come back full time.

Mario Andretti: “Colin, you have to come back racing 100%”

In a recent interview with the Deadly Passions, Terrible Joys podcast , Mario Andretti reflected on his successful racing career, admitting that “Formula 1 was always” his goal — but that he wanted to be careful about the swap.

See, Andretti had fielded offers from both Ferrari and Colin Chapman after winning the Indianapolis 500, and he had fielded a few Grand Prix entries for both teams between 1968 and 1972.

But in 1974, Andretti was ready. Vel’s Parnelli Jones Racing had been a regular in the American Formula 5000 scene and decided to branch out into F1 racing, bringing Andretti along for the ride.

Unfortunately, on the grid for the 1976 Long Beach Grand Prix, the team informed Andretti that it would be folding, and that he would soon be out of a job.

But at breakfast the next day, Andretti spotted Colin Chapman of Lotus. The two compared notes: Andretti didn’t have a car, but Chapman’s Lotus was poor. Then and there, Andretti decided to sign on — but under one condition.

“Colin Chapman was quite the entrepreneur, and along the way he started the car company, and boat company,” Andretti recalled in the DPTJ podcast.

“That was a big distraction. Most of his energy was used up in that sector.

“And with Colin Chapman missing there on the racing side — that’s where they were hurting.

“That was another thing I said to him. I said, ‘Colin, you have to come back racing 100%. Delegate authority somewhere else to people that can look after the other businesses — but we have to come back racing.’

“Then his wife Hazel, bless her — she thanked me for that. She said, ‘Mario, well done. That’s where he belongs.’

“And that was the key to, you know, him coming back. Then everything started just turning around and going better.”

More iconic American drivers in F1 history:

👉 Parnelli Jones: The F1 team owner and US racing icon who made huge impact

👉 From a Mini Cooper to a Lotus 24: One Texas legend’s first F1 experience at the Nurburgring

The Lotus/Andretti partnership was massive. Andretti had ample skill and helped return the ailing team to the top step of the podium by the end of the 1976 season.

But it wasn’t always easy. The notoriously mercurial Chapman could be difficult to work with — but Andretti felt he was one of the few drivers who could understand his boss.

“I was concerned to some degree because of a certain reputation, but it’s all about performance,” Andretti said of Chapman. “It’s all about bringing results to the table.

“[Chapman] was quite demanding, and rightfully so — but at the same time, we really, really worked well together because I was bringing some ideas to him that he wasn’t getting from other drivers because they didn’t have the experience that I had. And vice versa.

“As I said, he kept my mind very fertile by injecting his ideas, even though not everything was really adaptable — but that was good, because it kept me going.

“Having that relationship was everything, but it was all about getting results. And we were doing that.

“I used to love the way he’d demonstrate his feeling, throwing his hat in the air when we would win.

“Those emotions are so important because you see that and you know we’re all enjoying the same thing. That’s what it’s about.”

Read next: US F1 drivers ranked: Logan Sargeant 18th and Phil Hill beaten to No.1 spot