Mario Andretti joins F1 75 celebrations at Festival of Speed

Alongside the likes of Alain Prost, Andretti will form a key part of this year’s Festival of Speed, 60 years after he won his first Championship in 1965 in what was then known as the USAC Championship Car series, the national open-wheel championship of the time and a precursor to the modern IndyCar series.

Andretti was a prolific and hugely successful competitor. While his single F1 Championship is perhaps his most widely recognised achievement, he also won four National Championships in the US and took several major race victories during a career that spanned more than 30 years.

A lover of cars and motorsport first and foremost, his racing achievements are only part of the reason why we’re hugely excited to welcome Andretti back to the Festival of Speed. Few motorsport legends exude such passion for the machines that we all love to see in action on the famous Goodwood Hill.

By the time he made his F1 debut for Lotus in 1968, Andretti was already a seasoned winner, and he continued to race in America alongside his other commitments, winning the Indianapolis 500, and claiming a third title in 1969 with the STP team. But his focus gradually shifted as he began to chase a World Championship.

His first F1 victory came in 1971, when he won on his debut for Ferrari at the South African Grand Prix, but regular success didn’t arrive until several years later when he returned to Lotus in 1976. A second win at that year’s Japanese Grand Prix signalled the beginning of a hugely competitive period for Andretti, as he went on to win ten races over the course of the next two seasons.

At the wheel of the innovative Lotus 79 with its ground effect design philosophy, Andretti was near unbeatable, as he stormed to the title in 1978, completing his story as one of the greatest racing drivers of all time.

Although Lotus’ form would not continue in subsequent years, Andretti’s motivation remained as strong as ever. Even after his F1 career came to an end after one final podium finish, once again for Ferrari at the 1982 Italian Grand Prix, he continued to race, and win, regularly in the US.

Andretti had retained a presence in the US National Championship, competing in the Indianapolis 500 every year bar the 1979 running, and even winning at the Trenton Speedway during his 1978 Championship-winning year.

The wins kept coming throughout the early 1980s, and he took his fourth National Championship in the PPG Indy Car World Series in 1984. He continued racing in a full-time capacity for the next 11 seasons before finally calling time on his open-wheel career in 1995.

But even that wasn’t the end. Andretti had already enjoyed plenty of success in sportscars, having previously won the 24 Hours of Daytona in 1972. He came painfully close to victory at the 1995 Le Mans 24 Hours, absolutely dominating the WSC Class to finish second overall in the Courage C34 alongside Bob Wollek and Éric Hélary, and he made three more attempts to win at the Circuit de la Sarthe before retiring from competitive motorsport in 2000 at the age of 60.

Mario Andretti’s longevity was remarkable, and his influence on the world of motorsport is difficult to quantify. His son Michael enjoyed his own successful career in CART, and built the racing team that now competes in IndyCar and Formula E, and will form a major part of the Cadillac entry into F1 in 2026.

It’s brilliant news that we’ll be welcoming him back to Goodwood in 2025, and we’ll look forward to enjoying his company across the event, where he will climb into the cockpit of his Championship-winning Lotus 79 for several runs up the Hill as part of the definitive F1 75 celebration at Goodwood.

The 2025 Festival of Speed takes place on 10^th-13^th July. Friday and Saturday tickets are now sold out, but Thursday and limited Sunday tickets are still available.

Images courtesy of Getty Images.