![]() ![]() “If we do ever get a team, he would lead the way for us in terms of wanting to bring an American driver,” Andretti said. He joins fellow team newcomer Romain Grosjean alongside Alexander Rossi and Colton Herta, who was considered the odds-on driver had the Andretti F1 deal come to fruition - something Andretti acknowledged Thursday. ![]() The last American to start an F1 race is current Andretti Autosport driver and 2016 Indianapolis 500 winner Alexander Rossi, who made five starts for Manor Marussia F1 Team.ĭeFrancesco’s signing locks in Andretti’s four Ind圜ar drivers for 2022. In 28 races from 2006 to 2007, he’s credited with one lead-lap finish for Scuderia Toro Rosso before he was replaced midway through the 2007 season by Sebastian Vettel. Scott Speed was the last full-time American driver - and first in F1 since Andretti in 1993. Since Michael Andretti’s departure, only two American drivers have started an F1 race. His last win - the 1978 Dutch Grand Prix - is the last F1 win by an American driver. Mario Andretti won the F1 championship in 1978 and earned 12 victories. But his F1 career was short-lived - just 13 races for McLaren in 1993. In his two-plus decades as a driver, Michael Andretti won more races (42) than any driver in Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) history and led 6,702 Ind圜ar Series laps during his driving career, second only to his father, Mario. “I always said that we’re only going to do it if it’s right for us, and in the end it wasn’t right for us.”Īsked by The Associated Press if he was being asked to buy the team, but not control it, Andretti answered: “Basically.” “Unfortunately at the 11th hour, control issues changed, and it was a deal that we had to step away from because we couldn’t accept it. ![]() “It had nothing to do with financials or anything like that,” he said. ![]() DeFrancesco, 21, finished second overall in his Road to Indy/Indy Pro 2000 debut in 2020 with Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport, and in 2021, scored two podiums and nine top-five finishes in Indy Lights, one of more than a half-dozen series where Andretti Autosport runs a race program.Īndretti, 59, reportedly was looking to purchase an 80 percent majority stake in Islero Investments, Sauber’s controlling company created by owners Longbow Finance. Andretti took questions during Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport’s introduction of Devlin DeFrancesco as the next driver of the No. ![]()
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