Mario Andretti: Formula 1 CEO personally vowed to stop his team from entering the sport
Mario Andretti and Greg Maffei, the CEO of Formula 1's owner, Liberty Media, clashed at a private reception during the recent Miami Grand Prix weekend over Andretti Global's bid to enter the sport, according to sources with knowledge of the incident.
Mario Andretti and Greg Maffei, the CEO of Formula 1's owner, Liberty Media, clashed at a private reception during the recent Miami Grand Prix weekend over Andretti Global's bid to enter the sport, according to sources with knowledge of the incident.
Andretti, a former F1 world champion and the patriarch of the Andretti racing family, described the incident for the first time in an interview with NBC News.
He said it occurred Saturday at the Palm Club at an invitation-only breakfast reception. Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali asked Andretti about his recent visit to Washington, and Andretti told him he had been invited by lawmakers to speak outside the Capitol as they called on the sport to accept Andretti's application to become F1's 11th team.
“I was asked to go there. And just as I was trying to explain that to Stefano, Greg Maffei, Mr. Maffei, broke in the conversation and he said: 'Mario, I want to tell you that I will do everything in my power to see that Michael never enters Formula 1,'” Andretti said.
It was a reference to Michael Andretti, Mario's son, who is the chairman and CEO of Andretti Global and is leading its bid to enter F1. The tense words between the two powerful men came just days after Andretti joined lawmakers on Capitol Hill for a news conference, where the members of Congress accused F1 of engaging in anti-competitive practices by denying Andretti’s application.
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