Top 114 Quotes & Sayings by Mario Andretti
Explore popular quotes and sayings by an American driver Mario Andretti.
Last updated on December 21, 2024.
My last race was at Le Mans in 2000, my first race was in 1959, so I dodged a lot of bullets along the way, I can tell you that.
I like to think that the Grand Prix helped Long Beach to pretty much change its image.
Quite honestly, I treat myself with cars I really want to drive, and I have some flexibility to do that.
I've always said, 'I didn't have a Plan B in life.' I was in pursuit of my dream from the very beginning. It's all about desire and passion. At all costs.
You see people in the left lane, and as long as they are on the speed limit, they stay there. Get in the right lane and let people pass you - let the police worry about somebody who wants to speed. Don't force them pass in the right lane and zig zag, which can create an accident, just because you think you're correct.
If you're so afraid of failure, you will never succeed. You have to take chances.
All of the courses that run through real streets are very demanding. There is no room for error, no shoulders to lean on. If you go off the road, you're into somebody's shop-window or front porch.
You do the best you can with what's thrown at you, then you try again.
Can the U.S. support two Formula 1 races? I think so.
With tennis, you can go pick up a racket, take a lesson, and understand how much talent and skill it takes to be as good as the top pros. Same with golf: pick up a club. But not many can go out and get in a race car and experience a drive at over 200 miles an hour.
Nothing compares to the Indianapolis 500.
Do it no matter what. If you believe in it, it is something very honorable. If somebody around you or your family does not understand it, then that's their problem. But if you do have a passion, an honest passion, just do it.
I wanted to have a career that would last a hundred years if possible.
You do a period of go-karting until you're at the age of qualifying for a ride in a 'school-kart,' then you qualify for driving school. And several of the driving schools have a competition series for their own students.
From a prestige standpoint, the U.S. needs to host Formula 1. And I think Formula 1, they know they need the U.S. as well. So many companies that are global are based in the United States support Formula 1.
My wife loves football, but I think she's resigned to the fact that I'll never make it there.
When a car's ahead of you, as long as you can see it, you get a tow, just like the draft in NASCAR. Even if it's a long ways down the track, it punches a hole in the air that has to help. When you're running alone, you can feel the difference, and it shows on the clock, too.
Staging Formula One is incredibly expensive.
The man upstairs is pushing the buttons, and if your name happens to be on that button, well, thank you.
A racing car is an animal with a thousand adjustments.
Not all teammates tell the truth.
Tom Carnegie will never be replaced.
Desire is the key to motivation, but it's the determination and commitment to unrelenting pursuit of your goal - a commitment to excellence - that will enable you to attain the success you seek.
You're safer in the race car than you are in cars going to and from the track.
Whenever you're aggressive, you're at the edge of mistakes.
If everything seems under control, you're just not going fast enough.
What I learned is that in business you must make decisions based on facts, not react with your heart.
I wish we could be 100% shielded from danger, but nothing is in life.
Age doesn't affect driving - how do you like that?
I still have the competitive spirit, which is good.
Al Unser Sr. was one of the smartest drivers I've ever raced against. And I often said, I wish I could've had some of his patience. I know it would have worked for me many times.
Long Beach is the best. I tell everyone that.
Whatever the changes, from one era to the next, Pocono has maintained its character and significance to me, and it always will. My family shares this sentiment.
I count my blessings every day, quite honestly, because I take nothing for granted.
Nobody had race savvy like Al Unser in his prime.
At Indy, we are the NASA of the production-car world, and that's clearly why manufacturers are involved - it's such a good testbed.
I lived the true American dream, because I was able to pursue what I set as my goals at a very young age.
As far as I'm concerned, Parnelli Jones was the greatest driver of his era. He had aggressiveness and also a finesse that no one else possessed. And he won with everything he put his hands on, including off-road.
It makes great conversation to discuss what's wrong with open-wheel racing today.
Unfortunately, we don't educate drivers enough to be respectful on the road.
There's something special about racing in real streets. The 'artificial' circuits have a certain sameness to them. But every race conducted on real streets has a character of its own - Barcelona, Monaco, and now Long Beach.
In NASCAR, you can do a lot of banging around and get pretty serious and even get yourself upside down. All of those things can happen - and then you give an interview two seconds later.
The banked oval tracks are obsolete tracks for Indy cars.
Circumstances may cause interruptions and delays, but never lose sight of your goal.
If you wait, all that happens is that you get older.
Everything comes to those who wait... except a cat.
Anybody who can drive and doesn't come out of it a rich man is a fool.
The most important thing at Daytona is, are you going to have friends willing to work with you during the race as far as drafting? You've got to have friends out there. You can't do it alone. You form those relationships as the race moves along.
Foreign players is what makes golf so popular now.
It seemed like whenever I got a bona fide offer from Ferrari, I couldn't do it. And vice versa - when I was ready, their seats were taken. We always had a relationship, but what's important is that I pretty much started my F1 career with them and ended it there, too.
I don't remember as a kid wanting to do or be anything else but drive something, be a race driver.
I love technology - yes, I have fallen in love with older cars, but I'm all for new technology.
The day of parochialism in sports is over. The world is too small for what people like to call 'the good old days.' Fans want the best, wherever they come from.
I see all these old people who don't have anything to do but eat, drink and sleep. I will never say 'retired' because that's such a finality that I don't want to be part of my life. I'll work until they throw me in a box.
I don't have any feeling of accomplishment about anything unless there's a lot of risk to it.
Desire is the key to motivation, but it's determination and commitment to an unrelenting pursuit of your goal - a commitment to excellence - that will enable you to attain the success you seek.
Every NASCAR driver watches Formula One in the morning; they are well informed.
When you start thinking you may get hurt, it's time to get out of racing.
You dream what you're supposed to do.
If the Indy Racing League didn't have the Indianapolis 500, do you think it would have lasted more than six months? No chance.
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