Michael Andretti
The son of the legendary Mario, Michael followed his father into racing in 1980, first in Formula Ford and then in Super Vee (winning the 1982 championship). He broke into Indy cars the following season, which also saw him co- drive with his father at Le Mans, where pair finished third in a Porsche also driven by Philippe Alliot.
Michael was soon making a big impact on the Indy Car scene, scoring the first of 37 wins to date in 1986. From that year through to 1992 - aside from a lean year in 1988, when he was sixth overall - he always finished in the top three places in the points standings, and 1991 proved to be a record-breaking season, with Andretti's Newman-Haas Lola taking eight wins, accumulating a record 234 points and posting single-season earnings of $2,461,734.
With this pedigree, the former Indy Car champion arrived in the high-profile world of Formula 1 with McLaren in 1993 holding great expectations, only to be embroiled in a catalogue of collisions, spins and mechanical gremlins which seemed to sap his confidence visibly race by race. A lack of testing mileage, the FIA's rationing of practice laps and his unfamiliarity with the circuits all told against the pleasant American, who was under pressure to produce results.
Just as crucial, perhaps, was the difficulty he and his first wife Sandy experienced in coming to terms with the way of life in Europe, preferring to fly back to the States whenever possible. By September he had had enough. Having attained a little credibility by finishing third in the Italian GP, the younger Andretti ended his unhappy sojourn in F1 and headed back home buoyed by the prospect of returning to the familiarity of the Indy Car circuit for 1994 with a new challenger from Reynard.
Michael lost no time in resuming his winning ways at the season-opener at Surfers Paradise, but (despite another win in Toronto) he seemed ill at ease at Ganassi Racing and it was no surprise when he returned to his spiritual home at Newman-Haas for 1995. In the increasingly competitive world of CART racing, Michael remained one of the series' outstanding drivers. Happily remarried, he then became the sport's elder statesman following the departure of his great rival Al Unser Jnr. and continued to show the speed and commitment needed to compete at the sharp end of the grid. A switch to Team Green in 2001 saw a revitalised Andretti take third place in the CART series and the following year he set a record benchmark of 42 wins in the series before a shock defection to the Indy Racing League.
For 2003 he formed Andretti Green Racing hiring Dario Franchitti and Tony Kanaan to race as a three-car squad. Michael soon found the dual role of owner and driver too burdensome and after another attempt at winning the Indy 500, (he once again held an early race lead before a broken throttle linkage put him out) he called time on his glittering driving career.
More success was to come in his new role however as he oversaw his four-man squad led by Kanaan sweep to the 2004 IRL title and the ultimate satisfaction of winning the Indy 500 at last (albeit as a team owner) when Dan Wheldon took a brilliant victory at the Brickyard in May 2005.
Another precocious Andretti talent has since appeared on the U.S. scene in the form of Michael's son Marco. The young charger was fast-tracked in to the AGR team for 2006 and the chance to race alongside his son in the Indy 500 proved to be an irresistible one for Michael who made one more attempt at the 'big prize' that had always eluded him.
In the event it was Marco who nearly stole the show being denied a sensational rookie win at the very last gasp by Sam Hornish Jr. Michael, who also had a real chance of victory, finished third less than a second behind his teenage prodigy.
