Andretti wants American F1 driver: "There's some action going on"

The wish from America

The seats for 2022 in Formula 1 are almost all taken, except for the second seat at Alfa Romeo. For a long time, Guanyu Zhou seemed to be the favourite, but now that Andretti might announce a take-over of Sauber, the arrival of an American becomes more and more logical. Especially if Mario Andretti tries to push for it.

"There is a desire from a couple of lads and I know of one American driver for sure. Colton Herta would fit into F1 nicely. The fact that we have two Grands Prix next year in America is a good thing, it would be awesome for an American driver to be there,'' said Mario Andretti at the Formula 1 Nation Podcast.

''Herta has raced in Europe. You can ask Lando Norris because they raced together in Formula 3. Immediately he was a force to be reckoned with. He was immediately a winner with Indycar. The last race he won from 14th place. I would not have given him 30% chance of winning, but he came right through."

Andretti hopes for Herta

"He has qualities that only comes along every couple of decades and I would love to see a driver like that get a crack in Formula1,'' Andretti also says of Herta. Mario doesn't run the Andretti racing team, however, but his son Michael. On Monday he was spotted at the Sauber factory, which accelerated the rumours about a possible takeover. The fact that Mario is speaking out so openly about Herta's arrival must also be a good sign for Herta.

''In America, you can also be satisfied with the races you have here, but I see clearly for Colton that F1 is in his mind. There's some action going on in that area and we'll see what happens.'' That's all Mario is allowed to say about it, though. ''I wish I could say some too, but there are still some loose ends that I can't say anything about. I'm not the spokesman for the team either," concludes the 1978 world champion.