An old dream of Mario Andretti came true – yesterday at the California circuit in Laguna Seca he drove a McLaren MP4/28a, a car from 2013, and although this is not the latest generation of equipment, it is still quite modern.
We talked about the 82-year-old motorsport veteran going to drive a McLaren, but now he’s got to know the car and is ready to share his impressions.
“I can say the car is great,” the 1978 world champion said in an interview with Racer. – Although it is clear that I have not tried to squeeze everything out of her. To get used to it, to understand the characteristics of the engine, it takes time.
With this car it is very important to choose the right gears when exiting every corner, and I struggled because my helmet was level with the handlebars and I couldn’t see which gear I was downshifting into.
The options for choosing a comfortable seating position were limited, I was too close to the steering wheel, which is not normal, but in general everything was incredibly good. In some corners I handled it correctly, in some I didn’t, and if you put the wrong gear on, the power dropped immediately. I just need to put together a good circle, but overall the experience is about what I expected.
But now I know exactly what the technique is; while driving it, the rider simply experiences amazing sensations. The MP4/28 behaves exactly as it should, it’s much more pleasant to drive than the machines I’ve ridden in my career years – this is exactly what I wanted to feel.
This means a lot to me and I want to thank Zack Brown and McLaren for this great opportunity!”
Mario Andretti was not alone in inviting McLaren to Laguna Seca for the Veloce Invitational to drive historic Formula 1 vehicles: two-time world champion Mika Häkkinen drove the MP4/2, a 1984 car, and Pato O’Ward drove the championship MP4 /5 1989.
Source: F1 News
I’m Todderic Kirkman, a journalist and author for athletistic. I specialize in covering all news related to sports, ranging from basketball to football and everything in between. With over 10 years of experience in the industry, I have become an invaluable asset to my team. My ambition is to bring the most up-to-date information on sports topics around the world.
