S6 E1: Michael Andretti's 1993 McLaren F1 nightmare
Bring Back V10s - Classic F1 stories
The Race Media Ltd
4.9 • 764 Ratings
🗓️ 14 July 2022
⏱️ 76 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Bring Back V10s returns for series 6 with the story of Michael Andretti's terrible 1993 F1 season with McLaren. Veteran journalist and author David Tremayne - who covered Andretti's campaign first hand - joins Glenn Freeman and Edd Straw to revisit why a partnership between two of the most famous names in racing went so badly wrong.
Over the course of the episode we revisit how McLaren ended up signing Andretti, the doubts he had before he joined, how different his first season could have been with Honda or Renault power, his compromised pre-season, the strange free practice rule that hampered him all year, his biggest on-track regret of the campaign, growing tension with McLaren boss Ron Dennis, and some wild theories Andretti has about why things went so badly for him in F1.
We also hear exclusively from Mario Andretti, Michael's father, who gives his thoughts on why it didn't work out in 1993, and what he thinks Michael could have done better or differently to improve his situation and stick around for another crack at it in 1994.
READ MORE: 'Andretti's spectacular failure' - classic Sports Illustrated article
ASK US ANYTHING: Submit your questions for our series finale using #BringBackV10s on Twitter or email bringbackv10s@the-race.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | The Athletic. |
| 0:10.0 | Bring back V10 series 6 is here, and we're kicking things off with a monster of an episode. |
| 0:16.2 | In 1993, two of the most famous names in motorsport, McLaren and Andretti, teamed up for what was supposed to be something very special. |
| 0:25.0 | Michael Andretti, IndyCar superstar and son of 1978 F1 world champion Mario, crossed the Atlantic to try his hand at F1 with one of the best teams in the business. |
| 0:36.2 | But what sounded like a recipe for success quickly turned into a nightmare, |
| 0:39.8 | and Andretti's F1 career lasted only 13 races before he was booted out |
| 0:44.2 | straight after taking his only podium of the season. |
| 0:48.0 | There is so much to get into with this story, |
| 0:50.9 | including an incredible accusation Andretti has made about why it didn't work out for him in F1. |
| 0:55.9 | So joining me, Glenn Freeman, to get into this in great detail are Ed Straw, |
| 1:00.5 | and I'm delighted to welcome back David Tremaine to offer his first-hand perspective on witnessing Andretti's short time in F1. |
| 1:08.7 | So, David, great to have you on again. |
| 1:10.3 | Thanks for coming back to bring back V10s and helping us kick off series 6. |
| 1:15.0 | So you can take the traditional opening question for the first time this series. |
| 1:19.9 | When you think of Michael Andretti's 1993 F1 season, what's the first thing that comes to mind? |
| 1:26.1 | The real Michael Andretti didn't turn up. |
| 1:29.1 | That's my honest belief, for a number of reasons. |
| 1:33.8 | But Michael was never in a position to show what he really could do. |
| 1:39.2 | Yeah, there's going to be so much to explore. |
| 1:42.5 | And it's going to be interesting because obviously you were |
| 1:44.3 | you were there and I think all three of us have an appreciation of Michael Andretti the Indycard |
| 1:50.2 | driver so we'll try and get to the bottom of what Michael Andretti, the F1 driver, really was. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Race Media Ltd, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of The Race Media Ltd and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.