Intro to Indy - Andretti Global - Pt 1 - Team

In my pre-season ranking of the IndyCar lineups, I put Andretti Global in the third slot.

Andretti is a name that goes beyond IndyCar. I knew who patriarch of the family Mario Andretti was before I knew that there was more than the Indy 500 to IndyCar and before I even knew Formula 1 existed.

The team itself, until recently, didn't fall under Mario, but his son Michael.

However, Andretti wasn't always Andretti. So best to start there! Also, to qualify, I will be talking about Andretti Global as it amounts to IndyCar, not its other ventures like Formula E, IMSA, Supercars and IndyNXT.

Andretti was founded in 1993 as Forsythe/Green Racing by Gerald Forsythe and Barry Green. In 1995 Green & his brother Kim took over the team and then rebranded as Green Racing.

When the split happened, Green Racing stayed with CART, eliminating itself from the Indy 500 rotation.

After CGR rejoined the Indy 500 in 2000, Green Racing followed suit. Their sole entry in 2001 was 1991 CART title winner Michael Andretti, who came in third.

Then, in 2002, Michael Andretti entered the fold as a partial owner and the team name changed to Andretti Green. They entered the 500 a second time, this time with three cars, and got one step closer to the top of the podium.

2003 had them leave CART for IRL full time; their first win came two races in with driver Tony Kanaan.

A year later, Kanaan won the championship.

2004's lineup of Kanaan, Bryan Herta, Daniel Wheldon & Dario Franchitti was a powerhouse, and lasted through 2006.

Following that, 2005 saw Wheldon on the top step for both the 500 and leaderboard. They also had a very impressive sweep at St. Pete that year, with all four cars coming in first through fourth positions. An iconic photo that was recreated this year with the drivers and the Dan Wheldon memorial in St. Petersburg, FL.

2006 was a struggle; the loss of Wheldon to CGR was very clear as they subbed in Marco Andretti in his stead in his rookie year.

Another lineup change came in 2007, when Herta left the IndyCar program. Replaced with Danica Patrick, this lineup was a bit steadier, with Franchitti coming in first.

Then Franchitti left for CGR - a recurring theme - and AGR was in for a rough ride. Between 2008 and 2011 Andretti had five wins across all of their drivers, their highest placement in the championship being third. Their lineup shifted every year, being unable to hold a stable lineup.

Andretti also bought out Green in 2009 to become Andretti Autosport.

At the end of 2011, there was an even bigger loss in IndyCar in general. I did want to touch on it because the team the driver won his championship with Andretti. The team he was with has a much different story, and Andretti also has the final fatality in IndyCar on their roster as well.

It also answers a question some newer fans may have - why doesn't IndyCar race in Las Vegas?

in 2011, the last race of the year was at the Las Vegas Speedway (not the Strip, which is where the LVGP is held for F1). Wheldon, who had won the title in 2005 with Andretti, was entered with Sam Schmidt Motorsports. A variety of factors led to Wheldon's untimely passing, and I do not want to get into a think piece about why a man died. He passed in a racing incident, and the final race was canceled. The loss of Wheldon was a deep wound felt by the sport, and is still felt, as Wheldon's 2005 team and the other members of that team still have ties to the sport.

TK is now the Team Principal for Arrow McLaren.

Bryan Herta is deeply involved in his son, Colton's, career. Colton is the seniormost driver on Andretti's current roster.

Franchitti is still an advisor for CGR.

After that sobering moment, 2012 brought change to the series but also to Andretti's luck. His third year with the team, Ryan Hunter-Reay brought the title back to Andretti.

In 2014, Hunter-Reay brought the 500 title back home, a bright spot in another drought for Andretti.

Then 2015 brought another bump. This is last death in IndyCar due to racing, and brought forward significant change. English driver Justin Wilson was driving for Andretti, his sixth start for the team. The race before, Mid-Ohio, had seen Wilson on the second step. Therefore, Wilson wanted to improve. On lap 180 of the event, the leader of the race had an accident. He walked away unscathed, but the nose cone of his car remained bouncing on the track. It struck Wilson, rendered him unconscious and into having an accident. Wilson passed from his injuries.

Just like with the death of Jules Bianchi in F1, this tragic event led to real change in IndyCar. Regulations tightened, making sure the nose and other components had to be tethered to the car at all times, and was a driving force behind the introduction of the aeroscreen to IndyCar in 2019. F1's equivalent is the halo, for fans just getting into IndyCar from F1.

It is important to mention these heavy things, as they bring safety into the equation. Though life itself isn't without risk, and motorsport is about putting yourself on the edge. But if there is a way to avoid unneccesary risk to make sure all drivers are safe to drive.

Under these new regulations and the cloud of Wilson's death, AGR pushed forward. In 2016, their rookie Alexander Rossi drove to 500 victory. 2017 saw Takuma Sato win the 500 for Andretti, as well as well known international drivers like Fernando Alonso start to associate themselves with Andretti.

2018 saw Rossi go to second in the championship. 2019 Rossi came third.

2020 saw a shift. Obviously no one could have anticipated a global pandemic. Added onto that was the rise of Colton Herta to the team, with his father Bryan deeply involved, as he was invested. Colton, very young and eager to showcase his talent, was freshly twenty at the time and had a lot of eyes on him.

However, he did bring the single victory to Andretti for 2020.

Their only three victories for 2021.

One of two wins in 2022.

With the departure of Rossi in 2023, Herta has placed the highest of all Andretti drivers, coming in second in 2024.

Though I won't get into the nuts and bolts of Colton in this article, there has been a lot of change going on at Andretti during his tenure.

In 2023, Andretti Autosports restructured to Andretti Global in anticipation of them joining Formula 1. They brought on a minority owner to do so, Dan Towriss.

While the FIA lets IndyCar be, as they consider them to be the redheaded stepchild of their racing family, it has a firm grip on F1.

F1 has a severe elitism issue, from its branding up. 'The Pinnacle of Motorsport' is how it's advertised, and it does see North Americans as beneath them. There have only been two American champions, one Canadian, and no Mexican champions. No major drivers from any of the smaller North American countries. South America is somewhat more respected, but that involves the same issue North Americans have - crossing the pond.

Therefore, a North American team transitioning into F1 now that they have such a firm grip on it was a no-no. Yes, F1 has Haas, but Haas came in at a time of famine, and Gene isn't nearly as flashy as the Andrettis. Stroll, though he is Canadian, insists that Aston is an English racing team and not a Canadian one, and he didn't start from scratch. Like Wolff, he bought in. This did not sit well with the press; I do think the way that Aston Martin is talked about in the F1 media will be similar to how Andretti (or Cadillac, I might say) will be talked about.

But I've gotten ahead of myself.

So now in the time of feast for F1, they expect people to fall in line and kiss the ring in order to enter.

However, Michael Andretti wasn't going to do that level of ring kissing. He felt, and somewhat rightly so, that they'd done everything that the FIA, FOM and F1 had asked of them. They'd provided the money, showed the commitment with starting a factory, started to gain interest from fans.

But that upset the powers that be, that Andretti was so sure he could get in. Michael himself was the sticking point, for various reasons both valid and frivolous. The most obvious was the back and forth, both in the courts and in the press, about the issues within the F1 structure to admitting teams and double standards that are very visible.

At the end of 2024, it was confirmed that Formula 1 would be allowing Andretti into F1. However, they had to change their name to Cadillac to get away from the Andretti name.

On top of this, Michael Andretti stepped away, selling to TWG Global, leaving Towriss a co-ownership and CEO title.

Overall, Andretti Global is the bumpiest ride of teams we've had yet. However, Andretti is anything but boring. If you like that sort of excitement, the thrill of never knowing when the next win is, the energy, then Andretti is the team for you.

Next up are their drivers!