Mario Andretti Makes Stunning Claim About What F1 Owner Said To Him In Miami

Guys, if you haven't already gotten yourself some popcorn for the ongoing saga surrounding Andretti Global and Formula 1, go pop a bag of your preferred brand — Orville Redenbacher, Pop Secret, even Jiffy Pop; we don't judge — because Mario Andretti has made one heck of a claim about a conversation he said he had with Liberty Maffei CEO Greg Maffei earlier this month at the Miami Grand Prix.

As you're no doubt aware, the Andretti camp and Formula One Management — the sports commercial rights holder which is owned by Liberty Media — aren't exactly seeing eye-to-eye after Andretti Global's joint bid with General Motors' Cadillac brand was shot down by FOM after getting the thumbs up from the FIA.

In recent weeks, things have heated up as a couple of groups of lawmakers are trying to figure out if the snub potentially violated US antitrust laws.

So, you can imagine things got uncomfortable at an invite-only breakfast reception over the Miami Grand Prix weekend.

According to NBC News, Mario Andretti, F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali, and Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei were all in attendance at this breakfast. There, Andretti said that Domenicalli asked about his recent remarks in Washington with some of the lawmakers looking for answers as to why the Andretti-Cadillac bid was struck down.

He claims that during this conversation, Maffei interrupted.

"I was asked to go there. And just as I was trying to explain that to Stefano, Greg Maffei, Mr. Maffei, broke in the conversation and he said: 'Mario, I want to tell you that I will do everything in my power to see that Michael never enters Formula 1,'" Andretti said.

Whoa.

"Michael" is of course Mario's son, Michael Andretti, and he's the one leading the charge as far as joining the grid is concerned. His approach hasn't always rubbed those in the Formula 1 camp the right way, but if what the elder Andretti says is accurate, that's a shocking comment.

Michael and Mario Andretti chat with 2009 Formula 1 World Champion Jenson Button at the 2024 Formula 1 Grand Prix. (Photo by Kym Illman/Getty Images)

"I could not believe that," Mario, the 1978 F1 World Champion. said. "That one really floored me. ... We’re talking about business. I didn’t know it was something so personal. That was really — oh, my goodness. I could not believe it. It was just like a bullet through my heart."

While there are some legitimate concerns relating to revenue sharing under the current Concord Agreement, but it's hard to imagine that bringing the Andretti name and General Motors into the sport wouldn't be a positive.

This story appears far from over and it will be interesting to see if and how Maffei responds to Andretti's claims.