Mario Andretti says he cannot say💟 with absolute certainty that an American driver will land a Formula 1 seat with Cadillac next year.

Getting an American on the F1 grid was always high on the agenda for Mario Andretti’s son Marco, who was initially trying to secure an entry into gra𝕴nd prix racing with his family-run operation.

Even after Cadillac took over the bid for an 11th team from the younger Andretti, signing an♈ American driver remained a priority for the new management.

But Mario Andretti, who is involved in the Cadillac project as an advisor, says it is now possible that the team will have to consider both its drivers fr🌳om outside the US.

Andretti explained th🍸at th𝓡ere are several hurdles that Cadillac needs to overcome to achieve its original 'objective', including finding a US driver with the neccesary super licence points to be eligible for an F1 seat.

“Times fluctuate and times change to some degree. From now to the start of the final plan, some things could change. That's why I am telling you we are keeping our options open,” the 1978 F1 ꦑchampion෴ told .

“Aga🥂in, we would like to have at least one American driver, that is the objective. If it comes🍷 immediately that is good, if not we will always be looking for that.

“One of the reasons to have this ꦡbelief is we started out by giving some American drivers the opportunity ther🌌e.

“But still the team has the responsibility to try🌌 to put together the most competitive situation possible as far as the drivers are concerned, so that's a huge responsibility there as well.

“That's why Graham Lowdon is c𒆙orrect - we can't be saying [there] absolutely has t🌊o be an American driver. It's what we would like to see, it may happen or it may not.”

He added: “There is not too much choice in America because of licensing andඣ everything else.”

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IndyCar star Colton Herta h🤡as always been the number one choice for Andretti father/son duo,🤪 with the 25-year-old having brought a lot of success to the Andretti Global team in IndyCar.

Last year, he finished second in the sta✱ndings with two race wins, only bested by Chip Ganassi’s championship-winner Alex Palou.

Herಌta had an unusual career prior to achieving stardom in IndyCar, leaving his homeland early on to race on the junior racing ladder in Europe.

He climbed as high as the Euroformula Open i﷽n 2016, before returning to the US to race in Ind🅰y Lights and eventually IndyCar.

Herta currently has 32 points on his super licence and needs a top-five f🍌inish in the 2025 IndyCar season to meet the FIA’s requirement for a grand prix driv✅er.

Asked if Herta is ready to step up to F1, Andretti said: ”I think so because you got to look at where and how he trained, and how good🅺 he was immediately when he came back to the States.

“Sometimes you cannot judge a driver in a specific season because of the functions of the team and so forth but basically he trained just like 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Lando Norris when he was going throuಌgh Formula 3, Formula 2 and in the early stages of his career.

“As a teenager, he was living in Europe and the first really top♔-level racing was when he came✤ to America.

“Obviously, Michℱael promoted him to the top level and he is still the youngest driver to win an IndyCar race at age 18.

“There are ♔some qualities that a lot of people don't see that I see that I think are qualities of a Formula 1 driver and I see that in Colton.

“But the situation is still fluid there, it's still open.♏”