JUNE 12, 2006

And so it begins

It has been expected for some time but the talking campaign has now started to get Marco Andretti across to Europe in the hope that he will be become the first third generation driver to make it in Formula 1. His grandfather Mario won the World Championship in 1978 and his father Michael was a McLaren driver in 1993 and now the 19-year-old Indy Racing League rookie Marco Andretti is looking to follow in their footsteps - and his proud grandfather is going to help.

"From what I've seen, I don't know of any other driver that I would say has a better makeup of being a Formula 1 driver," said Mario Andretti. "He's perfect for that. He's the total package, a no-nonsense, get-on-with-it type of young driver."

The subject of F1 has already been discussed in the Andretti household and Michael is none too keen to send his son off to Europe and argues that Marco can make a great career in America and can worry about F1 later in his career.

Marco is only five races into his Indycar career but he came within a tiny margin of victory at Indianapolis and showed well on the Watkins Glen road course until being punted off by Eddie Cheever.

Marco has a three-year deal to race for his father's team.