The ultra-versatile Mario came from an Italian immigrant family in America and got into motor sport via sprint car racing. He won the IndyCar title in 1965 after just two years in the sport and won the Daytona 500 (NASCAR) in 1967. Here was a talent surely worthy of Formula One.

He made his first F1 start in 1969 and by 1971 had won his first race, but it wasn’t until 1975 that he completed a full season, with the under-funded Parnelli team. When Parnelli folded he joined Lotus and by the end of 1976 he and Colin Chapman had got the team back to winning ways. In 1977 he was third in the championship and in 1978, with the devastating ground effect Lotus 79, he was champion. But it was scant comfort after the death of team mate Ronnie Peterson at Monza.

Lotus went into decline and Andretti would never win another Grand Prix. In 1981 he switched to Alfa Romeo but as ground effect technology made the cars less rewarding to drive and lethal in the event of an accident, Andretti returned to IndyCars.

A brief postscript to his F1 career came in 1982, returning to Ferrari for a few drives for Ferrari after Didier Pironi’s crash. He took pole position at Monza but he could never emulate his hero Alberto Ascari by winning for the Scuderia. Andretti returned to IndyCars winning that title for the fourth time in 1984. He raced on into the 1990s, partnering Nigel Mansell in 1993, while son Michael struggled to get to grips with Formula One.