Mario Andretti opens up about his verbal 'fight' with Formula 1 CEO, alleges that Maffei threatened to shut his son's F1 bid

Mario Andretti and Greg Maffei, CEO of Formula 1's owner Liberty Media, clashed at a private reception during the recent Miami Grand Prix. It happened at the weekend over Andretti Global's bid to enter the sport. 

Andretti who is a former F1 world champion and the patriarch of the Andretti racing family, recounted the incident in an interview with NBC News. He explained that it occurred on Saturday at the Palm Club during an invitation-only breakfast reception. 

Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali asked Andretti about his recent visit to Washington, where Andretti had been invited by lawmakers to speak outside the Capitol, urging the sport to accept Andretti's application to become F1's 11th team.

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

‘I couldn’t believe this’, says Mario Andretti 

The statement referred to Michael Andretti, Mario's son, the chairman and CEO of Andretti Global, who is spearheading the bid to enter F1. The tense exchange between the two influential figures occurred just days after Andretti appeared with lawmakers outside the Capitol for a news conference. 

“I could not believe that. That one 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”, says Andretti. 

Meanwhile, A source close to Liberty Media, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss a private conversation, stated that the event differed from Andretti's account.

"Andretti approached Greg at breakfast to discuss the matter," the source said, adding that during the conversation, Maffei informed Andretti that their application to join the grid in 2025 or 2026 had been rejected for sound business reasons.