Changing Circuits : Defending Champion Michael Andretti Is Switching to Formula One After the Indy Car Race Sunday at Laguna Seca

Michael Andretti is only 30 years old, but when he crosses the finish line in the Toyota Monterey Grand Prix on Sunday at Laguna Seca Raceway, it probably will mark the end of a remarkable era in Indy car racing.

The younger Andretti, whose father Mario won the world Formula One championship in 1978, is leaving Indy cars to see if he can follow in the tracks his father once left on the worldwide racing circuit. In what almost appears to be a trade, the 1991 Indy car champion is going to Formula One and Nigel Mansell, the 1992 F1 champion from England, will replace him on the Newman-Haas Indy car team.

The difference is that Andretti will not replace Mansell on the Frank Williams team but will join three-time world champion Ayrton Senna on the Marlboro McLaren team. Gerhard Berger, McLaren’s second driver this season, has signed with Ferrari for next year.

Andretti’s departure will leave a void in American racing and might open the Indy car picture for youngsters such as Paul Tracy, Jimmy Vasser and Robby Gordon.

No one in recent Indy car history--not A.J. Foyt nor Rick Mears nor Al nor Bobby Unser--has dominated the sport as completely as has Michael Andretti over a seven-year span.

Since the day he won his first race--the 1986 Long Beach Grand Prix--Andretti has won 26 races, nine more than runner-up Bobby Rahal; has led 4,248 laps, more than 2,000 more than runner-up Emerson Fittipaldi with 1,779; has won 27 poles, five more that Mears; and has scored 1,201 PPG Cup points, 55 more than runner-up Rahal.

The shortcomings, however, have been painful. Andretti has never won the Indianapolis 500 and his 1991 PPG Cup championship was his only one. He has an outside chance of winning his second on Sunday. Going into the season’s final race, he is 12 points behind Rahal. Even if Andretti wins, however, Rahal can clinch his third championship by finishing fourth or better.

Al Unser Jr., the 1990 champion, also has an outside shot at the title. If neither Rahal nor Andretti finishes in the points, Unser can win by finishing first.

“I’ll approach the race the same way I do all my races,” Andretti said. “I’ll go out and try to win. I know I’ll have to have some help from Bobby (Rahal), but it’s the only way I have to go. What I’d like is a repeat of last year. That would be a great way to finish my Indy car career.”

In last year’s Laguna Seca race, Andretti won the pole, led every lap in winning the race and defeated Rahal for the championship. The situation was exactly the reverse of this year, with Andretti holding a 12-point lead going into the final race.

“Whatever happens, it will be an emotional time for me, not so much because it’s my last Indy car race, but because it will be my last race with my dad as my teammate,” he said. “Hopefully, we will finish on a high note.

“I think it started to sink in, what it meant to be leaving my dad, right after I signed the contract with McLaren and I realized that, hey, this is it. We both know that nothing lasts forever so these last few races together have been very special ones in our career. We have cherished them and now we’re looking at the last one.”

Michael and Mario have been teammates since 1989, when Michael left Maury Kraines’ Kraco team to join Mario and Newman-Haas as the first father-son combination in Indy-car history.

This year has been a microcosm of Michael’s career--he has led more laps, 1,052 to 421 for Rahal; won more poles, six, to three for Rahal; and won as many races, four, as anyone else, but still he trails in his bid for a second PPG Cup title.

The turning point might have occurred two weeks ago at Nazareth, Pa., Andretti’s hometown. Andretti was leading in the Bosch Grand Prix when he made a final pit stop for fuel. Rahal gambled by not stopping and the strategy paid off when his fuel held out and he beat Andretti to the checkered flag by 0.7 seconds.

“I guess hindsight is 20/20, but I was questioning it (pitting) the whole way through,” Andretti said. “The crew told me, ‘Bobby’s going to have to make 1.85 (m.p.g.) to make it to the end.’ I said, ‘There’s a reason why he didn’t pit,’ and it ended up that he made it, and I think we could have, too, without stopping.

“If we could have come out of Nazareth with a win, we would have been only four points behind and would be in control of our own destiny. Now Bobby’s more in control, but we’ll be doing everything possible to repeat last year’s dream race.”

Then the focus will be on Formula One. Andretti will make his first official test in the McLaren car on Nov. 17 at the Silverstone track in England.

“People keep asking me why I’m switching to Formula One, and I keep telling them that it’s something I’ve always wanted, as far back as I can remember. It’s no secret, I feel that the world championship is the highest honor in automobile racing and I want a chance to get it. It’s as simple as that. And I’m looking forward to carrying the American flag over there.”

There is also more money in Formula One. Andretti’s salary has been rumored to be in the $5-million vicinity, with bonus provisions that could raise it to $10 million.

Andretti will be the first American in Formula One since Eddie Cheever in 1989. The last American to win was Mario Andretti in the Dutch Grand Prix in 1978, driving a Lotus-Ford.

A major reason given by American drivers for not making the switch is the travel that extends from South Africa to Mexico, from Brazil to Canada and from Portugal to Japan and Australia.

“I know the logistics of Grand Prix has turned off a lot of drivers, but it will be nothing new for me,” Andretti said. “I experienced a lot of what it takes when I traveled with my dad back in the ‘70s and early ‘80s. I’ve seen most of the circuits, and driven on a few of them, so it’s not something that will be strange to me.

With McLaren, Andretti will be teamed with Senna, the Brazilian who won three championships before slipping to second this season behind Mansell. The McLaren team has won three races this year, two by Senna and one by Berger.

“It’s going to be great to be paired with Senna,” Andretti said. “He’s regarded as the best in the world and I like the opportunity of being able to have him for a teammate. It will be a big advantage for me, to learn from him, and have him as a yardstick for my own accomplishments.”

Ron Dennis, McLaren team director, said he has high hopes for Andretti even though American drivers are not spoken of favorably in most Grand Prix circles.

“McLaren signed Andretti because I think he can win grands prix and, in the process of winning those grands prix, he can become a world champion,” Dennis said at a New York news conference last month announcing the signing.

“It’s not which country you come from, it’s how you best demonstrate your desire to win, your aggression in traffic. There are probably less than five drivers in the world that I consider to have that necessary aggression. Michael is a great driver and is one who has that aggression.”

That aggression in an Indy car will be on display for the final time Sunday, when Andretti challenges the 11-turn, 2.214-mile road circuit for 84 laps at Laguna Seca in his Ford-powered Lola.