Michael Andretti says he is ‘not going away’ after stepping back from Andretti Global

• Andretti insisted ‘this isn’t goodbye’ in open letter
• Rumours suggest Cadillac wants to press ahead with F1 entry without the Andrettis

Michael Andretti has confirmed he will still be serving as an advisor to Andretti Global after it was announced that the American would be stepping away from day-to-day control of the organisation.

In an open letter, Michael, son of racing legend Mario, revealed he came to the decision to step down from his current position ‘over the past several months’, but, he is ‘not going away’ entirely from Andretti Global, where he has served as a director since 2002.

‘I will be serving as an advisor for the team and will be available to help wherever I can,’ he wrote on the Andretti Global website. ‘While you might see me less at the racetrack, know that my passion for the sport and my support for our team, and its people, will remain unwavering.’

Having recently become a grandfather, Andretti cited the importance of being able to spend time with his family thanks to this decision. But, he insisted that ‘this isn’t a goodbye’.

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His business partner Dan Towriss will be taking over Andretti’s duties, but there has been some confusion since Sportico originally broke the story. The Penske Media Corporation (PMC) subsidiary claimed that Andretti is ‘relinquishing his ownership stake’, something that Towriss disputed to the Associated Press (AP).

“We didn’t say that he doesn’t own our team,” Towriss said. “There’s all kinds of speculation. We certainly have restructured the ownership. Michael still has a financial interest. This got leaked in a way that put us on our back foot in terms of responding to things.

“People are going to always look to try to fill a vacuum with stories that sound great and are super interesting. This one is not super interesting. Michael said this was a time to take on a different role from the daily grind.”

Of course, Andretti stoked controversy in the IndyCar paddock this season when he called on series owner Roger Penske to sell the championship. But, when asked if Penske had pushed him out, Andretti denied the claim, saying he “would not give Roger that much credit”.

Andretti was also bullish in his attempts get his family name on the Formula One grid as the 11th team, something that did not sit well with the existing outfits. Multiple reports have suggested Andretti’s decision to step down is linked to the Formula One bid.

Motorsport outlet Racer went further, suggesting there are rumours ‘Cadillac [wants] to move forward [with its Formula One entry bid] without the Andrettis – but not without Towriss and his giant funding via the Andretti Global team he controls’.