Marco Andretti: Proving the sceptics wrong

Since he first drove an IndyCar, Marco Andretti has had way more brickbats than bouquets thrown his way by the media. At times he's been described as miserable, lucky to have the surname, lucky to have a dad who's a team owner, a party animal, cocky, a hot-head, and so on. Then these terms have been repeated and embellished by those who don't know him. Thus an image was born.

On the basis of speak as you find, I'd say that image is distorted. I know a Marco who's professional, insightful and brutally honest about everything and everyone - including himself. Sure, I've seen him uncomfortable with fans, largely because he's poor at small talk. And, on occasion, he can be surly with journalists because he's useless at hiding his feelings - such as boredom at banal questions. But what most counts against him is that he never appears to care what's written about him, and that tends to prick writers' egos.