The Observer

How good it is to hear 'Andretti' and 'Formula One' mentioned in the same sentence again. It's been a while, and last time the story was not a happy one. Michael Andretti, one of the great Indycar drivers of his age, failed to do himself justice at McLaren in 1993. But that's old history.

Now his 19-year-old son Marco is on the scene, and for any true enthusiast, it's good news. If (and surely when) the kid makes the jump to the sport's pinnacle, most of us will have our fingers crossed for him - to succeed where his old man failed, to add to the daunting legacy forged by his 1978 world champion grandfather, and to reconnect F1 to the US in a way Scott Speed never can.

But let's slow down a little bit. Yes, Andretti has tested for Honda and appeared to find his feet after just one day of running - 32 laps in the morning, 35 in the afternoon, and a respectable time around two seconds off the best set by regular tester Christian Klien. But this was a toe in the water, generating a good bit of PR for Honda. It doesn't actually mean very much.

What should be of greater importance to Andretti, if he is serious about F1, is plotting the right course to really get there. And that means leaving his homeland and the IRL IndyCar Series.

Marco Andretti © XPB/LAT

There is only one series that Andretti should be racing in - and that's GP2.

Why? You might argue that racing in a familiar environment for his dad's own team will be the perfect training ground for a teenage prodigy. And it is - if Andretti just wants to be a great Indycar driver.

The IRL, and the rival Champ Car World Series for that matter, has no relevance to F1. The US scene is tough, competitive, fantastic in so many ways. But it is not a launch pad to Grand Prix motor racing.

Antonio Pizzonia knows that. The former Jaguar and Williams driver has turned his back on Champ Car for the time being to have one last shot at F1 - by joining Giancarlo Fisichella's GP2 team. Pizzonia is an F1 write-off at the moment, but he has refused to accept that perception.

And you can't help but admire him. For an ex-F1 driver, stepping into the churning, competitive cauldron of GP2 is a huge risk.

In its two years of existence, F1's official feeder formula has catapulted a handful of young guns on to stardom: Nico Rosberg, Lewis Hamilton, Scott Speed, Heikki Kovalainen, Nelson Piquet Jr. And one-time GP starter Timo Glock has proved that Pizzonia's plan is not without merit, too.

But for the successes, there have been failures - and that is because GP2 can bite. Nicolas Lapierre and Alexandre Premat dominated the first year of A1GP for Team France, but their struggle to crack GP2 is what has stuck. Pizzonia risks sinking, too - and he knows it.

That's why it cannot be an easy decision for Andretti. All of that promise from 2006 - a stunning near-miss at Indy, that accomplished first IRL win at Sears Point - could be wasted by a disastrous GP2 campaign. And the evidence suggests that without an ART drive, the title with any other team is going to require a seriously impressive breakthrough.

It is a daunting challenge, no argument: moving to Europe, learning to fit in to what would be a very different team culture, learning the circuits, and so on.

But if Marco really is a chip off his grandfather's old block, as so many people have said, those challenges won't put him off. Mario was never afraid of putting it on the line - in fact he relished it, because his self-belief was absolute.

Marco has to find out whether he can hack it some time. What's the point in putting it off? If he's got the bottle, it's time to find out.

OK, maybe I need to take a dose of realism here. Andretti should only make the switch with the right team, and most of the best GP2 seats for 2007 are gone. It's getting late. So I'll back off a tad: Maybe this should be a 2008 project.

Marco Andretti tests the Honda RA106 at Jerez in Spain © XPB/LAT

And what about the other option: Going straight into F1 as a test driver, then stepping up to a race seat? Well, it would be less risky, at least in the short term.

But once Andretti had made it to F1, he would be a complete European rookie. Marco needs the race craft practice to be match fit. He needs to learn about the unique demands of European racing (no, Mario didn't need to, but it was a different world in 1970). Which means GP2 is the essential stepping stone.

As for his father and team boss Michael, he is clearly torn. "Of course as a father if he wants to pursue F1 then I would be happy for him," he has said.

"But as a team owner, it's not that easy. He is an asset to the team. He is a true championship contender and he has a high value to the series as well. So I have to think long and hard about it. It will be a difficult decision."

But then he made the most significant statement, from the perspective of the father of a young, ambitious driver: "Now that he has a taste of it I'm sure he will nag me on it in the future." In other words, a move to Europe is probably inevitable.

Marco Andretti is an exciting prospect. He does have potential. How much, we don't yet know, certainly not in F1 terms. But we all want to find out, everyone from his grandfather, his dad, Honda, the US media, the F1 press pack - and most importantly the kid himself.

So it's time to take the first significant steps - and that has nothing to do with a day at Jerez in December. Strong, clear management is essential to guide him down the right path. Put him in the best climate to succeed - a stable, established GP2 team, either in 2007 or more likely in '08 - and we'll begin to find out what he's got.

And if he's really good enough, he'll rise to the top of that bubbling GP2 cauldron - just like Lewis Hamilton.