Reps say Mario Andretti account 'compromised' after controversial tweets

Mario Andretti's representatives have claimed that the legendary American driver's Twitter account was 'compromised' on Friday evening, after he was criticised for posts appearing on his account.

The account posted a quintet of single-word replies to engagement-farming right-wing accounts – including one from 'Donald Trump News' and an Ivanka Trump 'parody' account – which were out of character with his relatively sporadic presence on the website.

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Those replies included saying 'Yes' to a tweet asking whether pride flags and illegal immigrants should be banned from churches and schools, and the same answer to a tweet questioning whether the 2020 election was 'stolen' from Donald Trump.

Reached for query by GPFans US on Saturday, Andretti's representatives said: "Mario’s account has been compromised. We’re working on it."

The tweets have now been removed.

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What did Andretti say about pride?

One of Andretti cars, Romain Grosjean's #28, actually ran at the 2022 Indy 500 with the pride rainbow on its sidepods.

Michael Andretti, Mario's son and team owner of Andretti Global, said at the time: "We’re really proud to stand with DHL and once again bring the Delivered with Pride message to the racetrack."

"The month of May is the perfect stage to promote diversity and help build a culture of inclusion. We look forward to seeing the DHL Pride livery on track during this week’s test days and again through the Indy 500."

A number of Twitter users expressed their disgust at the sentiment expressed by Andretti's account, with several questioning his suitability to be involved in a potential Formula 1 entry.

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