Nigel Mansell is among my boyhood heroes. My earliest memories of watching Formula 1 involve Mansell racing for Ferrari in 1989 and 1990, and I recall feeling heartbroken when he retired from the 1990 British Grand Prix, where he would then announce his retirement from the sport.
Mansell would reverse his decision a few races later, but before we get to his move to Williams in 1991, let us rewind. Whilst I am unfamiliar with Mansell’s early seasons in F1, I have read of them, including reading them in Mansell’s own words, thanks to his autobiography. Going back further, to his pre-F1 days, it would not be out of place to say Nigel Mansell had to work incredibly hard to reach Formula 1, let alone accomplish anything once he got there.
The Fight to Begin
Mansell used his own money to fund his efforts to break into motor-sport. It is said his father did not approve of his efforts, but Mansell was committed, going as far as to sell his personal belongings and quit his aerospace engineering job to pursue his dream. In 1977, whilst racing in Formula Ford, he won 33 of the 42 races he entered, but also broke his neck at a race at Brands Hatch, and was told he would need to be confined to hospital for six months. Mansell was also told he could not race again, having been close to being crippled by the accident. In what would become typical Mansell fashion, he ignored the doctors, and discharged himself from the hospital the very next day.
Going up to Formula 3, Mansell endured the difficulties of an uncompetitive car, and suffered a back injury during his time in the series, but he once again masked the extent of his injuries and pain to test a Formula 1 Lotus in 1980. He did enough to earn some F1 drives with Lotus across the 1980 season, and earned himself a permanent seat for 1981. Not everyone believed he was good enough, but Lotus team boss Colin Chapman placed his faith in his compatriot, and Mansell would race for Lotus until the end of 1984. He was often out-paced by his teammate, Elio de Angelis, and when Chapman died in 1982, Mansell found himself frequently butting heads with new team boss, Peter Warr. Warr is said to have claimed ‘Mansell will not win a race as long as I have a hole in my arse’, which might offer an insight as to their relationship!
1984 gave a glimpse of Mansell’s true potential, and the sort of spirit that kept him going. He took his first pole position, at the Dallas Grand Prix, and whilst he was unable to convert this to a podium, he was so determined to finish the race that, when his car ran out of fuel at the end, Mansell tried to push his car over the finish line, in searing heat, and fainted from the effort.
Williams offer a Lifeline
in 1985 Mansell signed for the Williams team, headed by the legendary Frank Williams, and partnered by 1982 champion Keke Rosberg. Initially the two did not get along, but cleared the air, and Mansell would later say Rosberg was the best teammate he ever had. The Honda-powered FW10 car would provide Mansell with his first victories in Formula 1, at the European Grand Prix at Brands Hatch, and the next round in South Africa. It was however in 1986 that Mansell was able to unleash the full scope of his abilities, with a brilliant, competitive car, the FW11.
Mansell also had a new teammate, two-time world champion Nelson Piquet. The pair detested each other, and were fierce competitors on the track. Williams refused to apply team orders, and the season-long squabble meant at the final race in Australia, both Mansell and Piquet were in with a chance of winning the title, as was McLaren’s Alain Prost. In a moment that defined the season, and broke millions of British hearts, Mansell, requiring only third place to secure his maiden world championship, suffered a high-speed tyre blowout, and was lucky to avoid smashing into the walls of the Adelaide street circuit. Williams pitted Piquet as a precaution, and he was unable to catch Prost. Prost won the race, and the title.
Despite this demoralising blow, Mansell had won the hearts of the British public, and a lot of fans for his all-or-nothing driving style. He would continue to give everything in 1987, and this time he had only one rival, Piquet. The Williams FW11B was too much for other teams to handle, and it fell to the two Williams drivers to battle for the title. If there was ever a demonstration of how determined Mansell was, it could be found at the British Grand Prix, where a mid-race pitstop left him with 30 laps to close up a 28 second gap to his teammate. Mansell ferociously chased Piquet down, and passed him with two laps to go by selling Piquet a dummy. It was a glorious victory, but it also helped end Williams’ relationship with engine suppliers Honda; Mansell strained the engine to the point of total failure.
All in all, Mansell would win six races in 1987, a new record at the time, but once again he would be runner-up in the world championship fight. His committed approach of giving 100% all the time earned him a lot of admiration, but he had not yet learned when to ease up. Piquet won only three races, but he scored points in 12 of the 16 rounds, and finished second six times. Mansell’s approach cost him points at several races, and he went into the penultimate round in Japan trailing Piquet. An accident in qualifying injured Mansell’s back, and he was forced to miss the final two races as a result, handing Piquet his third title.
1988 was a largely forgettable year for Mansell, with Williams losing their Honda power, and unable to compete. It is noteworthy in that Mansell would sign for Ferrari, and he was the last driver the great Enzo Ferrari personally signed before his death. This brings our story right back to where I began to watch F1 racing.
Il Leone
Ferrari fans instantly took to Mansell. They loved his spirit, and they loved him even more when he won the first race of the 1989 season in Brazil. Mansell himself had said he’d booked an early flight home, because the Ferrari 640, whilst quick, had been horribly unreliable in testing. It was therefore something of a surprise to the man himself that he won! Despite this early promise, it became clear the McLarens were the cars to beat, and Mansell would take only one further win in 1989, at the Hungarian Grand Prix. Incidentally, this is often cited as one of his best ever drives, coming from 12th on the grid to take victory on a track notorious for being hard to pass at.
1990 was a turbulent year for Mansell. He had been partnered with the steady Austrian Gerhard Berger in 1989, but for 1990 he was joined by the reigning three-time world champion Alain Prost. Prost had fallen out with McLaren, following a tempestuous relationship with Ayrton Senna, and now he set about asserting himself as Ferrari’s number one driver. One could argue this was Prost’s right; he was the world champion, and was firmly established as one of the best of his generation, but he would resort to swapping cars without telling Mansell (the 1990 British Grand Prix was a standout moment of blatant favouritism), and enjoyed the lion’s share of reliability. Mansell felt hard-done-by, and the British Grand Prix was the straw that broke the camel’s back. It took a mighty offer from Williams to lure Mansell back, and with the deal done, he returned to where he had enjoyed his best years.
A Year of Promise
1991 did not initially go well for Mansell, or for Williams in general. Whilst McLaren’s Ayrton Senna won the first four races of the season, Mansell did not score points until that fourth race in Monaco, finishing second. Whilst the car looked quick, the FW14 was struggling for reliability. Conceding a 34 point gap after four races meant Mansell had a lot of work to do if he was to have any hope of the world championship, and he did not help himself in Canada, when all set to win, he stalled on the final lap whilst prematurely waving to the crowd! A hat-trick of wins in France, Britain (where Mansell famously gave Senna a lift back to the pits on his car) and Germany reduced the gap to eight points, but Senna and McLaren rallied, claiming victory at the next two rounds to restore a good advantage.
Mansell would take a total of five wins in 1991, but he needed to win the final two races, starting with Japan, whilst hoping Senna did not score points, and whilst pursuing the Brazilian, he span out on lap 10. For the third time, Mansell was runner-up.
By now, he had earned the reputation of a gallant loser, and whilst Mansell retained the adoration and respect of many, you had to wonder if it would ever happen for him. Williams had resigned him on the promise of delivering, and for 1992, they upgraded the FW14. What they provided Mansell with was something truly special…
A Year of Success
Mansell himself had said that he went into 1992 more focused, and fitter than he had ever been. However, he also nursed a broken foot, a detail he declined to share when the season started! Despite this, he took full advantage of the FW14B, a variant of last year’s car. Williams added active suspension, and traction control, and turned a good car into a great one. The result is that Mansell won the first five races of 1992. His chief challenger was Riccardo Patrese, his Williams teammate, and contractually Patrese was not allowed to threaten Mansell. McLaren had fallen off the pace, and no one else looked likely to provide a title charge.
This doesn’t mean the season was completely smooth. Mansell’s ambitions of winning at Monaco for the first time fell apart due to a defective wheel; he had a brilliant duel with Senna on the principality’s narrow streets for the final few laps, but could not find a way past. In Canada, Mansell and Senna had a contentious collision, and suddenly the momentum of the first few races had stalled. Surely Mansell’s title charge could not falter now?
Indeed, Mansell rallied. A trio of wins in France, Britain (where the crowd famously burst onto the track, and gave Mansell a hero’s lift back to the paddock) and Germany, combined with the results of others, placed Mansell on the cusp of the world championship. He journeyed to the Hungarian Grand Prix, hopeful and expectant of achieving what he had devoted so much of his life to.
Only Patrese could still mathematically catch Mansell, and Hungary marked the first time that the Italian showed any sort of fight. He qualified on pole, and led the pack away at the start of the race. Mansell needed to score four or more points than Patrese; a win would guarantee the world championship, but he slipped to fourth at the start, and though he got past the McLaren of Gerhard Berger on lap eight, he wound up stuck behind the other McLaren of Senna, whose mastery of defensive driving, combined with the twisty nature of the track, frustrated Mansell. On lap 31 he ran wide, and Berger got back ahead of him.
A couple of laps later he was back in third, but it seemed that Mansell would have to wait until the Belgian Grand Prix to claim his maiden title. Then, on lap 39, Patrese made a mistake, spinning wide into turn three, and re-joining in seventh place, just outside the points. His engine blew up on lap 55, but Mansell had tyre trouble, and was forced to pit on lap 61, dropping him down to sixth. This was not good enough for the championship, so he set about chasing the cars in front.
Aided by Michael Schumacher losing his rear wing and going out, Mansell clawed his way back up to third, and for good measure, up to second. Whilst Senna claimed victory, Mansell took second place, and with it, the world championship. He secured it at an earlier point in the season than anyone had previously achieved, and after years of near-misses, heartbreak, and toil, it was a richly deserved moment for he and his fans to savour.
Alas, there was a sting in the tail, for whilst Mansell would go on to take a ninth win (a then record for a single season), he would fall out with the Williams team by the end of the season. It transpired that Williams had signed Alain Prost for 1993, and Mansell had no desire to work with the Frenchman, following their difficult year together at Ferrari in 1990. Contract negotiations broke down, and Mansell decided to take himself out of Formula 1 completely. He did not want to retire from motor racing, so instead he went overseas, to the USA, and IndyCar…
The Most Successful Rookie
If there was ever a vindication of Nigel Mansell’s talent, it was to be found in 1993. Driving a different type of car, with different aerodynamic properties, on tracks he did not know, against seasoned veterans of the series, Mansell not only took pole at his first race, but won his first race, and would go on to take four more wins, alongside several podium appearances. The net result of his results was not only that he won the IndyCar Championship at the first time of asking, but he also briefly held the Formula 1 title and the IndyCar title at the same time. To date, he is the only man to do so.
Whilst Mansell’s second season in IndyCar was nowhere near as successful, he did return to make guest appearances in Formula 1, as Williams sought someone with experience in the sake of Senna’s death earlier in 1994. He won the final race in Australia, and his 31st career win in F1 would also be his last. A brief attempt at a comeback in 1995 with McLaren ended after four races, and that was that for Nigel Mansell.
Career Stats
As mentioned, Mansell won 31 races in Formula 1, and he took 32 pole positions in his time as well. He claimed 30 fastest laps, and had a total of 59 podium appearances across 187 grand prix starts. In IndyCar, he appeared in 31 races, with five wins, 10 pole positions, and and 13 podiums. Mansell also won the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award twice, and turn 17 of the Mexican Grand Prix circuit is named after him!
There are better racing drivers than Mansell, but few worked as hard to reach F1, and few gave as much energy and devotion towards their goal. Mansell is a demonstration that determination and hard work can carry you far.