Driver Focus - Nigel Mansell

There are two moments in Formula One that seem to have brought the most celebrated photographs in the sport's history. One was a rushed gathering of four of the greatest drivers to grace the F1 stage and the other was defeated driver being given a lift back to the pits at Silverstone in 1991. What the two events have in common is that they were both centred around two true legends of motorsport - one was Ayrton Senna and the other Nigel Mansell.

Of all the drivers there has been in Formula One, no driver fought harder to earn his place amongst the giants of the sport. Using his own money to get started in karting, the beginning on Mansell’s career was fairly slow. It was not until 1976 that he graduated to racing in single-seaters.

Despite disapproval from his father, Mansell won on his Formula Ford debut at Mallory Park - it was the first of six wins that year. The following year was his first full season and of the 42 races entered he won 33 claiming the 1977 British Formula Ford crown despite breaking his neck in a crash at Brands Hatch. Doctors told him that he would never race again but Mansell ‘unofficially discharged’ himself (telling nurses he was going to the toilet) and raced on.

An opportunity arose to drive in a Formula 3 race at Silverstone and after finishing fourth Mansell decided it was time to move to race in the series full-time. However, in order to pay for the drive he and his wife were forced to sell their house. A deal with engine suppliers left the F3 car uncompetitive compared to series leaders and Mansell struggled to gain ground in the races but his driving was clinical and consistent.

A collision with Andrea de Cesaris in 1979 left Mansell hospitalised again, this time with broken vertebrae in his back. However, his driving had not gone unnoticed by Lotus owner Colin Chapman. After ignoring advice from doctors and hiding the extent of his injuries through painkillers and hiding a grimacing face under his crash helmet, Chapman was convinced to give Mansell the chance of being test driver for the Lotus Formula One Team.

Towards the end of the 1980 season, Chapman decided it was time to give Mansell a taste of Formula One racing, entering him as a third driver. The car was not the same as his Lotus teammates Mario Andretti and Elio de Angelis. While the established drivers drove the season’s main chassis, Mansell was stuck with a development version of the car - the Lotus 81B. A fuel leak left him with first and second degree burns on his buttocks and the car was forced to retire due to an engine failure.

A similar fate followed at the Dutch Grand Prix and Mansell was forced to give up his car to Mario Andretti at the Italian Grand Prix after the American damaged his car in qualifying. The car’s engine troubles forced Andretti out of the race and he promptly announced that he would be moving to Alfa Romeo for the following season, leaving a vacant seat at Lotus.

Unfortunately, in the early 1980s, Lotus was a struggling team. Chapman had lost much of his vigour after losing some of his drivers in horrific accidents and the cars became less innovative and evermore unreliable. In the five seasons that Mansell raced with Lotus, the car managed to finish less than half the races it entered. Chapman died in 1982 and the team floundered.

In 1985, Mansell moved to the Williams team to partner Keke Rosberg. Although he was closer to the pace, the beginning of the season seemed to be much of the same - a series of retirements did little to convince those in Formula One that Mansell was a real contender.

Of all the places to gain his first victory, Mansell’s ‘Red Number 5’ rounded the last corner at Brands Hatch to take the chequered flag. However, despite being in Britain, it was in fact the European Grand Prix - a clutch failure had forced him to retire at the British Grand Prix.
A second win at the following race in South Africa turned Mansell into a star and 1986 saw him become a challenger for the title.

The 1986 season was a disaster for Williams - but not because the car was uncompetitive. As the season came to the last race in Adelaide, two of its drivers were battling it out for the title with McLaren’s Alain Prost. On lap 63 of the race, Mansell’s tyre burst spectacularly and the Williams team called in teammate Nelson Piquet to avoid a similar fate. This allowed Prost to slip into the lead and steal the Championship from both of them.

The 1987 season was marred by a disagreement between the Williams teammates. Piquet criticised Mansell, calling him an ‘uneducated blockhead’ and verbally abused his wife.

At the British Grand Prix, Mansell broke the Silverstone lap record 11 times as he chased down Piquet. From 29 seconds behind he managed to pass the Brazilian on lap 63 of 65. He pushed the car so hard that it ran out of fuel before he could make it back to the pits as a winner and was soon swarmed by fans as they ran on to the track.

In Japan of that year, a heavy accident left Mansell in hospital with a back injury and the title was handed to Piquet who swiftly left to join Lotus.

The following three years were difficult for the Broron. Williams had lost the turocharged Honda engine to McLaren and the naturally aspirated Judd engine that replaced it was unable to compete. McLaren were unstoppable and stormed to victory while the Williams did not manage a single victory.

In 1989, turbos were banned and Mansell became the last driver to be personally selected for the Ferrari team by the legendary Enzo Ferrari. The Tifosi named Mansell "il leone" ("the lion") for his fierce driving style.

However, the car’s newly-developed electronic gearbox was unreliable and the 1989 season saw seven retirements. The following season almost caused Mansell to retire after Ferrari struggled to gain ground and his teammate became increasingly frustrated with the car. Alain Prost felt Mansell had a superior car and, unknown to the British driver, had the mechanics swap the chassis.

Instead of retiring, Mansell was tempted back to the Williams team for 1991. However, it was not a straight-forward move. Mansell demanded number-one status within the team and extra support from Renault and Elf. Despite Frank Williams stating that the demands were impossible, they were eventually met and the Briton took his place behind the wheel of a Williams again.

The 1991 season brought five victories and the famous photograph of Ayrton Senna being given a lift on the Williams sidepod after running out of fuel at the British Grand Prix. Mansell could have won the title but development of Williams’ semi-automatic gearbox led to early retirements and the title eventually went to Senna.

In his thirteenth year of Formula One, Mansell finally became champion in 1992. The Williams car was dominant and claimed a number of different records including; highest number of pole positions in a season, highest percentage of pole positions in a season, most wins from pole position in a season and most laps in the lead in one season.

Williams had neglected to tell Mansell that Prost had signed for the 1993 season and Ayrton Senna had offered to drive the second car for free. Financial demands from the Briton were too high and Williams revoked its original offer. Despite a late deal being offered at the Italian Grand Prix, Mansell decided to leave Formula One to race in America. He joined the Newman/Haas team for the 1993 CART season.

At the season opener at Surfers Paradise, Australia, Mansell became the first rookie driver to take pole position and win in his first race. Despite a large crash in Phoenix which injured his back yet again, Mansell took five wins and was crowned Champion. He became the only driver in history to hold both the Formula One and CART Championships are the same time as he was still the reigning F1 Champion by the time he claimed CART success.

The Newman/Haas car was much less competitive in 1994 and Mansell became unpopular with the American fans. After Ayrton Senna was killed at Imola in 1994, he returned to Williams to share a drive with David Coulthard. He took a win at the final race of the year in Adelaide but the team chose to give the full-time race seat to Coulthard for the 1995 season.

Mansell signed for McLaren in 1995 but few believed that the relationship would last. At the beginning of the season, he was unable to fit in the car and Mark Blundell raced in his place until the third race of the year at Imola. After just two races, Mansell left the team and Blundell replaced him for the rest of the season.

Mansell continues to make sporadic appearances in various racing series. In 2010, he was entered into the 24 Heures du Mans with his two sons, driving a Ginetta-Zytek. However a puncture on lap 4 caused a heavy crash and the car had to be retired.