Nigel Mansell, Superstar
This morning, my life was nearly made complete, as I received my "brand new" (the video is 12 years old) copy of "Nigel Mansell and Williams 1992", narrated by Murray Walker! This is to add to my mini collection of Nigel Mansell tapes, such as 'Nigel Mansell and Newman Haas 1993', and 'Nigel Mansell's Indianapolis 500 1993'. I really also should 'invest' in the 1991 and 1994 tapes too.
Nigel Mansell was probably the last in a long line of determined and extremely talented great British racing drivers, such as:
- Stirling Moss;
- Mike Hawthorn;
- John Surtees;
- Graham Hill;
- Jim Clark;
- Jackie Stewart.
Of course, Damon Hill after him also had some great talent, but was overshadowed by Michael Schumacher, who in all bar 1996 (and 1993), had easily the better car. Of course, he showed his worth in 1996, despite terrible luck in the second half of the season, and showed he could push a bad car fantastically in Hungary in 1997, somehow almost winning in the lucklustre Arrows, but it would be unfair to put him in the same league as the forementioned champions (of course, Stirling Moss didn't ever win the championship, but was 2nd in 4 successive years, three of which were to Fangio).
Now, I must say, I am rather too young to remember any on the above list apart from Mansell, though I have seen some archive footage, but they were all deserving champions. However, as Stirling Moss showed, you also need a certain degree of luck on your side to make it right to the very top.
Nigel Mansell unquestioningly had plenty of talent. He managed a podium for Lotus in 1981, his first full season, but he had to wait until his 72nd race to win for Williams, following it up with a 2nd at Kyalami 2 weeks later.
It was 1986, however, when he hit the mark (and the FIA actually do videos of the whole of that season!), winning 4 out of 5 races in the middle of the season, including Brands Hatch. He then won at Estoril, and needed only third at Adelaide, Australia...
Mansell's tyre blows, putting him out of the race. He still leads the world championship, as long as Piquet stays ahead of Prost, but Williams bring him in to the pits as a precaution, Prost takes the flag and the world title, ahead of the two Williams drivers who were ahead of him 2 hours earlier.
1987 brought 6 victories to Mansell, including a great win in front of the home fans at Silverstone, passing teammate Piquet at Stowe. However, despite winning double the number of races his teammate did, he was pipped to the title.
1988, 89 and 90 were pretty awful years, the last of which prompted Mansell to announce he was leaving F1 to join Greg Norman at the golf course. Thankfully, for F1 fans, his mind was turned around, as he was offered a drive at Williams.
In 1991, Williams had developed their secret weapon, active suspension. Unfortunately, they suffered from reliability problems in the first half of the season and Senna romped off into the distance. Mansell would have won in Montreal but for a last lap breakdown, but won three in a row in the second half of the season. However, despite 5 wins in the season, it was still not his time.
So, on to 1992, and Mansell must have wondered what he had to do to avoid a repeat of his bridesmaid honours. Well, not much, as he had a good car and good reliability, combined with Ayrton Senna who was in a McLaren which wasn't really up to the job any more. Mansell duly won the first 5 Grand Prix of the season, all from pole position, leading every single lap in South Africa, Mexico, Spain and San Marino, setting records in the process. Senna finally ended this run in Monaco, claiming his 5th victory at the circuit, but only after Mansell suffered a puncture late in the race whilst leading. He pitted for new tyres and closed in on Senna fast, but around the twists and turns of Monte Carlo, not even the great "Red 5" could pass.
All in all, Mansell won 9 Grand Prix in 1992, beaten only by Michael Schumacher in 2002 and 2004, (matched in 1995). He also scored 108 points, another record, again, only beaten in 2002 and 2004. However, Williams didn't seem to want him for 1993, so he went to IndyCars, "a drivers' formula, where in the past 5 years, the title had been won by 5 different drivers, all with at least 5 years experience in IndyCar" (Mansell and Newman-Haas, 1993, Watershed Productions). So what did he do?
Why, he wiped the floor, of course.
"Il Leone", the most exciting racing driver I have ever seen. You might not be excited by this video, but I most certainly am!
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Aquilesthe most exciting racing driver I have ever seen
2006-11-24 15:15:04