Nigel Mansell’s greatest F1 and Indycar drives

Nigel Mansell scored 31 wins and 32 poles during an illustrious Formula 1 career that culminated in the 1992 world title.

The British driver – who raced for Lotus, Williams, Ferrari and McLaren – provided some of the biggest F1 drama during the 1980s and 1990s before heading off to the United States to take on Indycar.

Mansell won the CART crown in 1993, so there was plenty of drives to choose from when it came to picking out his best. Here’s our selection, with some help from the man himself.

10. 1989 Brazilian GP, Rio

Mansell memorably won first time out with the semi-automatic gearbox in the Ferrari 640

Photo by: Ercole Colombo

Car: Ferrari 640
Started: 6th
Result: 1st

McLaren dominated 1988, Mansell had suffered a torrid season at Williams before jumping to Ferrari and then the semi-automatic gearbox-equipped 640 gave trouble throughout testing. Things didn’t look positive heading to the opening race in Rio.

“The gearbox kept breaking down; getting stuck in gear, or not changing gear or just going to neutral,” remembers Mansell. “I couldn’t do more than five or six laps before something happened.

“I was so sure I wouldn’t finish this race, I booked an early ticket back on British Airways and told the captain – who had been at the track during the warm-up, when the car had stopped yet again – to wait for me. I was really quite relaxed because I knew my race would be over within three or four laps.”

He was gifted an immediate bonus when team-mate Gerhard Berger clashed with polesitter Ayrton Senna and Mansell took second from Thierry Boutsen’s Williams on lap three of 61. He then closed on Riccardo Patrese and dived by the Williams with a touch on the grass. After the tyre changes, Mansell found himself chasing early stopper Alain Prost’s McLaren.

“When I was catching Prost, I actually got quite angry,” says Mansell. “I’m saying, ‘Oh, please don't stop now’.”

The Ferrari kept going and Mansell overtook Prost on lap 28, only to suffer an unexpected issue: “Then the steering wheel came off in my hands. All the bolts had come undone. I yelled on the radio, ‘I’m coming in for tyres – and a new steering wheel!’

“The chief mechanic thumped the new wheel into place so hard, the radio button left a scar on his hand. But the wheel stayed on, the gearbox kept working.”

By contrast, Prost was hindered by a clutch issue that prevented him stopping for another set of tyres and Mansell reeled him in. Mansell regained the lead just three laps after the stop and made it to the finish to win on his Ferrari debut.

“Unbelievable,” says Mansell, who missed his flight. “It was four or five races before I finished another.”

9. 1993 Australian IndyCar GP, Surfers Paradise

Victory on his IndyCar debut marked Mansell out as a title contender, and he didn't disappoint

Photo by: Motorsport Images

Car: Lola T93/00
Started: 1st
Result: 1st

“When I got there and looked at the car, I noticed these yellow stripes on the back of my rear wing,” recalls Mansell of his first CART race after leaving F1. “I was a rookie, and I was told this was my Learner Plate. I went to the officials and said, ‘Look, please; this is insulting’. They said, ‘That’s the rules. You haven’t driven before; everybody needs to know that you're a rookie.’ So, this rookie put it on pole. I went to them again and said, ‘Look, I'm on pole now. I’ve done this test and that test for you. Surely my learner stripes can come off?’ ‘No. They stay on.’”

Mansell was outfumbled at his first rolling start, dropping to third behind the Penskes of Emerson Fittipaldi and Paul Tracy, and was overcome by Robby Gordon.

Tracy dropped out with suspension failure, but Mansell still had plenty to do. He took second from Gordon and closed on Fittipaldi, outbraking him in dramatic style on lap 16 of 65. The move flat-spotted his tyres and was deemed to have happened under yellow flags.

“Suddenly, I get a penalty because they said I took Emerson under a yellow flag, which was bullshit,” says Mansell. “We’d gone into the corner together, tyres smoking. If there was a yellow flag, you couldn't see it because of the tyre smoke! It was a great overtaking manoeuvre.”

Mansell was handed a stop/go penalty but stopped for new tyres anyway and was able to continue without losing extra time. He thus kept the advantage as others stopped.

Still the race had a twist. Mansell clipped a wall, got a puncture and had to pit again. This put him to fourth, whereupon he began a charge that took him past Newman/Haas team-mate Mario Andretti, then into the lead as Fittipaldi and Gordon made their second pitstops.

Mansell needed a late splash-and-dash but resumed still in the lead and beat a charging Fittipaldi by 5.1 seconds despite cramp. It hadn’t been Mansell’s cleanest race but to conquer a new series, car and circuit on the first time of asking in such dramatic circumstances gets it onto this list: “No more stripes after that!”

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8. 1991 French GP, Magny-Cours

Mansell passed former team-mate Prost not once but twice to win at Magny-Cours in 1991

Photo by: Motorsport Images

Car: Williams FW14
Started: 4th
Result: 1st

Prost, Mansell’s Ferrari team-mate during a tumultuous 1990, had his hands on Ferrari’s new 643 for his home GP and he qualified second to Patrese’s Williams, with Mansell fourth behind the McLaren of Senna. Patrese suffered gearbox trouble at the start and Mansell jumped Senna, setting up a duel with Prost.

Around one-third distance Prost was delayed by Andrea de Cesaris’s Jordan and Martin Brundle’s Brabham. Mansell took his opportunity to snatch the lead down the inside at the Adelaide hairpin. Although he edged away, the gap was still small and, not for the last time, Mansell lost the lead thanks to a slow tyre change by Williams. Prost inherited an advantage of over 5s, but Mansell charged and was back with the Ferrari 12 laps after the pitstop.

This time Mansell needed no assistance from backmarkers, going around the outside of Prost at the hairpin under braking on lap 55 of 72. He then pulled away, helped by lapped team-mate Patrese, to secure victory by 5s.

“In 1991, I made the decision to really focus on the first part of the lap and be super-quick through there,” says Mansell, a fan of the Magny-Cours circuit. “I set the car up accordingly, knowing full well that I would have to carry the car on the latter stages of the lap, because it didn't work well there. But it certainly worked into the hairpin.

“I must admit to getting a lot of satisfaction doing that to Prost on his home territory after all we’d been through at Ferrari the previous year.”

7. 1992 British GP, Silverstone

Mansell was supreme on home turf in 1992 with the dominant FW14B

Photo by: Motorsport Images

Car: Williams FW14B
Started: 1st
Result: 1st

It almost became a cliche that Mansell was mighty in front of his home crowd. As early as 1983 he had charged from 18th to fourth at Silverstone in a hastily fixed new Lotus-Renault and several other drives could have made this list.

Mansell’s domination of the 1992 F1 season in the active-ride, traction control-laden FW14B, by contrast, means there were few candidates from that campaign. But at high-speed Silverstone, Mansell’s home virtuosity and the superiority of the Williams achieved a level of performance seldom seen.

Mansell’s pole lap was 1.9s faster than team-mate Patrese. As a percentage of the lap – rather than pure lap time – that is the most dominant pole in world championship history. Senna’s McLaren and the Benetton of Michael Schumacher were 2.7s and 3.1s behind in third and fourth respectively…

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Mansell briefly lost the lead with too much wheelspin at the start but powered past Patrese between Copse and Maggotts, then completed the first lap 3.3s clear. It was 6s a lap later. After 10 of the 59, Mansell was 20.6s ahead.

Thereafter Mansell added to the lead when he felt like it, made a pitstop around half distance and then let rip in the closing stages to smash the lap record and set a time 1.8s faster than the next best. His winning margin was 39.1s in a dry race.

“In an average car, he would be favoured to win his home race, and the FW14B is not an average car,” reported Autosport’s Nigel Roebuck. “There was no doubt that Mansell was wringing everything from it. He may never again have such an absolute victory.”

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6. 1988 British GP, Silverstone

In 1988 his Judd-powered FW12 was by no means a match for McLaren, but wet weather allowed Mansell to star at Silverstone

Photo by: Motorsport Images

Car: Williams FW12
Started: 11th
Result: 2nd

The 1988 British GP is largely remembered for one of Senna’s great wet-weather wins, but Mansell also starred.

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Woeful reliability with his underpowered Williams-Judd meant Mansell arrived for round eight still waiting for his first finish of the season. Unsurprisingly on a high-speed circuit, he qualified only 11th, but the downpour gave Mansell an opportunity – after he’d got the car switched from active ride to passive suspension.

“This one brings a great memory because I remember being almost on my hands and knees asking Patrick [Head] to convert the Williams back to a passive, old-school car,” says Mansell. “Active suspension was the big thing at the time but compared to what we were to have later [in 1992], the 1988 system was completely primitive.

“I’d had a failure in the previous race at Paul Ricard and, when I had a couple of scares during practice at Silverstone, I really pleaded for a return to passive. The guys at Williams worked round the clock. What they did was incredible. When I got back in the car, it was like night and day. When rain came, I thought we were in with a chance.”

Mansell leapt to seventh on lap one, then picked off Ivan Capelli’s March at Stowe on lap three. On lap 16 of 65, Mansell followed the impressive Alessandro Nannini (Benetton) past the other March of Mauricio Gugelmin to run fifth as they lapped traffic. Nannini spun as he battled Michele Alboreto’s Ferrari and Mansell, and the Williams swiftly overtook Alboreto.

After 22 laps Mansell was therefore third. Nannini wasn’t done yet, though, for the Benetton retook Mansell just before half-distance. But the Italian soon spun again, leaving the Williams on its own.

At one stage Mansell had been 48s behind second-placed Berger, but the Ferrari driver had used up too much fuel battling Senna and had to back off. Mansell closed inexorably in the second half of the race, setting fastest lap as he did so, before moving in to second with 15 laps to go.

“The crowd went barmy when I took second,” enthuses Mansell. “But Senna was out in front and had everything under control. Nonetheless, second in a car that had been more or less cobbled together overnight was a heck of an achievement.”

5. 1991 Spanish GP, Barcelona

Battling past champion Senna in 1991 was hugely satisfying for Mansell

Photo by: Motorsport Images

Car: Williams FW14
Started: 2nd
Result: 1st

“Nigel keeps the dream alive,” said Autosport after Mansell took victory at the new Catalunya circuit to keep himself in championship contention.

Mansell qualified second behind Berger’s McLaren and lost out to title rival Senna on the run to the first corner on a damp track. Schumacher’s Pirelli-shod Benetton also made it by before spinning on lap two.

As Berger edged away, Mansell pressured Senna for second. On lap four, the Williams emerged from the high-speed right-hander at the end of the lap right underneath the McLaren’s rear wing. Mansell pulled out and the two ran side-by-side, almost touching.

“People still talk about me going wheel-to-wheel with Senna at 190mph, it was pretty meaningful,” says Mansell. “It’s become an iconic F1 image, but there was a lot more going on that weekend.

“When Jean-Marie Balestre [president of the FISA and the FIA] had asked for questions, I asked if he could please tell us why there were rules for one driver – pointing at Senna – and different rules for everybody else. Much as I respected Ayrton, he seemed to think he had a divine right to barge through and push people out of the way and get away with it. I’d had enough of that.

“Ayrton went bananas, shouting at Jean-Marie and pointing at me. I just sat there. It was like catching a shark on a fishing line. So, in the race, Ayrton and I are at each other's throats. It was, as you might imagine, very satisfying to take the lead in that manner.”

Mansell made it through, but when they pitted to switch to dry tyres McLaren’s stop was significantly faster and Senna emerged ahead.

Berger’s stop had also been slow, so the order was briefly Senna-Berger-Mansell. Senna wasn’t comfortable and allowed Berger through, but any plan to delay Mansell’s charge was derailed when Senna spun out of the final corner. It took Mansell just three laps to close the 4s gap to Berger. He took the lead just before one-third distance and controlled the rest of the 65-lap contest.

4. 1993 New England 200, New Hampshire

New Hampshire victory demonstrated Mansell's mastery of ovals

Photo by: Motorsport Images

Car: Lola T93/00
Started: 1st
Result: 1st

His Surfers Paradise win is more famous but Mansell’s victory at New Hampshire was better – and represents the mastery of ovals that was key to his CART title.

Mansell arrived at the one-mile oval with the points lead and three wins from 10 rounds. He took pole and led early on but was soon embroiled in a battle with the Penskes of Tracy and Fittipaldi, the trio swapping places as they carved through traffic.

A cross-threaded wheelnut at his final stop dropped Mansell from second to third. Tracy edged away while Mansell battled to repass the double F1 world champion and finally did so with 26 of the 200 laps to go.

The Lola chipped away at the leader’s advantage, setting up a superb duel in the closing stages. Mansell edged briefly ahead, only for Tracy to regain the initiative. Then, on lap 197, Mansell made his move, boldly going around the outside as they lapped (remarkably, given his role in the 1989 Hungarian GP!) Stefan Johansson to win.

“This was pure racing at its best,” said a fired-up Mansell on his 40th birthday. “Running 200mph with Ayrton Senna doesn’t even come close to this. It was a beautiful race.”

3. 1986 British GP, Brands Hatch

Mansell beat Piquet in the spare car to win the first race attended by Frank Williams after his life-changing accident

Photo by: Motorsport Images

Car: Williams FW11
Started: 2nd
Result: 1st

There have been times when Mansell has picked this as his greatest race, but he’s relegated it a bit and we agree given the strength of the top entries on this list. Nevertheless, it remains a milestone moment.

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The intra-team rivalry with Nelson Piquet was ramping up as Williams-Honda underlined its supremacy in the middle of 1986. Piquet took pole and the battle looked all over when Mansell’s left driveshaft broke as he left the line. But a multi-car accident behind forced a restart and gave Mansell the chance to jump into the spare car, set up for Piquet…

“I have to say this drive is close to being number one,” asserts Mansell. “We had no choice but to go into the T-car, which was set up for Nelson; gear ratios, suspension settings, pedals. We were able to change the seat and adjust the belts; but that was it.

“The car set up this way frightened me to such an extent that it took me 10 laps to learn how to drive it. I liked going deep into the corner, turning in and then carrying the speed. But Nelson liked the car much softer, which meant it would step out on me – and you didn’t want that at Brands because it was, in my opinion, quite a dangerous circuit at the time. I learned to adapt, which sounds easy but not really what you want to be doing in the middle of a race.”

Mansell initially dropped behind Berger’s Benetton, but soon retook second and the two FW11s headed off into a race of their own.

“With every lap, the confidence started to come as I found I could trust the car more than I thought,” continues Mansell. “I was stalking Nelson for quite a long time and he was driving superbly. He made only one mistake when he missed a gear. And that was enough. I actually felt a bit sorry for him because that's the only reason I won the race.”

Piquet stopped for fresh tyres first and, as Mansell emerged from his own stop, the Brazilian attacked. Mansell defended with some help from traffic and held on to win by 5.6s, the duo a lap ahead of third-placed Prost.

“It was very uncomfortable in that car and I’d no drinks bottle,” concludes Mansell. “But it was a very emotional weekend because this was the first race Frank [Williams] had attended since his [road car] accident. A 1-2 was very special for everyone in the team.”

2. 1987 British GP, Silverstone

Another victory on home soil over Piquet, at Silverstone in 1987, is one of Mansell's more famous drives - but misses out on top spot

Photo by: Motorsport Images

Car: Williams FW11B
Started: 2nd
Result: 1st

Williams co-founder Patrick Head is pretty certain which Mansell drive stands out for him: “It has to be his 1987 Silverstone race, when he dropped well behind Piquet, complaining of a bad vibration, we think due to a wheel balance weight coming off.”

Mansell, having stayed in range, dived into the pits on lap 35 of 65. At the end of his out-lap he was 28.4s behind Piquet.

“We just assumed that they would finish in that order but, lap by lap, with Nigel setting new fastest laps each lap, he closed on Nelson,” adds Head. “Nelson ran the race on a single set of tyres, and I think we had not realised at that stage how much gain there was from changing tyres, but it was still an outstanding drive from Nigel, real gritty stuff.”

Mansell, who famously outfoxed Piquet into Stowe with two and half laps to go, agrees: “This was one of the proudest moments of my career.

“Winning your home GP is obviously very special, but to do it in the way I did at Silverstone in 1987 was made even more special by the reaction from the crowd. It was like there was this Mexican Wave following me all round the circuit! The power of the fans was just incredible and did a lot to help me deal with the way that race was working out.

“When the front wheel balance weight came off the vibration started to blur my vision and forced a pitstop. I remember rejoining 28s behind with 29 laps to go. There was only one thing for it. Every lap had to be a qualifying lap. Nelson responded, but I was on the limit – everywhere.

“Eventually I could see him on Hangar Straight and that, plus the crowd reaction, spurred me on even more. It was electrifying! The team were showing me signs saying ‘FUEL’, but I didn’t care about that. I wasn’t going to back off now.

“I caught him going onto Hangar Straight and I knew I had to keep the momentum going and not hesitate. Going into Stowe at about 190mph, I sold Nelson the dummy – right, left, and then right again. I had the inside line; there was nothing he could do about it.

“When I crossed the line, the place erupted. I’ve never experienced anything like it. I’d broken the lap record 11 times. On the slowing down lap, my car ran out of fuel. It was one of those incredible days.”

1. 1989 Hungarian GP, Hungaroring

Mansell defied convention that it's impossible to pass at the Hungaroring by charging to victory from 12th in 1989, completing the job with a move on Senna

Photo by: Sutton Images

Car: Ferrari 640
Started: 12th
Result: 1st

Mansell is best remembered for his time at Williams, but his greatest drive was surely winning from 12th on the grid around the tight and twisty Hungaroring for Ferrari.

“This was one of my greatest drives for many reasons,” explains Mansell. “My engineer, Maurizio Nardon, and I just couldn’t get rid of terrible understeer, so we decided the best thing was just to work on the race set-up.

“We decided we needed more downforce on the front wing. We had these sheet metal extensions with Gurney flaps made over night. [Designer] John Barnard went mad and ordered us to take off ‘those Mickey Mouse ears’. But when I went a second a lap faster in the morning warm-up, I said they were staying on! I told John if he took them off, he could find someone else to drive the car.”

Mansell jumped to eighth on the first lap before looking after his soft-compound C tyres (most were on harder B Goodyears): “The one thing I didn’t want to do was make a pitstop, so I took it easy, looking after my tyres with a full load of fuel,” recalls Mansell.

At one stage, he was 19.7s behind the leader but, once past Alex Caffi’s Dallara, Mansell hacked the gap to the top four. He had already overtaken Prost when long-time leader Patrese’s Williams radiator punctured, leaving reigning world champion Senna’s powerful McLaren-Honda leading Mansell, who was about to pull off one of the great F1 passes.

“I knew Ayrton was going to make it very difficult to get by and I had to wait my chance,” says Mansell. “I saw Johansson up ahead but we didn’t know he was struggling to select gears. He saw us coming and moved left – but Senna misjudged the speed of the Onyx, backed off slightly and got boxed in as I darted right and passed them both. You can’t plan things like that. You’ve got to be ready and I was there to take full advantage of it.

“Of all the races I’ve won and the moves I’ve pulled, that’s one of the most satisfying. Twelfth to first at the Hungaroring is not something we see every day.”

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Mansell's 1989 Hungary win was only his second of an otherwise disappointing year, but both were ultra-special

Photo by: Motorsport Images