Nigel Roebuck's 1986 season review
It was the height of the turbo era and fuel economy in F1... But in spite of FISA's rules, 33 drivers and 14 teams contrived over 16 races to make the 1986 season one of the greatest. Nigel Roebuck told the stories within the saga in our season review issue of the time
Finishing the 68th lap of the Spanish Grand Prix, with four to go, Alain Prost saw Nigel Mansell in his mirrors and put his boost up for the pit straight. It prevented Mansell from getting by at that point, but soon he was through.
Thereafter the Williams swiftly hauled in Ayrton Senna's leading Lotus, failing to catch it by just 0.014s. It was the closest grand prix finish of all time, and afterward Prost apologised to Mansell for delaying him. He had thought Senna too far ahead to be caught, he said. If he had known, he would have let Mansell through.
Share Or Save This Story
Archive: The flamboyant F1 ace who lost his best years at Ferrari
Archive: When F1's Italian GP no-overtaking proposal was rejected
From the archive: How Williams's last F1 title challenge unravelled
Autosport 70: How Mansell bested Senna in the greatest F1 Hungarian GP ever
Autosport70: Senna, tragedy and the battle for Coulthard
Autosport 70: The rise and fall of Ferrari's first great champion
Grand Prix Gold: Australian GP 1986
The pre-Christmas pressure on Bottas and Vettel
M-Sport’s 2025 WRC driver line-up plans “up in the air”
The factors that make the US GP weekend crucial to F1's fight at the front
British GT driver John Ferguson banned for aggressive behaviour
CCTV footage reveals bizarre twist in Erebus engineer 'attack' report
How Red Bull owes its F1 future - and past - to Ford
How F1’s most famous engine unlocked the potential of Brabham's forgotten gem
The detail focus that will make Audi’s Red Bull hire a hit team boss
The Russell traits that will ease his adaption to becoming Mercedes team leader
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
