Nigel Mansell
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| Nation: |
 Great Britain
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| Automobile / Formula 1 world championship | |||||||||
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| First start: | 1980 Austrian Grand Prix | ||||||||
| Last start: | 1995 Spanish Grand Prix | ||||||||
| Constructors | |||||||||
| 1980–1984 Lotus • 1985–1988 Williams • 1989–1990 Ferrari • 1991–1992, 1994 Williams • 1995 McLaren | |||||||||
| statistics | |||||||||
| World Cup balance: | World Champion ( 1992 ) | ||||||||
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| World Cup points : | 482 | ||||||||
| Podiums : | 59 | ||||||||
| Leadership laps : | 2,053 over 9,488.3 km | ||||||||
Nigel Ernest James Mansell , CBE (born August 8, 1953 in Upton-upon-Severn , Malvern Hills ) is a British racing driver . Between 1980 and 1995 he competed in the top motorsport class, Formula 1 , where he became world champion in 1992 . Mansell also became champion of the IndyCar World Series in 1993 , making him the only driver to this day who - even if only briefly - was reigning champion of both series at the same time.
Mansell became known to a wider audience during the 1980s and 1990s for tackling riders such as Nelson Piquet , Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost . Through his appearances in public, which opponents and the media perceived as “theatrical”, the Briton polarized. His fans admired him primarily for his characteristic appearance as a mustached athlete, his down-to-earth attitude and his fighting strength, which earned him the nickname "Il Leone" (the lion), especially among the Italian Tifosi . Mansell's competitors repeatedly criticized the Englishman for his risky driving style and his sometimes ill-considered maneuvers.
Career
Beginnings in motorsport
Nigel Mansell's racing career began with kart racing - he received his first license there at the age of ten (although the minimum age was eleven). At 14 he won his first race. Between 1969 and 1976 he won various kart championships (Wales, North and Midland seven times in a row) and was British kart champion in 1973. His further path led him to Formula Ford in 1976 , which he won in 1977 (32 wins in 42 races). With the sale of the common house, Mansell, with the support of his wife Rosanne, financed his entry into Formula 3 in 1978 , which remained associated with ongoing financial problems for him. Colin Chapman became aware of Mansell through Formula 3 and in 1980 gave him a place in his Lotus Formula 1 team, where he was to remain until 1984.
1980–1984: Formula 1 at Lotus
Mansell was signed by Lotus in a period of upheaval that set the team back. During his Grand Prix debut at the Österreichring in 1980, Mansell sat in the gasoline bath because of a burst gasoline line. By the time engine failure meant final failure, it had already sustained first and second degree burns. His talent flashed again and again - in 1981 he achieved his first World Championship points with third place in Zolder (Belgian GP). But there were also many, often curious, accidents and setbacks, for example at the 1984 United States Grand Prix in Dallas when his car stopped near the destination without gas and he passed out because of the heat while trying to push it over the line. In mid-1984, manager Peter Warr signed the emerging talent Ayrton Senna for the next season, as he was not convinced of Mansell's abilities. For this reason, Mansell and Senna should also have an intense rivalry for the next few years.
1985-1988: Williams
In 1985 Nigel Mansell came to Williams - Honda , which gave his career a decisive boost. After the Honda engines were greatly improved in the middle of the season and became the fastest in Formula 1, he and his team-mate Keke Rosberg benefited enormously from it. At Brands Hatch , Mansell won his first Grand Prix that year, his first after 72 Grand Prix starts. He also won the next race in Kyalami , South Africa . In 1986 and 1987 Mansell dominated the world championship and scored the most victories of the season, but both times lost the tangible title and was only runner-up - in 1986 behind Prost, in 1987 behind his new teammate Nelson Piquet . Originally only engaged as the second driver, Mansell was able to assert himself internally against his team-mate Nelson Piquet, the regular driver number 1. Piquet repeatedly criticized Mansell during these two years; In addition to personal attacks (including on Mansell's wife Roseanne), he mainly criticized Mansell's lack of skills in testing and tuning the cars that he had to take over on his own. 1986 Mansell lost the world championship in the last race due to a puncture in the third position that was sufficient for him to win the world championship; before that, the dominant leader Keke Rosberg had also retired due to a puncture.
In 1987 the Williams-Honda FW11B from Mansell and Piquet were clearly superior and Mansell was able to achieve 6 victories, Piquet scored more reliably with only three wins of the season, while Mansell often gave away points through risky maneuvers. He lost a possible victory at Spa-Francorchamps through an overtaking maneuver in which both he and Ayrton Senna were eliminated. The angry Mansell then physically attacked Senna in the pit lane and had to be held back by mechanics. In Suzuka , Mansell suffered back bruises in a serious accident in qualifying. He could not compete for the race or the season finale in Adelaide and so lost his last chance to equalize the deficit on Piquet and still achieve the world title. After Honda ended the collaboration with Williams at the end of the year and switched to McLaren, a transition year followed for the team and Mansell in 1988. Williams now drove with inferior Judd engines and continued the development of active wheel suspension , which, however, was not mature enough to be used until 1992. Mansell could only score twice and had no win. He also had to skip the races in Belgium and Italy after contracting chickenpox . He was represented at these races by Martin Brundle and Jean-Louis Schlesser .
1989–1992: Ferrari and return to Williams
In 1989 Mansell switched to Ferrari and continued to show top performances alongside Gerhard Berger and Alain Prost , but remained without a title. He won the first race of the 1989 season in Brazil and thus became the first driver to win a race with the newly developed semi-automatic gear shift. In Hungary he drove a memorable race and won the race from 12th on the grid; otherwise his season was marked by the Ferrari's unreliability. During the race in Portugal , Mansell sparked controversy when he illegally used reverse gear in the pit lane; then he was repeatedly shown the black flag . Mansell ignored this and a little later collided with Ayrton Senna. Despite his assurances that he had not seen the black flag, he was banned from the subsequent Grand Prix. After the reigning world champion Alain Prost switched from McLaren to Ferrari in 1990, Mansell increasingly took on the role of second driver. Originally friends with Prost for years, he was unable to assert himself in the team-internal duel and the mutual relationship suffered noticeably. In the middle of the season Prost - like Piquet years earlier - was critical of Mansell regarding his skills in testing and tuning. Prost attested that helping to vote on a car was not Mansell's strength and that he had no chance of winning the title in 1990; on the other hand, he classified Mansell as an "extremely fast, very talented man who can drive any car excellently, a well-tuned as well as a badly tuned one". The frustrated Mansell, who did not feel that he was being treated equally by Ferrari, announced his retirement at the end of the season at his home Grand Prix in Silverstone (after his suspension in 1989 he had already threatened to retire) .
However , Mansell returned to Williams in 1991 after Frank Williams convinced him during the winter break that he had a competitive car. In the first races he was somewhat overshadowed by Riccardo Patrese and the new semi-automatic gearbox of the Williams-Renault often let him down, but in the end he only narrowly lost the World Cup to his long-term rival Ayrton Senna . What is remarkable is the victory he gave away at the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal , when on the last lap, clearly leading, he already ran out of engine in the jubilation, so that he ultimately only came in sixth place. In the following season , Mansell and Williams - Renault were superior Formula 1 world champions and this year set a new season record of nine wins and 14 pole positions. Mansell won the first five races in a row, also a record at the time that was only leveled by Michael Schumacher in 2004. At the Silverstone Grand Prix, his victory replaced the Scot Jackie Stewart as the most successful British driver after victories, who had held this record since 1973 . It was not until the 2014 Formula 1 season that Lewis Hamilton beat this record at the 2014 US Grand Prix . Although Mansell dominated the season in such a way, a contract extension failed in the middle of the season due to his high salary demands and the fact that Williams-Renault had already signed Alain Prost as the second driver for 1993, which Mansell refused to accept.
1993–1995: IndyCars and Formula 1 again
Mansell achieved even greater popularity in 1993 when he won the Champ Car Championship (against the favored Emerson Fittipaldi ) for Newman / Haas Racing as the first rookie in history . He also won his first champ car race in Surfers Paradise (Australia), in which he started from pole position, just as once. This victory was followed by four more (including the Michigan 500 ). What is also remarkable about winning the championship is that Mansell managed this triumph despite a major accident in Phoenix .
Mansell is also known as the Red Five - his legendary start number, which was stuck on his Lola - Ford of the Newman / Haas team parallel to the number 1 even after winning the CART title. However, this brought little success in 1994: three pole positions and a few second places, one of them in Long Beach . In 1994 Mansell drove four Formula 1 races at Williams for the fatally injured Ayrton Senna - in addition to his assignments in the Newman Haas IndyCar team - and won the last race of the season, the Australian Grand Prix in Adelaide.
In 1995 Mansell signed a season contract with McLaren , but was unable to contest the first two races due to the cockpit being too small and the resulting extremely uncomfortable seating position (shoulders too wide). After redesigning the cockpit, Mansell drove two final races (tenth place in the San Marino GP and retirement in the Spanish GP ) before declaring the vehicle non-competitive and ending his monoposto career. From the fifth race (Monaco GP), Mark Blundell took over his place in the McLaren-Mercedes team.
Another racing career
In 1996 Mansell carried out some tests for Jordan - Peugeot , but did not contest a Formula 1 race.
In 1998 Mansell returned to the racing cockpit and started the 24 Hours of Chamonix (twelfth on the side of Ari Vatanen ). He also took part in six races of the British Touring Car Championship with a less competitive Ford Mondeo and finished fifth in the race at Donington Park .
In autumn 2005 Mansell announced his comeback and participation in the Grand Prix Masters series for former Formula 1 drivers. In November of that year he won the opening race in Kyalami (South Africa) and also the first race of 2006 in April in Qatar. During the race at Silverstone, he couldn't get past the warm-up lap due to a technical defect.
In the course of 2008 Mansell tested two Le Mans prototypes from Lola and Ginetta-Zytek together with his son Leo . With the son's change to the GT2 category of the Le Mans Series , the project initially seemed to be over, and Lawrence Tomlinson's Team LNT was only registered as a guest starter in the championship. Chamberlain Synergy with her Lola also withdrew completely from the series in 2009. At the 1000 km race in Silverstone, the last race of the season, team owner Tomlinson appeared at the track with Nigel Mansell and his son Greg . Leo Mansell was also registered on a Ferrari F430 GTC . In the race, the Mansell-Mansell-Tomlinson driver trio fell far behind due to technical defects in the Ginetta-Zytek GZ09S and ended the run outside of the points. In January 2010, Mansell announced that he would be the team principal of his own racing team in the Le Mans Series and in the 24 Hours of Le Mans . As a driver of the Beechdean Mansell Motorsport team, he registered his two sons. In selected championship races and the 24-hour race, the father also reinforced Leo and Greg in the cockpit of the Le Mans prototype. In Le Mans accident Nigel but after a few laps because of a puncture and had difficulty from the marshals to be freed from his vehicle, the medical center in Le Mans could leave but independently later.
Personal
Mansell was born the third of four children. During his childhood, his father's employment made him move and school frequently. He spent much of his youth and early adult years in Hall Green , Birmingham . He went to Rosslyn School and later to Hall Green Bilateral . He then began to study engineering at Matthew Boulton College .
Mansell lives in St. Brelade on the Channel Island of Jersey with his wife, daughter and two sons . There is a small Formula 1 museum in nearby St. Aubin, where some of his racing cars are on display. With his support, sons Leo and Greg followed in their father's footsteps - for example, in 2006 they drove in the British Formula BMW racing series . In the same year they also had a guest appearance at the season finale of the British Formula 3 Championship .
Awards
In 1986 and 1992 Mansell was voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year , Sportsman of the Year in Great Britain. Also in 1992 he was voted Europe's Sportsman of the Year .
In 2005 he was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame .
statistics
Career stations
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Statistics in the automobile / Formula 1 world championship
Grand Prix victories
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general overview
| season | team | chassis | engine | run | Victories | Second | Third | Poles | nice Race laps |
Points | WM-Pos. |
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| 1980 | Team Essex Lotus | Lotus 81 B | Ford Cosworth 3.0 V8 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1981 | Team Essex Lotus | Lotus 81B / 87 | Ford Cosworth 3.0 V8 | 13 | - | - | 1 | - | - | 8th | 14th |
| 1982 | JPS Team Lotus | Lotus 87B / 91 | Ford Cosworth 3.0 V8 | 13 | - | - | 1 | - | - | 7th | 14th |
| 1983 | JPS Team Lotus | Lotus 92 | Ford Cosworth 3.0 V8 | 8th | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | 13. |
| Lotus 94T | Renault 1.5 V6 Turbo | 7th | - | - | 1 | - | 1 | 9 | |||
| 1984 | JPS Team Lotus | Lotus 95T | Renault 1.5 V6 Turbo | 16 | - | - | 2 | 1 | - | 13 | 10. |
| 1985 | Canon Williams Honda | Williams FW10 / FW10B | Honda 1.5 V6 Turbo | 15th | 2 | 1 | - | 1 | 1 | 31 | 6th |
| 1986 | Canon Williams Honda | Williams FW11 | Honda 1.5 V6 Turbo | 16 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4th | 72 (70) | 2. |
| 1987 | Canon Williams Honda | Williams FW11B | Honda 1.5 V6 Turbo | 14th | 6th | - | 1 | 8th | 3 | 61 | 2. |
| 1988 | Canon Williams team | Williams FW12 | Judd 3.5 V8 | 14th | - | 2 | - | - | 1 | 12 | 9. |
| 1989 | Scuderia Ferrari SEFAC | Ferrari 640 | Ferrari 3.5 V12 | 15th | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | 3 | 38 | 4th |
| 1990 | Scuderia Ferrari | Ferrari 641 | Ferrari 3.5 V12 | 16 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 37 | 5. |
| 1991 | Canon Williams team | Williams FW14 | Renault 3.5 V10 | 16 | 5 | 4th | - | 2 | 6th | 72 | 2. |
| 1992 | Canon Williams team | Williams FW14B | Renault 3.5 V10 | 16 | 9 | 3 | - | 14th | 8th | 108 | 1. |
| 1994 | Rothmans Williams Renault | Williams FW16 / FW16B | Renault 3.5 V10 | 4th | 1 | - | - | 1 | - | 13 | 9. |
| 1995 | Marlboro McLaren Mercedes | McLaren MP4 / 10B | Mercedes 3.0 V10 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| total | 187 | 31 | 17th | 11 | 32 | 30th | 482 | ||||
Single results
| season | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4th | 5 | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14th | 15th | 16 | 17th |
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| 1980 |
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| 1981 |
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| DNF | 11 | DNF | 3 | DNF | 6th | 7th | DNQ | DNF | DNF | DNF | DNF | DNF | 4th | ||||
| 1982 |
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| DNF | 3 | 7th | DNF | 4th | DNF | DNF | DNF | 9 | DNF | 8th | 7th | DNF | |||||
| 1983 |
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| 12 | 12 | DNF | 12 * | DNF | DNF | 6th | DNF | 4th | DNF | 5 | DNF | 8th | 3 | NC | |||
| 1984 |
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| DNF | DNF | DNF | DNF | 3 | DNF | 6th | DNF | 6 * | DNF | 4th | DNF | 3 | DNF | DNF | DNF | ||
| 1985 |
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| DNF | 5 | 5 | 7th | 6th | DNF | INJ | DNF | 6th | DNF | 6th | 11 * | 2 | 1 | 1 | DNF | ||
| 1986 |
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| DNF | 2 | DNF | 4th | 1 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | DNF | 2 | 1 | (5) | DNF | ||
| 1987 |
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| 6th | 1 | DNF | DNF | 5 | 1 | 1 | DNF | 14 * | 1 | 3 | DNF | 1 | 1 | INJ | INJ | ||
| 1988 |
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| DNF | DNF | DNF | DNF | DNF | DNF | DNF | 2 | DNF | DNF | INJ | INJ | DNF | 2 | DNF | DNF | ||
| 1989 |
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| 1 | DNF | DNF | DNF | DNF | DSQ | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 3 | DNF | DSQ | EX | DNF | DNF | ||
| 1990 |
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| DNF | 4th | DNF | DNF | 3 | 2 | 18 * | DNF | DNF | DNF | DNF | 4th | 1 | 2 | DNF | 2 | ||
| 1991 |
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| DNF | DNF | DNF | 2 | 6 * | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | DNF | 1 | DSQ | 1 | DNF | 2 | ||
| 1992 |
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| 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | DNF | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | DNF | 1 | DNF | DNF | ||
| 1994 |
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| 1995 |
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| Legend | ||
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| colour | abbreviation | meaning |
| gold | - | victory |
| silver | - | 2nd place |
| bronze | - | 3rd place |
| green | - | Placement in the points |
| blue | - | Classified outside the point ranks |
| violet | DNF | Race not finished (did not finish) |
| NC | not classified | |
| red | DNQ | did not qualify |
| DNPQ | failed in pre-qualification (did not pre-qualify) | |
| black | DSQ | disqualified |
| White | DNS | not at the start (did not start) |
| WD | withdrawn | |
| Light Blue | PO | only participated in the training (practiced only) |
| TD | Friday test driver | |
| without | DNP | did not participate in the training (did not practice) |
| INJ | injured or sick | |
| EX | excluded | |
| DNA | did not arrive | |
| C. | Race canceled | |
| no participation in the World Cup | ||
| other | P / bold | Pole position |
| SR / italic | Fastest race lap | |
| * | not at the finish, but counted due to the distance covered |
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| () | Streak results | |
| underlined | Leader in the overall standings | |
Le Mans results
| year | team | vehicle | Teammate | Teammate | placement | Failure reason |
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| 2010 |
Beechdean Mansell Motorsport
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Ginetta-Zytek GZ09S |
Leo Mansell
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Greg Mansell
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failure | accident |
literature
English speaking:
- Nigel Mansell, James Allen: Nigel Mansell: My Autobiography. HarperCollins, 1996, ISBN 0-00-218703-5 .
- Mike Doodson et al: Nigel Mansell: A Pictorial Tribute to the Double Champion. Motorbooks International, 1995, ISBN 1-85532-591-8 .
- Alan Henry: Nigel Mansell: World Champion. Hazleton Publishing, 1992, ISBN 1-874557-00-4 .
German speaking:
- Christopher Hilton: Nigel Mansell. The great fighter of the Formula 1 scene. 1989, ISBN 3-908007-49-6 .
- Gerhard Berger: Home straight. Edition Autorevue, Vienna 1997, ISBN 3-9500754-0-2 .
Web links
- Official homepage of Nigel Mansell (English)
- Mansell's comeback in the Grand Prix Masters series
- Nigel Mansell statistics Under the headings results and statistics various Formula 1 statistics can be found, including a. the respective race placements in the different seasons .
- Nigel Mansell on f1racing.ch
Individual evidence
- ^ "British Order of Merit for Newey and Mansell" (Motorsport-Total.com on December 31, 2011)
- ↑ http://www.grandprix.com/gpe/drv-mannig.html
- ↑ Christopher Hilton: Nigel Mansell. The Fighter and His Triumph (1992) Serag, 1992, ISBN 3-908007-49-6 , p. 78.
- ↑ Motorsportmagazine, December 2013, pages 68–81
- ↑ Malcolm Folley: Senna versus Prost Century, 2009, ISBN 978-1-84605-540-9 .
- ↑ Christopher Hilton: Nigel Mansell. The fighter and his triumph (1992) Serag, 1992, ISBN 3-908007-49-6 , p. 179.
- ↑ Christopher Hilton: Ayrton Senna - The Hard Edge of Genius Corgi, 1991, ISBN 0-552-13754-5 .
- ↑ Christopher Hilton: Alain Prost - Serag born to be world champion , 1992, ISBN 3-908007-73-9 .
- ↑ Christopher Hilton: Nigel Mansell. The fighter and his triumph (1992) Serag, 1992, ISBN 3-908007-49-6 , p. 219.
- ↑ Harald Gallinnis: http://www.gt-eins.at/cms/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3329&Itemid=2
- ↑ Harald Gallinnis: http://www.gt-eins.at/cms/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2886&Itemid=2
- ↑ Oliver Runschke: Nigel Mansell becomes team boss
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Mansell, Nigel |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Mansell, Nigel Ernest James (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British racing driver |
| DATE OF BIRTH | August 8, 1953 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Upton-upon-Severn |