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Nigel Mansell's spectacular determination at the wheel of a Grand Prix car propelled him to public recognition in the mid-1980's in much the same way as James Hunt had achieved celebrity status a decade earlier. But while Hunt won the 1976 World Championship, Mansell will be remembered most for his last minute failure to take the title ten years later.
Across the world, television viewers shared the agony of his disappointment as one of the rear tires on his Williams-Honda FW11B disintegrated at 190 mhp in the Australian GP as he was poised to take the title. It was a far cry from his job at Lucas Aerospace in the early 1970's where he had worked on a number of projects, including the RB211 jet engine, before deciding to throw his entire efforts into a motor racing career. From an early age Mansell's interest in motoring had been encouraged by his father, Eric. Nigel started in the rough and tumble of kart racing before graduating to car racing in 1976 when he won his first Formula Ford event. He struggled onwards into F3, along the way breaking his neck and fracturing a vertebra in his back. But on each occasion he bounced back into play with the reliance and commitment which marked him out as somebody quite special.
These dogged early efforts were eventually brought to the attention of Lotus boss, Colin Chapman, who Mansell impressed considerably during his first test in a F1 car during the summer of 1979. He was duly signed up as a test and development driver, getting his chance to handle a third works Lotus in the 1980 Austrian Grand Prix. It was typical of this man that he drove the race in acute discomfort from petrol burns - a result of the fuel cell leaking its contents into the cockpit. He refused to give up until his engine expired. In 1981 he was recruited as a full-time member of the F1 team, partnering Elio de Angelis, but Lotus fortunes were then at a low ebb and Grand Prix success continued to elude him. Chapman's faith in his talent never wavered, but when the Lotus founder died suddenly from a heart attack in December 1982, Mansell lost a valuable friend and mentor just when he needed him most.
Nigel stayed with Lotus through to the end of 1984, but his driving sometimes displayed a desperate quality, perhaps reflecting the internal personal tensions between him and team manger, Peter Warr. Serious F1 success did not come his way until 1985, after he had left Team Lotus and joined Williams as a second driver alongside Keke Rosberg. Just as his critics were confirming their view that Mansell would never win a Formula 1 race, he scored a well-judged and overwhelmingly popular victory in the Grand Prix of Europe at Brands Hatch. This was immediately followed up with victory in the South African GP at Kyalami, earning him a final sixth place in the drivers' points table.
This late season success unlocked the gates to a flood tide of success in 1986. His confidence by now bolstered, Mansell sped to five Grand Prix victories that season, only losing his chance of the Championship with that nerve-racking late-race tire failure.
Now acknowledged as a world-class driver, Mansell delivered more of the same in 1987, a heady blend of breathtaking speed spiced with a handful of errors and a smattering of mechanical misfortunes. After winning six races in masterly style, an accident in practice for the Japanese GP wrote the dogged Englishman out of the script with two races to go. The championship was handed on a plate to his team mate Nelson Piquet. Motor racing politics resulted in Williams being deprived of its Honda engine supply in 1988 and the famous English team fell back on 3.5 liter Judd V8's. it was hoped that a light, agile technical package, complemented by the use of computer-controlled "active ride" suspension would sustain the team's competitiveness. In the event, the season degenerated into a disappointing mess with the team failing to score a single victory. Mansell, frustrated and disillusioned, agreed in mid-season to switch to Ferrari for 1989.
Armed with the brand new Ferrari 640, complete with revolutionary electro-hydraulic semi-automatic gear change, he won on his debut outing for Maranello. This Brazilian GP victory ensured that he was accorded heroic status amongst the Italian motor racing elite, and his later victory in the Hungarian race marked a rare defeat for the all-conquering McLaren-Hondas. However, later that season disqualification from the Portuguese GP and suspension from the following weekend's Spanish race tipped his thoughts temporarily towards retirement.
This idea surfaced again more forcefully the following summer when, after his new team mate Alain Prost reached the mid-season point with four victories to his own tally of zero, Mansell announced that he would quit F1 at the end of the season. It seemed like an emotional over-reaction to his retirement in the British GP at Silverstone, at race he had looked set to win commandingly.
As things transpired, he reversed his retirement decision, but he did not stay with Ferrari. Frank Williams made him an offer he could not refuse and he returned to the British team for 1991, reeling off five victories in the new Renault V10-engined FW14 to finish runner-up in the World Championship yet again.
By the end of 1991, Mansell had consolidated his position as one of Britain's highest-paid professional sportsmen. His cliff-top home on the Isle of Man, purpose built for the family in 1987, was put on the market for over 3 million as he moved with his wife Rosanne and their three children to a similarly magnificent Florida mansion for the winter months. It must have seemed a world away from the days when he and Rosanne had sold their home and moved into rented accommodation in order to finance Nigel's F3 apprenticeship as he struggled to get a foothold on the lowest rung of the motor racing ladder.
He opened the 1992 season with an unprecedented run of five consecutive victories and at last seemed firmly on course for the World Championship.
He was abetted in his bid by having the best car on the circuit and won the title deservedly and apparently with ease. Unfortunately, his time at Williams had come to an end since no agreement could be made between them for him to go on driving their for 1993. He went to America and did so well at Indy Car racing that he took the PPG Cup on his first try. 1994 proved more difficult as a new and almost unbeatable car was produced by Penske. It was at this point that he was lured back to F1 after the death of Senna and, although he won in the season-finale at Adelaide, Williams chose to go with Hill and Coulthard in 1995. They may have regretted their decision since that partnership could not undermine Schumacher, but Mansell's appearance in two races for McLaren that year did not produce any real spark either.
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