Mansell nigel

Mansell was born on August 8, 1953 in the small English town of Upton-on-Severn in Worcestershire . Childhood and youth passed in Hall Green , Birmingham . Before entering Matthew Boulton College , he graduated from Rosslyn School . Subsequently, before the career of a race car driver, he worked as an engineer at Lucas Engineering .

Formula Ford

1976-1977

After a successful start in karting, Nigel moved to the Formula Ford series. In his debut season in 1976, Nigel won 6 victories in 9 races, including the first race at Mallory Park . And the following year, won 20 races out of 27. A terrible accident on the highway Brands Hatch almost ended in tragedy. Spinal injury and hospital bed. Doctors announced that he would never sit behind the wheel of a racing car, and if he gets out of bed without their permission, he will remain paralyzed for the rest of his life. Five days later he got up, wrote a receipt and drove home, and after a month and a little while, he got behind the wheel again.

Formula 3

1978-1979

In 1978, he was supposed to take part in Formula 3 competitions. Due to the lack of sponsors, Nigel and his wife Roseanne had to sell the apartment. But the season did not go well. March car obviously could not compete with rivals, but his efforts on the track and driving style attracted the attention of Colin Chapman , head of Lotus . And in June, he was recognized as the “racing hope of the year” in the UK. In September 1979, right before participating in the Lotus tests, he was in a severe accident, as a result of the ramming of his car by De Cesaris in the Formula 3 championship. Mansell's car rolled over and he broke the vertebra. A second spinal injury in two years did not stop him. The next day, while in the hospital, he told Chapman, “This is not a problem. I will be on tests in Paul Ricard ! ”And he kept his word.

Formula 1

1980–1984: Lotus

Nigella Mansell debuted in Formula 1 in 1980. Team owner Lotus Colin Chapman allowed him to fly a spare (third) team car in three phases of the season. The debut of the “Big Nija” in the “Royal Races” was not easy - in his very first race ( Austrian Grand Prix 1980 ), he was forced to endure the chemical burns of his back due to spilled fuel. The tanker did not see the edges of the tank, and fuel poured into the driver's seat. Suffering ended only on the 40th lap, when the engine burned ^[5] .

Since 1981, the young Briton took the place of the second pilot of the team, replacing former world champion American Mario Andretti . The first pilot in that season was also the young, but more experienced Italian Elio de Angelis . The team in the early 1980s did not shine, for example, the best achievement of its riders in the 1981 season was the third place of Mansell in the Belgian Grand Prix .

In 1982-1984, Nigel also managed to climb the third step of the podium in each season. This is the maximum that he was able to achieve in the team, although he repeatedly led the race and was even close to victory, as, for example, in the 1984 US Grand Prix . This race, held in Dallas , was one of the hottest in the history of Formula 1, even in the shade the temperature was more than 40 degrees. Mansell first started from pole position, was in the lead in the race, but then he lost a duel for the victory Keke Rosberg , and on the last lap of the two-hour race in the tank, his Lotus-Renault ran out of fuel. The Briton tried to push the car to the finish line, but after a few dozen meters fell exhausted in the middle of the start-finish line, not quite reaching the white line. Nevertheless, Mansell was classified in the sixth race with a lag of 3 laps ^[6] .

In the team "Lotus" in the 1980s, there was a clear separation between the first and second pilots. Nevertheless, in many races Mansell performed better than the leader of the team of de Angelis. So in 1983, Mansell scored 10 points for the season and took 12th place, while de Angelis with two points was only in 17th place. But in general, Mansell lost to De Angelis in all respects in joint seasons. Elio was faster than Mansell, both in qualifications in one quick lap and in races. In 1981, de Angelis scored 14 points, Mansell was only 8, in 1982, de Angelis gained 23 points, Mansell had only 7. In 1984, Elio beat Mansell with a score of 34-13.

1985-1988: The Williams Team

The real breakthrough in Nigel Mansell’s career came with his joining the Williams team in 1985 , where he replaced French veteran Jacques Laffitte . The first pilot of the team was Finn Keio Rosberg , a former world champion. By this year, Honda’s minders had prepared the excellent Honda RA165E engine - the most powerful Formula 1 engine at the time and the team developed a successful FW10 chassis. But Japanese engines often broke down in the first half of the season, but at the end of the championship, the Williams - Honda cars were not equal in speed. October 6, 1985 Mansell won his first race - the European Grand Prix , held in his homeland in England. Two weeks later, he surrendered to the South African Grand Prix . At the end of the year for the first time Mansell entered the top six.

1986 could be a triumph for the British. Honda prepared the RA166E engine for this season - one of the best power units in the history of the company's participation in Formula 1. The power of the 1.5-liter turbo-engine with supercharging by IHI in the qualification version reached 1300 liters. with. And in the racing specification, the engine produced up to 900 liters. with. Compared to its rival engines, the RA166E was distinguished by good fuel economy. Patrick Head designed the awesome FW11 chassis. The new partner of Mansell was the two-time world champion Nelson Piquet , who came to the place of Rosberg . Nominally, he was considered the first pilot of the Williams, in fact, in this team, both drivers had full equality. Mansell and Piquet won the race for the race, sometimes ahead of everyone else in the circle. The Brazilian and the Englishman entered into a fierce battle between themselves for the champion title. Soon the relationship between them began to deteriorate. The team's owner, Frank Williams, was undergoing rehabilitation after a spring car accident, and Patrick Head was unable to keep the situation under control. And while the pilots took away points from each other, the current world champion Frenchman Alain Prost in each race tried to achieve the highest possible result. All this led to the fact that before the final stage three pilots claimed the title - Mansell, Prost from the McLaren team scored six points and another point - Piquet. Before the last race, Ron Dennis , head of the McLaren team, said that the new Goodyear tires let the entire race run without changing tires. To enhance the effect of this statement, the McLaren co-pilot Rosberg was driving in a race without changing tires. In the Australian Grand Prix, Mansell was leading shortly before the finish, but a burst rear tire cost him victory in both the race and the championship. Piquet urgently went to the pits to change tires, but this unscheduled stop also did not allow him to get ahead in the championship of Prost, who became the two-time world champion, Mansell - the vice-champion, and Piquet - the third prize winner.

The threefold increase in the power of the Formula 1 engines in just 10 years has required the FIA to take quick and decisive measures, because safety technology has not kept up with the race as usual. In 1987, a campaign began to reduce the power of the motors. Turbocharging pressure was limited to 4 bar, it was announced that since 1989 the turbines will be outlawed. Pilots with Honda engines benefited from the fact that competing manufacturers stopped developing new powertrain models. Therefore, the Williams racers turned the 1987 season into a solo performance. The head of the team returned to the paddock to continue the leadership of the team. In the second half of the season, only his riders fought for the title. Mansell rode a little more quickly and desperately (6 wins in the Grand Prix), Piquet - most often finished in the points zone (although he had only 3 wins). Everything was decided on the new Japanese highway Suzuka . Mansell in the qualification of the Japanese Grand Prix landed in a serious accident, and Nelson won his third title without resistance.

On the eve of the 1988 season, Williams lost its Honda engines, and power units of the small British company Judd appeared on the English team's cars. These motors had good performance, but were extremely unreliable. Mansell was able to complete only two stages out of fourteen (both in second place), in which he started, two more missed due to illness. As a result, he took only 9th place at the end of the year and in the offseason he moved to Ferrari .

1989–1990: Ferrari

Nigel goes to Ferrari before the 1989 season . The very first race for the new team becomes golden - the Briton wins the Brazilian stage. For the year there was another victory in Hungary, and Mansell was able to beat his partner - Berger . Although the "Scuderia" then could not challenge the pilots "McLaren" , leading the fight at his level, but looked very good, promising future prospects.

Already in 1990, Ferrari had a car that could win a lot. But the new partner - the current world champion Alain Prost - completely surpassed Mansell. And while the Frenchman was competing with Senna, Nigel played the role of co-pilot. The only victory in the Portuguese race spoiled Mansell’s relationship with Ferrari management. Prost and Mansell started from the first row of the starting field, but in the very first turn the British blocked the trajectory of his partner, who because of this incident missed both McLaren. Prost finished third behind Senna, and lost real chances for a fourth title this season. The Briton was thinking about completing a career but decided to return to Williams .

1991-1992: Williams

In the 1991 season, Mansell came down in the first three races. In the future, things got better, he soon approached on points to Senna, but Ayrton's spectacled reserve was too great. Nigel finished second in the championship. In the final race of the season, the Englishman suffered a severe leg injury, his place on the podium (2nd place in the race stopped after 14 laps) was empty, because at that time he was evacuated by helicopter to the hospital. The injury was very serious, and the doctors insisted on the operation, but then full participation in the next season was questionable. Mansell refused surgical intervention. The Williams and Head machine with active suspension had no equal. All the main competitors faced problems: the McLaren race cars did not look very confident, Ferrari continued to pursue the crisis, Prost found himself on forced leave, the Benetton race cars were good, but did not have a competitive engine.

As a result, in the 1992 season, Nigel Mansell received the Williams FW14B super-weapon with an active suspension, dominated the entire season and updated a number of Formula 1 record achievements : he gave the longest series of victories from the first race of the season - 5, won the greatest number of grand - for the season - 9, repeated the record of Senna in 1988 in the number of pole positions in a row from the start of the season - 6, won a record greater number of pole positions for the season - 14, simultaneously setting the record for the highest percentage of pole positions in the season - 88% (14 poles in 16 races) - this is achieved No overlap in the past, showed the highest number of fastest laps per season - 8, scored the highest number of points per season - 108, created the largest gap from world vice-champion - 52 points (the second pilot of the team Ricardo Patrese was second in the championship) and, finally, became the world champion for 5 stages to the finish of the season - the previous record was 3 stages to the finish.

Mansell became the first British champion since the time of James Hunt .

At the end of the season, the problem of further career arose again. Williams and Head chose from Senna and Prost, and they were not going to renew the contract with Nigel. After much thought Mansell moved overseas to participate in the American series "Indikar".

CART

1993-1994: Newman / Haas

Mansell immediately won the first race and soon became the champion at the end of the season. The following year, his "Lola" could not compete with the "Penske" younger Al Anser, and Mansell decided to return to the "Formula 1"

Return to Formula 1

1994: Williams

After the death of Senna, Williams chose the co-pilot from veterans Patrese, Mansell and rookie Coulthard . But Patrese, who completed the performances a year earlier, was not going to return. And Mansell and Coulthard alternately made up a pair of Damon Hill, who could win the championship.

At the last stage of the year, in Australia , Mansell started from a pole position. In the very first rounds, he missed Schumacher and Hill, who quickly left to find out which of them would be the strongest. But after a collision and a descent of both at the 35th round, Nigel again led the race and was able to defend his position against the attacks of Berger. Although Hill's meeting made Schumacher a champion, Mansell's victory brought the Team of Designers to the team. It was the 31st and final victory of the British Lion.

The following year, the team entered into an agreement not with him, but with the young Scottish Coulthard. Mansell decided to pursue a career in McLaren .

Recent years in Formula 1

Plump champion was not easy to squeeze into the cockpit , therefore his debut in “McLaren” fell only on the third race of the season. Two pale Grand Prix were the last in the career of Mansell. He was still trying to get back behind the wheel several times, had tests at Jordan in the winter before the start of the 1997 season.

British Touring Car Championship

1998: Ford

Grand prix masters

2005

2006

• В 1986 и 1992 годах Мэнселлу был присуждён титул BBC Sports Personality of the Year ^{[7] [8]} . Помимо Найджела только двое спортсменов были удостоены этого звания дважды.
• В 2005 году Мэнселл был отмечен в Международном зале Славы автоспорта ^[9] .
• В 2012 году Найджелу Мэнселлу пожалован статус Командора Ордена Британской империи ^[10] .

• За свою карьеру Найджел Мэнселл стартовал только в четырёх командах ( Лотус , Уильямс , Феррари , Макларен ), которые являются четырьмя ведущими командами Формулы 1 за всю историю почти по всем статистическим показателям.
• Провёл 176 Гран-при, прежде чем выиграл чемпионат.
• Выиграл свой единственный чемпионат спустя всего 8 дней после своего 39-летия, никто после него не смог завоевать чемпионство в таком возрасте.
• Свой последний Гран-при выиграл в 1994-м в возрасте 41 года, с тех пор никто не выигрывал гонку в таком возрасте.
• Стал героем симулятора Формулы-1 для игровой приставки NES/Famicom/Dendy Nigel Mansel's World Championship Challenge (NES) .

• Найджел Мэнселл (рус.) на сайте wildsoft.motorsport.com
• Official site
• King Nigel Mansell — Unofficial site
• Biography of Nigel Mansell (Driver's life)
• Статья о Найджеле Мэнселле на f1news.ru
• Биография и статистика Найджела Мэнселла на wildsoft.ru
• BBC Sport — News of Return in Gand Prix Masters
• Grand Prix Masters
• Nigel Mansell statistics
• People Against Proposed Go Kart Track In Devon