Mar 03, 2008
It would be an amazing year for Nelson Piquet. He would win the championship but not without difficulties-a-plenty. Mansell and Senna delivered mindblowing performances throughout the season. It was bad for Prost with only three wins. Surprisingly, Piquet was eliminated from the first race at Brazil after an accident resulted in a violent impact giving him a sore ankle; Alain Prost was the winner. At Imola, the tide was in Mansell’s favor but Piquet would have his worst F1 accident during practice. Mansell was able to win with Senna second and Alboreto’s Ferrari roaring to third place with the crowd’s approval. The Belgium race was interrupted but after restarting, Senna took the lead, with Mansell and Piquet following him. Prost wasn’t to be left behind when for some strange reason, Alboreto and Piquet slowed down their cars… Monaco and Detroit were owned by Ayrton Senna in some heart thumping racing action. Senna's victory at Monaco was a first for a car with active suspension; with it, his tires were able to last for a long time on the tracks. At Detroit, Senna didn’t even stop once and his Lotus managed on the bumpy tracks. Mansell’s Williams was also a fast and resistant car and he managed to give Senna a scare. Winning would have to wait for Mansell though; until the next couple of races. Paul Ricard and Silverstone were easy for Mansell; Piquet faced technical problems…the Brazilian had come really close to cinching wins but was thwarted by a cunning Mansell who had his best race at Silverstone. Piquet wasn’t going to give up easily; in his career, he had struggled with transmission and other technical problems but to lose to Mansell…no, he had to win and he did it twice; in Germany and Hungary. It looked like Mansell didn’t even have a chance but he struck back at the Austrian Grand Prix where Piquet who had lost almost 18 seconds in the pit lost much more by losing to Mansell. This was serious business! In Italy, Piquet would regain his stature and his winning skills paid off handsomely. Senna however was also performing well; he avoided the barriers and raced two laps in 1`30. Piquet was in the presence of a fighter but Senna had to back down. Portugal was a surprise race with Prost coming out on top; he wasn’t able to continue in that vein for long. Spain saw some action—Mansell regained ground and his energy was palpable. But he also flouted a rule by jumping out of the car when technicians were checking his equipment—FIA fined him. In the race, Alboreto’s Ferrari engine got blown up and Piquet was no match for a rejuvenated Mansell. The Mexican Grand Prix had the total laps aggregated due to an accident. When the race restarted, Piquet was sandwiched between Mansell and Senna and looked like he was leading but Mansell was even more ruthless, earning his win. Senna was fined 15,000 dollars for his behavior with an official who just wanted to help! Mansell was lucky to not get seriously hurt at the Japan Grand Prix. He exceeded the speed limit around a bend creating an incorrect trajectory. He lost control of the car and hit the barriers very hard. Fortunately, he didn’t have to be hospitalized, but did suffer excruciating pain to his head. It was the Austrian, Gerard Berger who won this race and the next; the final one; and it was a considerable achievement for Ferrari as well. In the end though, fine performances by Mansell and Senna couldn’t stop the 76 points that Nelson earned! This was the third time he conquered the F1 world.