Mar 01, 2008
Ayrton Senna had stamped his authority on the 1991 season with a 24 point victory. This threw down the gauntlet of challenge to Nigel Mansell, who at 39 was into his final season in Formula One. But with 9 wins, this was one extraordinary race car driver and at his age, was quietly reinforcing the power of experience. Renault Williams were definitely happy; leading by 108 points and the Brit’s resilience would make history in 1992 by winning the championship. Mansell born in1953 first began in the F1 circuit in 1980 with the Lotus team, driving in only two races that season. In 1981 he became a full-time Lotus driver. In 1985 he joined the Williams team driving the 'RED 5' car which he drove throughout his career. It was the 'RED 5' car that helped him win the championship from prime contenders such as Senna and Patrese. In 1992, Kylami in South Africa was an unusual destination, and thus a new start to the season. Mansell was the fastest out of the blocks and won by a distance. Mansell had taken a pole ahead of Senna, Patrese, Alesi, Berger and Schumacher. At the start, Patrese blazed by both McLarens and Berger lost out to both Alesi and Schumacher as well. It was a one-two for the Williams cars that were looking to end the vice-like grip of McLaren Honda in the Constructors Championship. Round 2 at Mexico went to again went to Mansell. Riccardo Patrese was second again. It was a good start for Patrese who till then was a journeyman driver. Interlagos at Brazil saw the scene for the third race as a hat-trick for Mansell who by now seemed unbeatable. The 3rd place finisher, a certain rookie named Michael Schumacher, finished a lap down. Such was the dominance of Mansell who was chasing his first season title that often better or talented drivers were overlooked! The Catalunya and Imola venues virtually sealed the fate of the Drivers Championship with two-thirds of the season still to go! Mansell forced the other drivers to play musical chairs amongst themselves for five races! The Brit could not be stopped; he was a juggernaut. Patrese and Schumacher seemed to be the only drivers who could hope to stop Mansell and unfortunately, Senna was off-color. Nigel had 6 wins before being ousted by Senna at Monte Carlo. Monaco was Senna’s turf, and he obliged the elite audience with a win. Gerard Berger, arguably the biggest under-achiever in Formula One history, stole the next race from under Schumacher’s nose. Schumacher was having a sterling season so far. Mansell resumed service for the next 3 races—France, Britain and Germany. But Senna with two second place finishings in these races seemed to have found his touch. He confirmed this with a win at Hungary. But by then the season was all about who would finish second. Next, Schumacher won at Belgium by a long margin over Mansell and proved that he had the potential to become a force to reckon with in the future. The foundation was now being laid and Schumacher would later become an icon in time. The rest of the races were purely of academic interest and in between, Mansell announced his retirement. A cool Mansell finished with 108 points and Patrese finished second with 56. The margin says it all—Mansell had risen in a blaze of glory. Now Senna, Schumacher and Prost had a lot to look forward to in the next season!