Nigel Mansell returns to F1
Discussion
Ok he's only driving a Jordan in London for the Formula One day Tuesday 6th July
Racing Live said:
Jordan Grand Prix is delighted to announce that 1992 F1 World Champion Nigel Mansell will drive a Jordan Ford EJ14 in the “F1 Comes to Regent Street” event on Tuesday 6th July.
Days before the 2004 British Grand Prix, the fans’ favourite British driver will be at the wheel of a Silverstone-based team’s car, in an event which will bring the thrills of Formula One to the heart of the UK capital.
Mansell had a top-secret seat fitting at the Jordan factory today and immediately afterwards carried out a familiarisation run at Silverstone circuit just across the road from the team’s headquarters.
"It’s great to be back in an F1 car, reunited with the love of my life," said Mansell. "I think what London is doing is very special for the British Grand Prix. When I got the phone call from Eddie asking me if I would do this, it seemed the right thing to do. I am comfortable in the car after today and really enjoyed having a little play this afternoon. I practised launches, did a few laps and went round some corners a bit quicker than I should have! I can’t wait to take part in the Regent Street event, this should be great for the fans.”
Eddie Jordan said, “This unique event in Regent Street is all about Formula 1 giving something back to the fans. Nigel was undoubtedly the fans’ favourite all over the world and I was delighted when he accepted my invitation to drive a Jordan car on this special occasion. I was a fan of Nigel's when we raced together in Formula 3 in the seventies and the total commitment and never-say- die attitude he showed throughout his racing career is what I have tried to follow at Jordan Grand Prix.”
“Nigel is not just a former World Champion he is one of Britain's legendary sportsmen and I'm extremely proud he's driving our Jordan Ford. I'm sure if he wanted to race again he'd show many of today's heroes how to do it; you never know we might be able to tempt him away from the golf course to do another season!”
FourWheelDrift said:
Ok he's only driving a Jordan in London for the Formula One day Tuesday 6th July
Racing Live said:
Mansell had a top-secret seat fitting at the Jordan factory today and immediately afterwards carried out a familiarisation run at Silverstone circuit just across the road from the team’s headquarters.
Not much of a secret was it?
Been reading about some of Mansell's races on the Autosport archives - mainly the 87 and 92 Brit GP's. It is easy to forget just how mighty he was, especially in that Williams.
He would regularly thrash his teammate (in 87 he posted 20 laps quicker than Piquet's bets, who was himself a second clear of the rest of the field), and Williams would themselves murder the opposition. Extra ordinary bad luck only prevented him from being more successful.
The red car domination, especially pilotted by one MS, pales into insignificance when compared to the Cannon cars in the late 80's early 90's. Sure Schumacher has managed to generate more statistical success, but in terms of being the fastest, he is nowhere in comparison.
So, maybe it is not the domination that is killing F1 at the moment. Maybe it is the manner of the victories. Williams just used to blast the opposition into insignificance, whilst Ferarri overtake in the pits.
I'm now on the bandwaggon -
Ban in race refulling in F1.
Rich
He would regularly thrash his teammate (in 87 he posted 20 laps quicker than Piquet's bets, who was himself a second clear of the rest of the field), and Williams would themselves murder the opposition. Extra ordinary bad luck only prevented him from being more successful.
The red car domination, especially pilotted by one MS, pales into insignificance when compared to the Cannon cars in the late 80's early 90's. Sure Schumacher has managed to generate more statistical success, but in terms of being the fastest, he is nowhere in comparison.
So, maybe it is not the domination that is killing F1 at the moment. Maybe it is the manner of the victories. Williams just used to blast the opposition into insignificance, whilst Ferarri overtake in the pits
. I'm now on the bandwaggon -
Ban in race refulling in F1. Rich
I'm sorry but i have never rated Nigel Mansell any higher than average. He will always be remembered by me as a bad loser and a whinger. Nothing was ever his fault, car breakdowns, crashes, never his fault. he always had to point the blame on someone else. He was fast granted, but he wasnt as fast as Senna and he wasnt as clinical a racer as Prost. To say that Schumachers domiation pales into insignificance is complete cobblers! Leave the german stigmatism alone and look at the facts. Schumacher has reached the top of the sport and stayed there for as long as Fangio did. Mansell won the title went to Indycars, which at the time was full of old men (Al Unser, Emerson Fittipaldi, Mario Andretti) and the rest is already well documented.... knackered touring cars, one for the money in an awful McLaren....
The "Active" Williams of the 1991-1994 era was an exceptional car. Mansell was an average driver in that exceptional car.
The "Active" Williams of the 1991-1994 era was an exceptional car. Mansell was an average driver in that exceptional car.
You obviously feel strongly about that so am I allowed to disagree without being flamed? Well let's see, Mansell was one of the most entertaining drivers of that era, as you say not as clinical as Prost but what the heck I'd rather watch an F1 driver go round the outside of Berger to over take if the inside line is blocked than sit doing nothing, or indeed overtake both Prost and Senna at Silverstone as he pulled out and realised the double was on! Don't confuse his personality outside the car with his driving talent and abilities in it! Mansell also happened to be around during what I consider to be a golden era in F1 racing Mansell, Prost, Senna all racing together at the same time. Mansell was at the top of his game for 4 to 5 years and was unlucky not to have more than 1 title to his name, as you say he won the F1 title and moved to Indy, what you fail to mention is that he also won this at the first attempt, incidentally winning the Indy 500 as well. I also seem to remember he was Rookie of the Year. To my mind people are far to quick to jump on Mansell's case simply because he had a Brummie accent and a tendency to over dramatise every incident, rather than the more typical British hero who understates the dramatic! That aside he was a real racer with a will to win at all costs and far more exciting and entertaining than many of today’s drivers who seem content to sit behind a slower car e.g. for 47 laps of the 2003 Monaco GP! Rich...
Pablo,
I`m sure you`re being deliberately controversial and I`m certainly no Mansell fan but I suggest you have a proper look at Nigels career before stating him as being average.
Insecure and moody, aggressive, whingy and a sometimes pain in the arse he may have been but when he got going he was a spectacularly quick chap...
I`m sure you`re being deliberately controversial and I`m certainly no Mansell fan but I suggest you have a proper look at Nigels career before stating him as being average.
Insecure and moody, aggressive, whingy and a sometimes pain in the arse he may have been but when he got going he was a spectacularly quick chap...
I honestly wasnt being deliberatly controversial! Mansell was a racer fair enough, but he was racing against racers which is something that cannot be said for the sport today. Schumacher does not have anyone on his tail for the entire race, maybe Montoya for a bit but these days thats getting rare!
I believe you have to look at his personality out of the car as well as his performance. If you didnt do that every one who posts here would be in awe of Schumacher as, once in the seat, he is incredible. Out of it, yes hes a bit of an arse!
and Mansell had a moustache!
no racing driver should be allowed a moustache unless its a Graham Hill type affair!
I believe you have to look at his personality out of the car as well as his performance. If you didnt do that every one who posts here would be in awe of Schumacher as, once in the seat, he is incredible. Out of it, yes hes a bit of an arse!
and Mansell had a moustache!
no racing driver should be allowed a moustache unless its a Graham Hill type affair! The Brits were split in their loyalty to Nigel - he was either adored or despised. I blame his accent myself. What did George Bernard Shaw onec say - an Englishman only has to hear another Englishman's accent to instantly despise him".
The Italians, on the other hand, who probably couldn't tell a Brummie accent from a Cockney one, loved him - they called him "Il Leone". All that mattered to them was how he drove a Grand Prix car.
The Italians, on the other hand, who probably couldn't tell a Brummie accent from a Cockney one, loved him - they called him "Il Leone". All that mattered to them was how he drove a Grand Prix car.
I think that the posts sort of illustrate what I was trying to say (well to all except pablo).
My memories of Mansell are that he wasn't really anything special - and I'm sure that those were all down to his personality. Looking at his career, I was obvioulsy wrong.
What struck me when reading through the Autosport archives, is that not only did the Williams total the opposition, but Mansell could make his team mates look ordinary in comparison (OK, he may have been beaten by them at times too).
Therefore, if he were distinctively average, those team mates must have been shocking - strangely, history is actually quite kind about the other Williams drivers.
Re comaprisons with the Shoe maker, it is my opinion that the car he is driving has something to do with his present successes. He also has had the advantage of a tame team mate (something that has never been the case at Williams).
Yes, Shumacher is very good at converting opportunities into results, but for shear racing, I'm now not convinced he was that far ahead of our Nige.
Rich
). My memories of Mansell are that he wasn't really anything special - and I'm sure that those were all down to his personality. Looking at his career, I was obvioulsy wrong.
What struck me when reading through the Autosport archives, is that not only did the Williams total the opposition, but Mansell could make his team mates look ordinary in comparison (OK, he may have been beaten by them at times too).
Therefore, if he were distinctively average, those team mates must have been shocking - strangely, history is actually quite kind about the other Williams drivers.
Re comaprisons with the Shoe maker, it is my opinion that the car he is driving has something to do with his present successes. He also has had the advantage of a tame team mate (something that has never been the case at Williams).
Yes, Shumacher is very good at converting opportunities into results, but for shear racing, I'm now not convinced he was that far ahead of our Nige.
Rich
Sorry, but I have to agree with pablo to some extent.
Anything that broke or went wrong was always someone else's fault. Yes, he had a lot of bad luck, but it was never his fault. Ever.
He was a whinger. Always full of excuses.
But not only was he a poor loser he was a poor winner too! If he won then his post-race interview would always be full of talk about how this went wrong, or that wasn't working properly, but he drove round the problem.
And I'll never forget that fantastic Monaco race when he pitted due to a suspected tyre failure and Senna got in front of him. Mansell couldn't get round him, and there was some truly fantasic racing (and I will credit Mansell with that), but when he came second and Senna lept out of his car with a spritely step, Mansell had to be helped out of his car and supported since he was so exhausted from the race. Overdramatic and put on. Either that or he should have spent more time in the gym and less time being a prima donna about having a box of Kit Kat each race (although I acknowledge that the Kit Kat thing could be apocyphal).
Mansell was certainly above average, don't get me wrong, but I don't think he was in the league of Senna and Schumacher like some posters seem to think he was.
>> Edited by JonRB on Wednesday 30th June 18:08
Anything that broke or went wrong was always someone else's fault. Yes, he had a lot of bad luck, but it was never his fault. Ever.
He was a whinger. Always full of excuses.
But not only was he a poor loser he was a poor winner too! If he won then his post-race interview would always be full of talk about how this went wrong, or that wasn't working properly, but he drove round the problem.
And I'll never forget that fantastic Monaco race when he pitted due to a suspected tyre failure and Senna got in front of him. Mansell couldn't get round him, and there was some truly fantasic racing (and I will credit Mansell with that), but when he came second and Senna lept out of his car with a spritely step, Mansell had to be helped out of his car and supported since he was so exhausted from the race. Overdramatic and put on. Either that or he should have spent more time in the gym and less time being a prima donna about having a box of Kit Kat each race (although I acknowledge that the Kit Kat thing could be apocyphal).
Mansell was certainly above average, don't get me wrong, but I don't think he was in the league of Senna and Schumacher like some posters seem to think he was.
>> Edited by JonRB on Wednesday 30th June 18:08
Eric Mc said:
I just wish there was someone like him racing today. At least he was always making an effort. Too many of the current generation seem content to settle for whatever they can get.
Well, yes, that is true. Mansell had no concept of "turning the wick down", did he? Remember him posting fastest laps in the closing stages of a race (Canada, I think it was), way out in the lead, and then running out of fuel on the last lap!
>> Edited by JonRB on Wednesday 30th June 18:20
JonRB said:
Anything that broke or went wrong was always someone else's fault. Yes, he had a lot of bad luck, but it was never his fault. Ever.
He was a whinger. Always full of excuses.
But not only was he a poor loser he was a poor winner too! If he won then his post-race interview would always be full of talk about how this went wrong, or that wasn't working properly, but he drove round the problem.
Give me an example of a Formula One racing driver of the last 10 years who hasn't?
They never blame themselves, have huge ego's but most of them haven't won a race let alone a World Championship. Most of them aren't worthy of cleaning Mansell's boots.
FourWheelDrift said:Ralf Schumacher's immortal quote "I
Give me an example of a Formula One racing driver of the last 10 years who hasn't?
ed up" springs to mind. Or Johnny Herbert having his nose taken off by another driver and just shrugging and saying that was just racing.
Or Michael Schumacher saying "I made a mistake. That is all."
Gassing Station | General Motorsport | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff