Former Ferrari driver Nigel Mansell has now finally figured out why he was so unpopular among his teammates in F1.
Nigel Mansell retired from F1 at the end of the 1992 season after an illustrious racing career of 15 years, winning the 1992 championship.
Mansell had returned to the Williams team in the 1991 season and became the number one driver. Prior to that, he says he used to compete with number two status in the team. In his extensive career, the Briton had raced alongside the likes of Mario Andretti, Keke Rosberg, Nelson Piquet and Alain Prost.
In an interview, Mansell said that when he was racing he would often wonder why some of his teammates disliked him, naming Piquet in particular.
After the end of his racing career, the Briton looked back and realised that it was because Piquet did not like Mansell beating him in a number two car.
Nigel Mansell on fresher tyres made a late charge for victory in his last race for Ferrari, but Nelson Piquet on worn tyres held on for his 2nd win of the year & secured 3rd place in the drivers standings. Australian GP, Adelaide, 4th November 1990 🏁 #F1pic.twitter.com/QXwjI0CwBo
— F1 in the 1990s 🚦🏎🏁🏆🍾 (@1990sF1) November 4, 2021
In 1980, when Mansell debuted in F1 there were seven world champions racing together. He said, “To beat the likes of Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna, Nelson Piquet, Michael Schumacher, and this to name but a few, there were a lot of incredible great drivers at that time.”
“And to do it when you’re sort of, okay, ’91, ’92 I was outright number one driver, that’s why I was competing for the championship, but people forget that when I was driving for the teams up until ’91, ’92, I was the number two driver, driving with four different world champions.”
“Piquet wasn’t my best friend” – Nigel Mansell
In modern F1, both the cars of one single team are equal in terms of reliability and on-track performance. But Mansell revealed that back in his era, a number two car meant a significantly lower performance and problems in reliability.
This made the chances for drivers in number two cars to cross the finish line low and therefore lose the points needed to battle for the championship title.
But the Briton, despite being in an inferior car, outperformed many talented drivers and teammates in his time.
The 69-year-old said, “When you’re a world champion or multi-world champion, and then you’re beating them in a number two car like I was with Nelson Piquet with Williams, he wasn’t my best friend was he?!”
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