Ayrton Senna took a lift back to the pits from Nigel Mansell at the 1991 British Grand Prix after the Brazillian ran out of fuel.
Two of the greats of the sport created the most iconic moment in the history of the sport at the 1991 British GP. Williams’ Nigel Mansell gave a taxi ride to the then two-times world champion Ayrton Senna.
An iconic moment as race winner Nigel Mansell stops at Club Corner and gives title rival Ayrton Senna a lift back to the pits. Senna had ran out fuel on the last lap, dropping from 2nd to 4th. British GP, Silverstone, 14th July 1991. #F1 🇬🇧pic.twitter.com/ZPLSUfBVqt
— F1 in the 1990s 🚦🏎🏁🏆🍾 (@1990sF1) July 14, 2021
Halfway through the 1991 championship behind the wheel of his McLaren Ayrton Senna had already bagged a massive lead in the drivers’ championship.
The Brazillian was in a domineering form with four pole positions and four race wins. But Mansell was adamant to take the victory in Silverstone in front of his home crowd.
Mansell had taken the victory at the French GP the week before the British GP. The Briton then up a masterclass in front of his home crowd in Silverstone as he took the pole in qualifying and went ahead to take the victory on the race day.
Also Read: When Ayrton Senna called his archrival a ‘coward’
Ayrton Senna ran out of fuel
A podium, if not the victory, was guaranteed for Senna as he could not catch the confident Mansell flying in his Williams at the track until the last lap.
The Brazillian was left stranded by his McLaren after it ran out of fuel on the last lap. However, the panel showed there was more than enough left to keep racing.
Due to this, Senna lost out on the podium and his team mate Gerhard Berger took P2 followed by Senna’s archrival Alain Prost in P3 behind the wheels of his Ferrari.
Senna was classified P4 since Mansell had lapped all the other drivers. The McLaren driver, anyway, went ahead to win the championship that year.
It was on the cool-down lap after Mansell crossed the chequered flag that he offered the then two-time world champion a lift back to the pits.
With one leg inside the cockpit and his arms wrapped around the roll over hoop of Mansell’s car and after kicking the Marshall away, the two greats created the most iconic moments of the F1.
While Senna appreciated the ride-back by Mansell giving him a five-star rating, rumour says that the first thing Senna did was grab his engineer when he reached the pits. He told him everything he could about Mansell’s car and even drew a sketch of the cockpit layout!
Also Read: When Ayrton Senna retired from the 1984 Dallas GP because the wall moved
