Nigel Mansell joined Williams for the 1991 F1 season after he was assured ‘Number 1’ driver status after being sidelined by Ferrari.
Nigel Mansell is one of Britain’s most celebrated athletes in motorsports. Across his 15 seasons in F1, the Brit secured 31 race wins and won the 1992 World Championship with Williams.
Mansell was famous for his Moustache and rapid pace during races. He is the second most decorated British driver behind 7-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton.
Mansell drove for the likes of McLaren, Ferrari and Williams with whom he had 2 separate stints. He even drove alongside teammates like Mario Andretti, Keke Rosberg, Nelson Piquet and Alain Prost all of whom were F1 champions.
When Ferrari signed Mansell in 1989, he became a celebrity figure among the ‘Tifosi’. Mansell was the last Ferrari driver to be personally selected by Enzo Ferrari, founder of Ferrari.
He would go on to win his first race with Ferrari, the 1989 Brazilian GP. But he’d not enjoy great success during his two seasons with the Italian Team.
He was overshadowed by the McLaren duo of Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna who dominated the era. He was also troubled by Ferrari’s reliability issues and not been given the respect he deserved.
Yet, Mansell was famous for having close battles with his teammates. Something that drew bad blood with his former teammates like Piquet and Prost. His rivalry with Prost in 1990 got so bad that he chose to leave Ferrari to Williams.
Also Read: Watch Lewis Hamilton, Nigel Mansell and Sebastian Vettel gather ahead of British GP in Silverstone
Why Nigel Mansell joined Williams in 1991
Nigel Mansell was paired with Ayrton Senna for the 1990 season for Ferrari. Mansell was adamant about being given the ‘Number 1’ driver status at Ferrari.
He said in an interview, “I signed as number one for Ferrari for ’89, ’90. And then Ferrari bought the number one status back so that Alain Prost could come to the team in Ferrari.”
He added, “If you’re the outright number one driver back in the 80s and 90s, you had a 30% better chance of finishing a race. If you’re a number two driver you could be as quick. But your car is not as good as the number one car from a reliability point of view.”
Prost was the reigning world champion. After signing the Frenchman, he was given the number 1 status. Prost also enjoyed more influence due to his success in F1 and his Italian being better than Nigel’s.
Mansel once claimed that his car was swapped with Prost’s for the 1990 British GP. Mansel was forced to retire in his home GP and later decided to retire from the sport altogether at the end of the season.
Mansell said, “So, I decided at Silverstone, in fact, that enough was enough. I was never going to get the support that I actually needed to get across the line.”
However, Frank Williams stepped in and decided to offer Nigel a $5.5 Million a year contract to drive for Williams. He was given assurances and would be the focus of the team.
Mansel signed on the dotted lines and became the highest-paid British sportsman at the time. And would achieve ultimate success in 1992 after claiming his maiden and only World Championship title.
Also Read: $90 Million worth Nigel Mansell realises why his teammates disliked him
