Nigel Mansell revealed what Ayrton Senna said to him when the former won his first championship title in 1992.
Nigel Mansell and Ayrton Senna shared many memorable battles during the late 1980s and early 90s. But the most intense battle was fought in Mansell’s title-winning 1992 season.
Mansell’s Williams was the fastest car on the grid that year but to achieve his first-ever title he had to go up against a determined Senna.
The Brazillian had already won three championships in four years in his McLaren. In the F1’s Beyond The Grid podcast, Mansell revealed what Senna said to him when the former won the title.
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Nigel Mansell described his win as a mind-numbing moment
Senna had faced five retirements in just eight races in the 1992 season and then the British driver was crowned as the champion in Hungary. Mansell described his victory as a “mind-numbing moment.”
Mansell shared the stage with his teammate Riccardo Patrese and Senna. The British driver said, “Senna] wanted to win the championship but the most fitting moment for me was when I won the championship in Hungary – he was on the top step with me.”
“He turned to me and said, ‘You realise how good a feeling that is now, don’t you? Now you know what a b*****d I am because that’s the best feeling in the world’.
“There are some people who would go to any lengths, especially if they’ve already won it once, to win it again and again.
“There are some drivers I could mention who are true sportsmen and win it the right way, and then are a few others who definitely do not win it the right way, but they win it and that’s all that matters.
“To have Ayrton put his arm around me on the top step in Hungary and admit a number of things to me, I said to him, ‘Well, at least you admit it!’
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Mansell wanted to nudge Ayrton senna in Monaco
In the 1992 season, the most intense battle was in Monaco. Mansell was called in to pit late in the race and then he came out behind Senna but with a faster car with much faster tyres.
However, Senna defended his lead in the race till the chequered flag. Mansell said, “It was either a wheel nut coming undone or a puncture, we had no choice but to pit.”
“Under the present regulations today, Ayrton could not hold me behind as he did. It was like a bus; every time I went to overtake he just blocked it.”
“If I’m really honest about it, I should have nudged him up the back quite hard on a couple of corners and given him a puncture, or something. Even if it would have broken my front wing off, I could have carried on and maybe won.”
Mansell continued: “I was very proud of the fact that we didn’t make contact. I was very honourable not to, shall we say, help him into the barrier. Although, I do have thoughts about that now; he did it to me enough!
“But we showed in Monaco how close you could get without hitting anyone.”
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