New Nigel Mansell F1 documentary hits TV screens

A new documentary on the career of Nigel Mansell will air on Sky on the weekend of the British Grand Prix.

The 90-minute film, Williams & Mansell: Red 5, features extensive interviews with the 1992 world champion, plus major contributions from journalist and ex-Williams staffer Peter Windsor and Mansell biographer James Allen. Others to feature include Damon Hill, Jenson Button, Ann Bradshaw, Karun Chandhok and TV anchor Steve Rider.

Written and directed by James Wiseman, with extensive archive material sourced by his brother Richard, the documentary purposefully sets out the story of Mansell’s unlikely rise from humble Midlands roots from his own authorised perspective. The lack of a critical eye, and in the wake of similar treatments on films about Max Mosley and Bernie Ecclestone, adds a personal and at times emotional flavour.

There are gems among the copious footage, on and off-track. A shot of Mansell charging flat through the Bosch Curve at the Österreichring in 1987 will take your breath away, while an interview at home during the Essex Lotus days in which he discusses the state of his burnt “goolies” – from a fuel leak on his F1 debut at the same circuit – can’t help but trigger smiles.

The interviews with 69-year-old Mansell today reveal a man still prone to melodrama. “I couldn’t breathe,” he says of his despair following the Adelaide tyre blow-out of 1986, which still seems to skewer him. Splicing his 2022 Goodwood Festival of Speed reunion with his championship-winning FW14B into the story of his second spell at Williams is a lovely and genuinely moving touch, capping a well-crafted, enlightening and enjoyable film.