F1 domination: Why 1992 was Nigel Mansell's greatest year in racing

F1

Nigel Mansell's F1 career was a question of 'what if?' – until his brilliant 1992 season, as his Williams team-mates recalled to Motor Sport

Nigel Mansell Williams 1992 British GP Silverstone

Mansell rockets to another race win at Silverstone '82

Grand Prix Photo

Nigel Mansell’s racing career was one of agony and ecstasy – highs that could whip any crowd up into a frenzy, but accompanied by plenty of gut-wrenching lows.

After years of near-misses, 1992 was the title-winning year it all came together for Mansell, done so behind the wheel of a truly innovative F1 car: the Williams FW14B.

It’s one of F1’s greatest displays of sporting might – a driver at the top of his game in a car pushing the boundaries of technology with a team working in synchronicity.

Now, to celebrate next year’s 75th anniversary of the Formula 1 world championship, Motor Sport is marking the occasion with a special edition calendar, featuring 12 stunning grand prix images. One is of Mansell and that Williams FW14B on his way to victory at the British GP that year  – another race win which sealed the legend of ‘Red 5’.

ACT

Mansell was formidable when he was able to trust the FW14B’s active system

A whole number of key ’92 players have spoken to Motor Sport through the years, telling the story behind the success and the lengths all involved went to in a bid to win.

Mansell had come close to championship glory in ’86, ’87 and ’91 – as the years ticked by, the sense of urgency increased. At his physical peak, and knowing Williams had a car which was the class of the field, he wasn’t going to let it slip.

Initially wary of active suspension, which he’d helped test early versions of at both Williams and Lotus, the penny had now dropped that the tech trick was key in helping him win. The brilliant FW14B also had traction control and a semi-automatic transmission.

“Mansell set about systematically demoralising Patrese” Adrian Newey

“Nigel was gagging for it at the beginning of the season,” said his race engineer David Brown in 2002.

“He’d obviously primed himself over the winter, and never let up. The active car was quick immediately. There was obviously an advantage in it and, as ever with Nigel, if there was an advantage, he’d adopt it and get on with it.”

“Our active control responded to changes in load distribution, but there was always a small period before the system corrected, and during that period the usual feedback to the driver was not present,” commented technical director Patrick Head.

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“There was a fraction of a second delay and it felt to the driver as if he didn’t have roll stiffness or roll resistance. Riccardo found that hard to deal with but once Nigel had worked out that, on the other side of this correction, the grip was still there, he learnt to ignore the slightly floaty initial feel of the car.”

Mansell wasn’t just focusing on himself though – Williams’ then-chief designer Adrian Newey said the Brit realised he had to be top dog between himself and team-mate Riccardo Patrese too.

“Nigel quickly realised we had a very good car, and that his most likely rival for the title was going to be Riccardo [Patrese, his team-mate],” said Newey. “So he set about systematically demoralising him”.

It worked – Mansell outqualified Patrese by 1.5sec with a stunning pole lap for the season opener in Kyalami, and won the race by 34sec.

He would carry on asserting his supremacy over the Italian throughout the season – Mansell would win the first five races of the season in a row.

“In 1991, Nigel and Riccardo were close on performance, but in ’92 Nigel stepped up,” said Head. “The main reason for this was the feeling and feedback from the active system. Nigel worked out that, if you persuaded yourself to trust it, it would be there once you had got into the corner. He adapted; Riccardo always wished it was a standard car.”

“Nigel definitely out-psyched Riccardo, but I think he would have out-driven him in any case,” added Newey. “The active car was suited to his style – aggressive, throw it in, have belief in it. You had to muscle it because it was generating so much downforce. In the high-speed corners, Nigel was much quicker; it didn’t have power steering, which it should have done in hindsight, and Nigel has tremendous upper-body strength.”

Nigel Mansell in Williams FW14B at 1992 Portuguese GP

Mansell was at-one with the FW14B

Grand Prix Photo

After not winning either Monaco or Montreal, Mansell would then claim another three races on the bounce – the middle of which was his beloved British GP.

This was Mansell operating at the max – he claimed pole 2sec ahead Patrese, and an incredible 3sec from arch-rival Ayrton Senna.

Mansell has often espoused the benefits of the ‘home advantage’, and in 2015 he went into detail for Adam Cooper.

From the archive

“People have debated this and some know what you’re talking about and others will say it’s tosh – they have no idea,” he emphasised. “Even team managers in rugby will say, ‘Let’s make use of the home advantage.’ That’s what you do on home soil.

“In any race, if it’s at home you can raise your game, which means you’re more focused, you’re more committed, you’re wanting something more than perhaps other races you go into. You shouldn’t, because if you’re a professional you should want it just as badly no matter where you’re racing, but home rule overcomes a lot of things.

“That can transmit into a faster time. More important than faster lap times is that you put everything in place to have the perfect weekend to get the best out of yourself. You manage your body, you manage your mind, you manage the car and you pull things out of the hat that you wouldn’t normally be able to do at other races during the year. I was always able to raise my game, quite significantly, at a home grand prix because my comfort zone was there.”

After winning at Silverstone, Mansell’s march towards the title was unstoppable, and he wrapped it all up at Round 11 out of 16 in Hungary – but by then it was clear Williams would sign Alain Prost for ’93, someone the Brit had no interest in being his team-mate.

Nigel Mansell celebrates winning the 1992 F1 championship at the Hungarian Grand Prix

Celebrating his 1992 drivers’ world championship at the Hungarian Grand Prix

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Instead, ‘Our Nige’, slightly grumpily, rode off into the sunset (for 18 months at least) to make history by becoming the only man to hold both the F1 and IndyCar titles at the same time after winning the US title in ’93 also.

In hindsight though, late team boss Frank Williams was appreciative of the efforts from one of F1’s greatest chargers.

“Over the years the team had quite a few rocky moments, and Nigel didn’t hesitate in expressing his disappointment in his own well-known way,” said Williams.

“But in 1992 things went well – for most of the year. Nigel had a winning car, but by that time he’d developed into an unstoppable driver. He was almost in a class of his own that year, we couldn’t have won without him.”

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