79th, Senna's Mind Over Mansell's Might: Spanish GP Showdown

It was the heart of the turbo era, and while power was at its peak the races were dominated by fuel and tyre conservation. Parts of this recipe might just sound a touch familiar...

79

1986 Spanish GP
April 13, Jerez


Like today, Grand Prix racing was far from perfect in the 1980s, but as Formula 1 returned to Spain for the first time since ’81 it proved it could still throw up a nail-biting thriller.

Ayrton Senna’s Lotus 98T was the fastest thing around the brand new Jerez circuit in the spring of 1986, but with fuel consumption marginal over a race distance the Brazilian knew he couldn’t afford to use all that performance for the duration.

At half-distance Nigel Mansell made his move and took the lead. No panic from Ayrton. He maintained his pace as Alain Prost kept a wily watching brief in third.

Senna’s pure speed in qualifying dominates how we remember him today, but races such as this underlined the power of his racing brain. In the best traditions of nemesis Prost, he won this race using his head.

 

Mansell’s push to pass had taken the edge from his tyres and he was forced to pit for fresh Goodyears. Now he went for broke in typical fashion and closed on Senna, sniffing a last-gasp victory. Nigel caught the Lotus and, as they rounded the hairpin for the final time, he charged for the line – missing out by just 0.014sec.

Unlucky Mansell? Or had Senna managed the duel to perfection, doing just enough to get the job done? You decide. DS


1st Ayrton Senna (Lotus-Renault)
2nd Nigel Mansell (Williams-Honda)
3rd Alain Prost (McLaren-TAG)
Winner’s time & speed 1hr 46min 47.735sec, 104.471mph
Pole position Senna (Lotus-Renault), 1min 21.60sec, 115.623mph