148 replies to this topic

[gold333]

nt

Edited by gold333, 22 February 2010 - 11:29.

[Vitesse2]

Being as succinct as possible: if anything went wrong with the car (especially if said going wrong involved contact with something else) it was always someone else's fault. Nothing to do with Our Noige ...

[maccaFTW]

I think it has mostly to do with the fact that Nige was an incredibly insecure person who had not a chip, but a wedge on his shoulder. While he may fundamentally be a nice guy, I think his insecurity got the better of him on many occasions and turned him into a bad person to be around. (i.e. Accusing Prost of switching his car out in 1990 at Ferrari.)

[dbltop]

I understood that Mansell had been proven correct about the Ferrari chassis swap?

[ff1600]

You ar asking for an answer that would take 10 paragraphs to tell you about Mansell's issues. Mansell is a great person with very strong self belief. I think that Nigel wanted everyone else to believe in him as strong as he beleived in himself. That and the fact the guy is paranoid. People were always saying that Nigal was stupid. But the truth he was one of the most educated drivers in F1 ever. He is a aerospace engineer. Most of the F1 drivers barely made it out of high school. But for some reason he just thought everyone was out to get him. You know there is a saying; Just because you are paranoid does not mean that they not out to get you. Mansell is a driver who needs a whole team to be working for him and they have to tell all the time that they love him. Let me close by saying I am a big Mansell fan.

[Tolyngee]

Being as succinct as possible: if anything went wrong with the car (especially if said going wrong involved contact with something else) it was always someone else's fault. Nothing to do with Our Noige ...

Canada '92 being an absolute excellent example:

[Tolyngee]

I was already familiar with this GP. To be honest your links just show a typical Mansell unneccesary driving mistake, but to me do not show why he had such a bad rep.
Yeah he was a bit of an actor about how tired he was all the time but I didn't really see much in the way of anything else.

Him going to the McLaren pitwall to tell off Ron Dennis on international tv???

[Nasty McBastard]

I loved nige, But I also loved how hed come out of one of those 'win by 60 sec' races and bang on about how god damn difficult it was. Every time. Without fail. He never had a "well, i kinda took it easy and was still pulling a gap, so i had a cruisy race really' grand prix. Someone with 31 wins HAD to have had a reasonably straight forward win at some point, but not according to Nige.

And cant forget the whole 'damn, ive got a hang-nail, I think i need stretchering way to an ambulance for treatment' stuff too.

[undersquare]

I remember one journo talking about his 'bottomless pit of bile'. What he had to say was far too often negative. He always played up his achievements to an absurd extent, every win there was a fault with the car so that only Nige could have done it, and there he was exhausted with the effort, but the team could never find anything actually wrong.

And he could never admit a mistake, like when he broke both driveshafts dumping the clutch out of the pits, it was always the car.

His book is the same, a tale of conflict from one team to the next. And every team seemed glad to be rid of him.

I was always embarrassed that he was our top Brit driver. Not that he wasn't very fast and brave, and a good man underneath.

[potmotr]

Pick up last month's Motorsport magazine for a very interesting interview with Nigel Mansell by Simon Taylor.

Really is an excellent read.

To my mind, Nigel was the victim of class snobbery from the British specilaist motorpsort British press.

Guys like Nigel Roebuck, a doctor's son and apparent renassiance man, thought Mansell took himself too seriously.

(I love his writing, but this is the same Nigel Roebuck who writes about sipping cognac and driving his Lotus Elan without seeing the irony...!)

Roebuck even writes about mocking Mansell's brummie accent.

So even when Our Nige was at the height of his powers he was still being laughed at by the British press corps.

Another irony is that these very hacks' financial survivial -and ability to travel to far-flung races- depended on Mansell being successful!

I prefer to remember the proper Mansell, the absolute fighter on the track who gave up some of the best moments of the 80s and 90s.

And don't forget, Nigel was awfully unlucky during his career.

He won a lone title in 1992.

But he should have won in 1986, 1987 and could have easily done so in 1991 had the Williams FW14 been sorted earlier.

And don't forget he won a Grand Prix aged 41 years old in 1994.

Personally I think Mansell should have been Knighted ages ago.

He did more to raise the awareness of British motorsport to the general population than anyone since Stirling Moss.

Edited by potmotr, 24 December 2009 - 10:07.

[MinT]

Personally I think Mansell should have been Knighted ages ago.

He did more to raise the awareness of British motorsport to the general population than anyone since Stirling Moss.

Agree 110% !!

All the other stuff just added to the personality - always loved the clip where he tried the karate on the guy the other side of the fence .

Mansell will always be no1 for me.

[potmotr]

Agree 110% !!

All the other stuff just added to the personality - always loved the clip where he tried the karate on the guy the other side of the fence .

Ah, you must mean this Mansell classic!



I started a thread in the TNF ages ago trying to get to the bottom of who Mansell was chasing, when and why...

http://forums.autosp...w...=101751&hl=

I'm not denying Mansell did provide some true comedy moments.

This is one...

Edited by potmotr, 24 December 2009 - 10:30.

[VAR1016]

Yes, well I recall Sir Frank Williams saying "Nigel's great in the car and a pain outside of it."

There is no denying Mansell's bravery; as someone here said he had reinforced titanium balls, and indeed as someone else remarked, he was indeed unlucky.

Often in this forum I read " oh well, so-and-so won because he had the best car." (I maintain "so what?" after all this IS motor-racing isn't it?)

This was certainly true in Mansell's championship year: I remember comparing in-car footage of Mansell in his Williams and Senna in his McLaren. Mansell had an armchair ride with the Williams's active suspension, whilst Senna looked to be having a very tough time in the McLaren.

Paul

[Pink Snail]

Let us remember that Nigel tested for Lotus not long after a shunt that left him in hospital with a broken neck and back damage. He made his debut in a bathtub of petrol that burnt his nether regions and yes his voice did suffer from monotone output. He also gave us some of the most entertaining races of the past twenty five years and since retiring has not just disappeared from the radar screen. I have met the guy and spent a great day at Donington (Thunder in the Park) where at 6.30pm after a tiring day he actually came over and wished me and my son well and made us feel very appreciated. His reputation has been peppered with odd negatives from time to time but what he gave the general public back was worth the knocks he gets. In a racing car he gave his all (McLaren aside!) and that maybe is the reason he always looked like he was ready to drop (Piquet did once!) after a race... a good bloke our Nige...

[potmotr]

after a race... a good bloke our Nige...

Agreed!

And as I said, lots of it negativity coming from people who work within Formula One (team members agitated by Nige's whining etc) but more importantly from self-important hacks who value their own frustrations dealing with Mansell above his obvious high status with the fans.

[potmotr]

The British press are known to do this. I mean Murray Walker and Jonathan Palmer never liked Ayrton Senna while he was alive it was only James Hunt that commented on the excellence of some of Senna's antics. But after he died...

It's the job of a journalist to criticise a driver's perfomance if need be, but with Mansell I felt it got way to personal simply because they didn't like him as a person.

I thought James Hunt was great because he called a spade a spade.

Though he always slagged off Ricardo Patrese, quite wrongly blaming him for the death of his pal Ronnie Peterson at Monza in 1978.

I remember there was a crash at the start of a race in 1990, and no one could see who had caused it.

Hunt said: "I think that was Patrese, just because of the style of the driving."

But I loved how Hunt called things as he saw them.

The BBC put up Suzuka 1989 a few months ago. In the commentary Hunt says: "Of course Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost do not get on. In fact, it's no exaggeration to say they hate each other." Class.

[undersquare]

The British press are known to do this. I mean Murray Walker and Jonathan Palmer never liked Ayrton Senna while he was alive it was only James Hunt that commented on the excellence of some of Senna's antics. But after he died...

It's true, the press do colour our views an awful lot, and they didn't like him. But they did like other ordinary-background guys like Herbert and Blundell, so I don't think it was snobbery myself. And Murray loved him, he probably had more influence than all the print journos put together.

I think it's a matter of priorities whether each of us likes him or not, where we choose to look as it were. If anyone was a mixed bag it was Nige, both sublime and ridiculous. I certainly respect the positive view of him, just can't share it myself.

[potmotr]

And Murray loved him, he probably had more influence than all the print journos put together.

Actually, that's true.

Murray loved him, and more importantly, Mansell liked Murray and wasn't suspicious of him.

Then Murray loved most of the Brits, like especially Damon Hill and Johnny Herbert.

What's interesting is that James Allen was slagged off and basically torpedoed out of broadcasting for dry humping Lewis's leg at Monaco in 2008 and making us all cringe with despair when Jenson won in 2006.

Murray was just as passionate for the Brits, but just carried it off in a way more people liked!

[Aloisioitaly]

Someone please explain this to me. I've been watching since Brazil '93 and everywhere I hear that Mansell is a very negative person to be around. I.e. Mario Andretti said he's the worst team mate ever.

Mansell was a main factor in Prost loss of 1990 title, having pushed him against the pitwall at Estoril.
Mansell was not a team builder at all!

[as65p]

Murray was just as passionate for the Brits, but just carried it off in a way more people liked!

That's certainly true and an art in itself: showing clear bias but without being an annoyance to those with a different bias - Murray was quite good at that.

[femi]

I don't find him to be the' brightest driver that ever graced the wheels of a F1 car, actually I think he is very far from it and that is something.

[as65p]

In the end it boils down to what many people already said about him over the years: a joy to watch inside the car, a pain in the a** out of it.

[potmotr]

That's certainly true and an art in itself: showing clear bias but without being an annoyance to those with a different bias - Murray was quite good at that.

True.

Still, paying attention to your countrymen is perfectly logical.

I mean, can you imagine a World Cup football broadcast here that doesn't support England?

I watched F1 on Spainish TV this year and the bald presenter guy was essentially asking Fernando Alonso to marry him.

And when Senna used to win the Brazilian commentator would say "Braaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaazzzzzzzzz
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzziiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii
iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiillllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
lllllllllllllllllllllll!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Australian TV is pretty Webber friendly too.

So it goes with the territory.

[as65p]

True.

Still, paying attention to your countrymen is perfectly logical.

I mean, can you imagine a World Cup football broadcast here that doesn't support England?

I watched F1 on Spainish TV this year and the bald presenter guy was essentially asking Fernando Alonso to marry him.

And when Senna used to win the Brazilian commentator would say "Braaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaazzzzzzzz
z
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzziiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii
i
iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiilllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
l
lllllllllllllllllllllll!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Australian TV is pretty Webber friendly too.

So it goes with the territory.

I know, and I'm not complaining. Maybe it's got something to do with the way and time I started watching in F1, over here in germany we had no notable contenders during the 70's and 80's, so I grew up thinking that nationalism was largely absent from F1... naive I know.

[as65p]

Mansell was a main factor in Prost loss of 1990 title, having pushed him against the pitwall at Estoril.
Mansell was not a team builder at all!

In his customary clumsy way, that was nothing more than Mansells answer to Prost pushing Mansell out of the teams focus behind the scenes. Of course Mansell had no answer to that on a political level, so he resorted to that kind od stuff.

A bit unfortunate for Alain, but not exactly undeserved...

[Tolyngee]

I'm not denying Mansell did provide some true comedy moments.

This is one...

http://www.youtube.c...feature=related

LOL!

[Burai]

To understand Mansell's attitude, you have to understand what he had to do to get into F1 in the first place. He and Roseanne gambled with and sacrificed a hell of a lot to get to where he wanted to be. You needed to be completely hard-nosed, self-serving and at times delusional with your self-belief in order to get ahead in the climate of late 70's/early 80's motor racing, especially when you have no financial backing.

When he did get to F1, he had people going at him from all angles - Piquet and Prost as team mates, rivals like Senna. These are men that weren't exactly shy about playing psychological games for an advantage.

I certainly don't see Mansell's attitude as any worse than those that I mentioned. Mansell was paranoid and whinged, Piquet was just plain nasty to people, Prost was a backstabber and Senna played the media like a harp and put his and the lives of others at serious risk at times.

The only difference between Mansell and they is that they were in the right places at the right times and picked up multiple titles.

[potmotr]

http://www.youtube.c...feature=related

LOL!

That is awesome!

Can you imagine anyone doing that to Max Mosley!?!

By the way, that podium at Phoenx 1991 would have to be the most successful of all time wouldn't it?

Senna with 3 titles, Prost with 4 and Piquet with 3 making a total of 10.

Actually, now I think about it, the 1993 Spanish Grand Prix beats it with Prost (4), Senna (3) and Schumacher (7) meaning 14 titles on one podium!

More classic Mansell, well sort of... I can't believe this ad would have shifted a single game... http://www.youtube.c...A...PL&index=16

[as65p]

The only difference between Mansell and they is that they were in the right places at the right times and picked up multiple titles.

TBH I view it completely the other way round. Mansell lacked between the ears compared to all the other three, so in a straight fight with comparable cars he would always lose out, as he in fact did in 1986, 1987, 1990, 1991.

He WAS exactly in the right place at the right time in 1992, with an utterly dominant car and a not-quite-1st-grade teammate.

[potmotr]

He WAS exactly in the right place at the right time in 1992, with an utterly dominant car and a not-quite-1st-grade teammate.

I think Patrese had a world championship in him with a dominant Williams.

But Ricardo's problem came with active suspension.

He just hated how the car didn't feel right over bumps, and lacked the feel of a normal car.

Mansell was mighty brave and had total faith in it, so cleaned up.

[as65p]

I think Patrese had a world championship in him with a dominant Williams.

But Ricardo's problem came with active suspension.

He just hated how the car didn't feel right over bumps, and lacked the feel of a normal car.

Mansell was mighty brave and had total faith in it, so cleaned up.

True, Patrese not perfoming in '92 was largely down to active supension. Tough luck, but there is no denying that he had a dominant car at his disposal, it just had the wrong characteristics for his taste and so failed to make use of it.

[Talking Point]

I have no idea why people are so negative about Nigel Mansell. I've met him more times than I can remember and I can truthfully say that he's a friendly, charming and kind man. I'm sure he was difficult to work with, but unless you were one of the people who worked with him then why does that matter to you? The weird thing is, Damon Hill is often thought of by fans as a much more 'proper' gentleman than Nigel, but I've found Damon to be far more moody, not remotely charming, and sometimes downright rude. I've seen how he talks to other people as well, and it's not always nice.
People should lay off of Mansell, he was a fantastic racer and is a top bloke.

[teejay]

When someone like Mario Andretti says he is difficult.. I tend to believe the guy.

[OssieFan]

Perhaps a lighter side to Mansell (plus Hill and Sheene):

[potmotr]

People should lay off of Mansell, he was a fantastic racer and is a top bloke.

Agreed!

I've only seen Hill once, at Goodwood this year.

I must say, he seemed very ill at ease with people shouting his name and demanding autographs.

[potmotr]

Perhaps a lighter side to Mansell (plus Hill and Sheene):

That's a really great clip, I'd never seen that!

How did Damon and Nigel get on in 1994?

I can imagine Damon might have been a bit put out, after becoming defacto team leader then having a superstar like Mansell parachuted in next to him...

Interesting thing about last month's Motorsport interview was that Mansell was quite close to doing a deal for 1995 with Williams.

I reckon he'd have flown.

[B Squared]

My brief personal experiences with Nigel were always good. When I was working for CART, his 1993 championship season was nothing short of amazing to watch up close. To win it on the back of his F1 title is so unique, it will never be duplicated. For me anyway, having followed him so admiringly in Formula One, it was a magic time in American motorsports.

My brother still talks of a chance encounter he and his wife had with Mansell in the VIP parking lot for Friday practice at the 1993 Michigan 500. Bruce wanted to make an attempt to get Mansell's signature amongst all the fan mayhem that surrounded Nigel at all races at that time. He had taken along two beautiful photos of Nigel - one in the championship winning Williams, the other in the Ferrari. As Bruce and Lori cut through this parking area, Nigel was just arriving and stepping out of his car. They acknowledged each other and my brother approached him to shake his hand and introduce himself and his wife. They ended up talking for 15) minutes or so and he graciously signed the two photos Bruce had brought with him. He went on to win the race Sunday. I believe he may have vomited in his helmet during the course of this race.

My friend Rudy caught this photo of Nigel & I at Milwaukee, race day morning in 1993. The Newman - Haas Kmart/Texaco Havoline Lola T93/00 Cosworth sets behind us. I was working observer station 7 on the exit of the turn 4 track apron area. He and Raul Boesel had a good battle that concluded with Mansell's first oval track win. This was one week after placing third in his "rookie" Indy "500". He also had to deal with a nasty back injury that occurred at Phoenix during his first attempt at an oval. He learned this discipline quickly and was a fierce competitor. This doesn't address the original question, but my limited experiences were quite positive and good memories of a great time in my life. Brian


B² photo

[OssieFan]

That's a really great clip, I'd never seen that!

How did Damon and Nigel get on in 1994?

I can imagine Damon might have been a bit put out, after becoming defacto team leader then having a superstar like Mansell parachuted in next to him...

Interesting thing about last month's Motorsport interview was that Mansell was quite close to doing a deal for 1995 with Williams.

I reckon he'd have flown.

It's a great interview, I remember watching it live to air (for Channel 9 in Aus), not sure we'd see an interview like that these days!
Interesting about Nige going to Williams in '95, that would have been great to watch. I was disappointed the McLaren ride never worked out for him.

[Chezrome]

http://www.youtube.c...feature=related

LOL!

LOL? I whinged when I saw that? I think Mansell is a ****, but even he doesn't deserve such a painfull accident.

[potmotr]

My brief personal experiences with Nigel were always good...

Interesting story man, thanks for sharing!

I think those chance meetings are really quite telling sometimes.

People can say what they want about Our Nige, but from everything I've ever read he always makes time for the fans.

How often has he been to the Goodwood Festival of Speed?

[ex Rhodie racer 2]

When someone like Mario Andretti says he is difficult.. I tend to believe the guy.

Why? How well do you know Andretti? Mario was always up himself as far as I´m concerned, so I take his critic with a pinch of salt. Sounds like sour grapes to me.
Nigel was the top drama queen of F1, ever. His dying swan impersonations were simply hysterical because they were so over done. Despite what Paul Newman said regarding his acting ability, it was poor.
That aside, Nige was a master behind the wheel of F1 car, and an all round nice guy. I´ve never met anyone who´s met him say a nasty thing about him. On the contrary. He is much admired, not only for his numerous achievements, but also for his giving nature. He took a lot of unkind abuse from some of F1´s real A holes at the time, and never resorted to their level of behaviour.
Nigel Mansell is one of the good guys.

[Talking Point]

Agreed!

I've only seen Hill once, at Goodwood this year.

I must say, he seemed very ill at ease with people shouting his name and demanding autographs.

There are 3 Damon's; two of which are friendly and nice.

Damon 1: is when there are TV cemeras around.
Damon 2: is when Georgie is around.
Damon 3: is when no Georgie and no TV cameras.

Damon 3 is very different to Damon 1 and Damon 2.

That's a really great clip, I'd never seen that!

How did Damon and Nigel get on in 1994?

I can imagine Damon might have been a bit put out, after becoming defacto team leader then having a superstar like Mansell parachuted in next to him...

Interesting thing about last month's Motorsport interview was that Mansell was quite close to doing a deal for 1995 with Williams.

I reckon he'd have flown.

I can't answer your question directly, but if you're really interested in that then try reading 'Damon Hill: My Grand Prix Year'. He talks about his relationship with Mansell and Coulthard. He talks about when he got really irritated with Coulthard after Spa qualifying, because DC kept saying that he was worried there would be a first corner crash.

As for the Mansell and Williams negotiations for 1995, you should read the book 'Williams: Triumph out of Tragedy'. It explains the politics involved in the negotiations.

Both those books are ones I think you'd find interesting, and both will be dirt cheap on eBay.

My brief personal experiences with Nigel were always good. When I was working for CART, his 1993 championship season was nothing short of amazing to watch up close. To win it on the back of his F1 title is so unique, it will never be duplicated. For me anyway, having followed him so admiringly in Formula One, it was a magic time in American motorsports.

My brother still talks of a chance encounter he and his wife had with Mansell in the VIP parking lot for Friday practice at the 1993 Michigan 500. Bruce wanted to make an attempt to get Mansell's signature amongst all the fan mayhem that surrounded Nigel at all races at that time. He had taken along two beautiful photos of Nigel - one in the championship winning Williams, the other in the Ferrari. As Bruce and Lori cut through this parking area, Nigel was just arriving and stepping out of his car. They acknowledged each other and my brother approached him to shake his hand and introduce himself and his wife. They ended up talking for 15) minutes or so and he graciously signed the two photos Bruce had brought with him. He went on to win the race Sunday. I believe he may have vomited in his helmet during the course of this race.

My friend Rudy caught this photo of Nigel & I at Milwaukee, race day morning in 1993. The Newman - Haas Kmart/Texaco Havoline Lola T93/00 Cosworth sets behind us. I was working observer station 7 on the exit of the turn 4 track apron area. He and Raul Boesel had a good battle that concluded with Mansell's first oval track win. This was one week after placing third in his "rookie" Indy "500". He also had to deal with a nasty back injury that occurred at Phoenix during his first attempt at an oval. He learned this discipline quickly and was a fierce competitor. This doesn't address the original question, but my limited experiences were quite positive and good memories of a great time in my life. Brian


B² photo

That's a great story Brian, and a fantastic pic.

Interesting story man, thanks for sharing!

I think those chance meetings are really quite telling sometimes.

People can say what they want about Our Nige, but from everything I've ever read he always makes time for the fans.

How often has he been to the Goodwood Festival of Speed?

Not sure about Goodwood, but Mansell is one of the easiest F1 champions to meet, because he always goes to wherever Leo or Greg are racing. I think I met him at five different race meetings at Silverstone this year alone; and every one of those times he was fantastic.

[Burai]

That's a really great clip, I'd never seen that!

How did Damon and Nigel get on in 1994?

I can imagine Damon might have been a bit put out, after becoming defacto team leader then having a superstar like Mansell parachuted in next to him...

Interesting thing about last month's Motorsport interview was that Mansell was quite close to doing a deal for 1995 with Williams.

I reckon he'd have flown.

Motor Sport did an interview with Damon a few months back and, yeah, he did feel put out. He felt the attention of the team was all on Mansell and it was, even though he was trying to fight for the title. He felt the team didn't truly believe he could do it so he had to prove them wrong and beat Schumacher and establish himself over Mansell.

1995 was a mess for Williams in terms of drivers. They wanted Coulthard (currently trying to escape to McLaren) to stay long-term but didn't want to give him a race seat just yet. But at the same time, they didn't want to pay Mansell what he wanted having already given Hill a pay hike. So they took the option of putting Coulthard in the race seat and letting Mansell go to McLaren.

Of course, it all backfired because Hill completely bottled it, Coulthard showed himself not ready and he left for McLaren at the end of the year anyway. In the course of 1995 Frank signed Frentzen to replace Hill and Villeneuve to replace Coulthard.

I do too often wonder what might have been had red 5 been in that FW17. The car was absolutely mighty but was squandered by second-rate drivers.

[Talking Point]

I do too often wonder what might have been had red 5 been in that FW17. The car was absolutely mighty but was squandered by second-rate drivers.

I don't think Mansell would've done much with it; in the races he had in 1994 he was quite off the pace of Hill and Schumacher.

[F1Johnny]

By the way, that podium at Phoenx 1991 would have to be the most successful of all time wouldn't it?

Senna with 3 titles, Prost with 4 and Piquet with 3 making a total of 10.

I remember watching this race on a live raw feed, no ads, no commentary and they covered right into the interview room and the conversations between the drivers. Senna was left out of course and Prost and Piquet were chatting. The conversation was along the lines of:

Piquet to Prost: "My tyres were so f__king hard, what were yours like?"

Prost: "Yes, they were f__king hard, I couldn't get any heat in them"

All this time Senna was just sitting there fiddling with his cap waiting for the interviews to start. He did not exist to Prost and Piquet.

[Boing 2]

i would have given a testicle to see schumacher try to put mansell off the track

i remember seeing footage of mansell grabbing tiff needell by the throat in the pits after he had a coming to together in TOCA. To be fair it kind of put me off the man but there are a few characters i think could do with it.

[F1Johnny]

My friend Rudy caught this photo of Nigel & I at Milwaukee, race day morning in 1993. The Newman - Haas Kmart/Texaco Havoline Lola T93/00 Cosworth sets behind us. I was working observer station 7 on the exit of the turn 4 track apron area. He and Raul Boesel had a good battle that concluded with Mansell's first oval track win. This was one week after placing third in his "rookie" Indy "500". He also had to deal with a nasty back injury that occurred at Phoenix during his first attempt at an oval. He learned this discipline quickly and was a fierce competitor.

After Indy, his first oval race, since he missed Phoenix, he won every oval after that. Very impressive. That year was great to watch.

Then in 1994 he won nothing, but won Australia in F1.

[teejay]

Why? How well do you know Andretti? Mario was always up himself as far as I´m concerned, so I take his critic with a pinch of salt. Sounds like sour grapes to me.
Nigel was the top drama queen of F1, ever. His dying swan impersonations were simply hysterical because they were so over done. Despite what Paul Newman said regarding his acting ability, it was poor.
That aside, Nige was a master behind the wheel of F1 car, and an all round nice guy. I´ve never met anyone who´s met him say a nasty thing about him. On the contrary. He is much admired, not only for his numerous achievements, but also for his giving nature. He took a lot of unkind abuse from some of F1´s real A holes at the time, and never resorted to their level of behaviour.
Nigel Mansell is one of the good guys.

Pretty sure Mario has no reason to have sour grapes - sure your not thinking Michael ?

[potmotr]

Piquet to Prost: "My tyres were so f__king hard, what were yours like?"

Prost: "Yes, they were f__king hard, I couldn't get any heat in them"

Man, I'd love to see that!

Especially weird as Piquet would have been on Pirellis, Prost Goodyears.

And yeah, they both hated Senna!

[as65p]

I remember watching this race on a live raw feed, no ads, no commentary and they covered right into the interview room and the conversations between the drivers. Senna was left out of course and Prost and Piquet were chatting. The conversation was along the lines of:

Piquet to Prost: "My tyres were so f__king hard, what were yours like?"

Prost: "Yes, they were f__king hard, I couldn't get any heat in them"

All this time Senna was just sitting there fiddling with his cap waiting for the interviews to start. He did not exist to Prost and Piquet.

At that point in time, I assume the feeling was mutual.

You can't trust those guys in any way whatsoever, I think. I guess you know the clip from the Estoril '92 PC where Senna, Mansell and Berger played best buddies, this time at Prost's expense.