Does anyone know of Mansell's whereabouts these days? I know he did some Touring Car races in UK after his farewell to F1. But there is rarely any news about him now.

I think he spends most of the time looking after his golf club in Devon. He makes the odd guest appearance at motor sport events. This week, he's down to drive his 1992 Williams at Coys Historic Festival at Silverstone (which I'm going to, by the way).

Can we have a sweep stake? What will it be do you reckon, running out of fuel and having to push it over the line to victory, a loose wheel nut causing a big slide in front of the crowd or will he just refuse point blank to drive the car because it is not wide enough for him?
Will he get run over while kissing the Tarmac at Stowe, or announce his retirement (again)?
Or will he finally recieve his much deserved Oscar for his services to theatre?

At least you can't say he didn'd deserve his world championship.

you can say that with ABS, TC, adaptive power steering, active suspension, wide slicks, huge wings and Adrian Newey, a ten year old could have won the championship in '92. If he'd done it in '86 or with Ferrari fair enough but that car.....nah, the CART title was more impressive, especailly the performance at Indy.

I agree that the CART title was an impressive win. But I don't denigrate his F1 performances. Nor do those who call him 'Il Leone'

It really annoys me when comments are made such as "A ten year old" could have been world champion in that car (or "My Granny" as Alan Jones stated when Damon Hill won his title in 1996). All Mansell and Hill had team mates in essentially the same car. Patrese was certainly no ten year old OR granny and yet still only managed the odd win. Villenueve was and is a more capable driver than Patrese and pressured Hill right to the end, but it was Hill who won.

It takes a huge amount of grit, skill, courage and self belief to become world champion.

As for Nigel, out of the car he certainly could be a pain but once behind the wheel you knew something dramatic was going to happen.

I'm looking forward to seeing Mansell this weekend. I was wondering whether he would fit in the Williams.

When Keke retired, Nige was the one to watch... as you say, Eric, you knew something was going to happen!

There is an interesting tape recording called "Murray Walker at the Beeb". On it mudley talker is asked who his favourite racing driver was. he said without question it would be Nigel mansell, because you always knew something dramatic was going to happen around him.
When asked who was the most difficult driver he ever had to interview, he said "Oh that would be Nigel as well"
I would concur with you all about Noige's exploits in a racing car. He sure had big gonads.Unfortuately they must have had some gravitational effect on his brain and jaw.

Back around '91 or '92, a Williams team member was quoted as saying, something to the effect, that what they should do with Nigel is keep him stored in a large egg-sort of structure. Before each qualifying session and race, a helicopter would lower the egg over the cockpit of Nige's car, and the egg would deposit him in the cockpit. Immediately after each driving session, the egg would pluck him out of the cockpit and hold him inside until he was needed to drive again.

D.

Whatever the general view on Nigel Mansell may be, he sure put excitement in otherwise boring "procession races" in 1992. I'm talking of the times when he had a lead of 30+ seconds, there were 5 laps to go and he started putting in a string of fastest laps. If he wanted to prove something to his critics, the other drivers, himself or if he just wanted to put on a show for the fans, I don't know, but it was exciting and he deserves credit for that. The easy way (and the intelligent!) would have been to cruise home to ensure the car didn't break down, but Nigel never seemed to want to do things the easy way, did he?

/C F Eick

I saw this video clip again and remembered why I liked Mansell and I also remembered why I kind of... well forgot about him. So many people was talking him down that I somehow started to believe he was nothing special. But that drive is something special. Sure, Senna is doing a very good job as well, but driving the way Mansell is doing requires some seriuos guts and skill, I don't think anyone can argue against that.

We have also seen him dominate GP Masters for a couple of years and I think that it became quite obvious that The Professor have a great deal of respect for Mansells driving and him pulling out of GP Masters can, I believe, at least in parts be because he did not think he would beat Nigel so easily. Last weekend he raced GT cars and did a great job.

Has any of you changed your opinion about Mansell recently?

No. He still rates a in my book.

I never read any motorsport magazines during his career, well I never did actually, and we never got the pressconferences on TV so I never heard him speak and never read what he had to say, I just saw him in the car. Maybe it would have been different otherwise, but to be honest I think he makes a pretty decent off track impression as well (internet makes it easy to catch up).

Interesting video because.... I was there and I really don't remember those last laps!
I remember sunburns, buying a scale-model of Mansell's car and that's it...

Mansell did some fantastic races.

His best ever in my book was Hungary 1989, where he managed to beat the McLaren-Hondas of Senna & Prost on merit.

Didn't Patrese once jokingly go down on his knees and beg Nigel to show em, after one of his more stunning performances ?

However, this was long after Demon Tweeks encountered "Everso BiggiBallis", by Barry Foley.....wonder what Emmo thought?

Sterling

He must be getting mellow in his old age, when he was off the pace in the weekends FIA GT round he sounded unusually magnanimous.

He always gave great entertainment when he was in the hotseat...

As I mentioned earlier, after Rosberg's retirement he was the one to watch. He seemed to pick up Rosberg's 'never say die' attitude when they drove together.

Strangely i was talking to someone only yesterday about Mansell when he was a Policeman.
Apparently, he and a few friends left a pub...somewhat under the influence, when Mansell, on his beat happened by. They all ran over, grabbed him and dumped him in a bush... He had the balls to laugh about that with them. Naughty by nature on and off the track....
I've always had a soft spot for him.

If I got in a fight, I'd want him on my side. As a driver no one tried harder and he sure knew how to give his fans what they wanted. In his prime, he was top drawer.

No, I have not. Same opinion as I have had for a very long time:

In the car, fantastic!

Out of the car, rather an insufferable ass.

I'm entirely on Ray Bells's side on this. Mansell gave the public more than just dry races with statistics - he was an entertainer on and off the track which, like it or hate it, at least gave us something beyond the "good-looking boy racer at the wheel of his snazy racecar" era we are currently experiencing. Mansell won his championship on merit - a ballsy racer who didn't resort to gamesmanship to decide the final outcome of the season, as two of his contemporaries did.

That is the feeling I always had, but I don't know from where I got it. So I was pretty happy when I saw this clip (the celebrations after the Monaco GP linked above) :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5acE1zvN7oo
Sure, I guess there is also fuel there for those who don't like him (he hangs in the arms of a mechanic from "exhaustion" while Senna get's the trophy) but in the press conference he gives a lot of praise to Senna (altough he hints that he himself did quite a good job (which he did)). Look how Senna is sucking up the compliments by the way

A bit of drama queen, but in a harmless sort of way I think.

He may not have resorted to gamesmanship at a final round as others did, but he was not beyond employing it as and when he needed. The state of his relationships with team-mates such as Alain Prost and Mario illustrate that, but that could be seen as being the attitude of a winner I guess.

I get the impression that it was the 92 season that ruined Mansell`s reputation as a person...

Ironic really.

His pass on Berger at Mexico in 1990 sums him up IMO. Big Balls and a fearless approach to racing, hence why he was so entertaining and supremely quick. Some of his performances in 1988 with the very average Williams Judd were top drawer too.

Is there such a thing as a 100% ditto?

Limits:

Granted that video was a bit dramatic, but I can only remember one ending at Monaco better than that, Rindt vs. Brabham. Senna looked pretty knackered too.

Absolutely agree. Mansell was a top driver, and certainly very quick. He was probably worth a title, but unfortunately it was delivered by way of a vastly superior car. As a consequence, his critics dismissed his season as down to luck, and left Mansell constantly trying to talk up his achievements and downplay the role of the car, which the rest of the planet could plainly see was about as perfect as a racing car could be. The result was that although Mansell got the title his earlier performances in 1986 and 1987 deserved, he didn't get any respect for it. It's a shame - he hardly lucked into the FW14B considering where Williams were when he joined them for the second time.

The exact opposite of my own off-track encounters with the man.

Jack

PS: I never had an on-track encounter, so I can't speak to that!

I have changed my opinion of Mansell. I watched him on Top Gear show beating Damon Hill and Mark Webber's time in 'Star in a reasonably priced car' by seriously cutting corners, and then being interviewed by Jeremy Clarkson. Graciously taking plaudits for his feat, he has clearly mellowed but without loosing that complete lack of real humour that he always displayed.
I don't think Mansell is an insufferable ass any more. He is sufferable now.

My only experience of Mansell was fairly slight and a long time ago. He was at Lotus, very lucky to be in F1 at all, and he knew it. He had few supporters at Lotus, though one of them was The Man himself, who evidently recognised potential that others didn't. The Mansell of those days was a much more restrained character than he later became, but one memory I have is Chapman, on being asked how the car was going, saying a loud voice, "We've got this bloody whining noise coming from the car...." I wish I could remember more.

Mansell? Much the same as many other people's opinions - in a racing car, on the track - sensational. In any other circumstance, avoid like the plague.

My usual criteria in judging a person's character is to ask myself, "would I like to spend an evening drinking beer with this man?" In the case of Nige, the answer is no, in bold italics.

... something along the lines of "but it doesn't stop when you turn the engine off."

Nigel's problem always seemed to be that nothing was ever his fault ....

In my own case, it's always been the 'Stuck in a lift with' test, and judging by the smallish number I've met over the years, most of the F1 drivers who would have passed it have passed on.

He may have developped that as a self-defense mechanism during his Lotus days, whether consciously or not. Peter Warr didn't exactly have a high opinion of him.

Nigel certainly developed that "the world is against me, battling Brit" profile that went down so well with certain parts of the media at the height of his popularity.

Yes, Brits tend to love an underdog, but not one that whinges so long and so loud. Underdogs are supposed to know their place.

Hadn´t seen this thread before today, so I read through from post 1. In post 3 it was suggested Mansell should have been awarded an Oscar for his acting. How laughable. The man was the worst actor I have ever had the misfortune to witness. His post race "exhaustion" performances were diabolical and turned me right off the fellow. And his driving was a reflection of that sort of nonsense. Bad theatre is not worth watching IMO.
The irony is, had he just behaved normally, I think he would have succeeded in securing the legacy he so desperately sort to create.

I agree completely with your second paragraph. But as far as the first, I recall Paul Newman's famous quote about Mansell: "He was the greatest actor I ever saw!"
Tom

Nigel is rarely mentioned when "the greats" are discussed altough it seems that most here thinks that, as a driver, he belonged to that group. Is it fair to exclude him just because of his personality? How would Nouvolari, Ascari or Rosemeyer have handled the media circus that was around Mansell? Hawthorn?

I am pretty undecided about this because the personality is for sure part of a drivers quality and maybe the he also threw away a lot of points by lack of racing "smartness", but it is interesting to hear other peoples opinions.

Nicely put, I was never a fan back in his day but now I am pleased to see him putting back into the sport. Much the same way I feel about Prost now. I think also its because they were Sennas two greatest rivals (despite what Mr Piquet would like to think) and its good to remember those days.

Mansell is to be commended the amount of money and effort he is putting into Dunkeswell race track, despite the objections of local nimbys, some of whom didnt realise there had been an airfield there since the war, but objected to a kart track anyway.. Anyway to show how much he loves the grass roots Nigel has even raced in the Rotax 177s down there. Imagine having that at your local track !! I'm tempted to do the Southern Champs in August just to say I got thrashed by Our Noige!

Nige's post-race theatrics somehow reminded me of those performed by the late 'Godfather of Soul' James Brown who, at the end of a concert, would collapse 'exhausted' on stage before being draped in a cloak and led towards the wings by his minions. Then he would miraculously recover, throw off said cloak and return in glorious triumph, to show his fans what he puts himself through for them etc etc

johnnythunders:

Now we need to know if Mansell was a James Brown fan

Well, the 'hardest working man in showbusiness' would certainly have been able to tell our Nige that

"You see, man made the cars to take us over the road
Man made the trains to carry heavy loads
Man made electric light to take us out of the dark
Man made the boat for the water, like Noah made the ark

This is a man's, a man's, a man's world
But it wouldn't be nothing, nothing without a woman or a girl"

And can you imagine Nigel's nasal drone reciting:

"Fellas, I'm ready to get up and do my thing
I wanta get into it, man, you know
Like a, like a sex machine, man,
Movin' and doin' it, you know
Can I count it off?"

Thanks for the chuckles, Gentlemen!

ciao,
Stirling

So you are a James Brown fan Stirling......you can't be all bad then!!!!


Salut!


Sterling

Never was a Mansell fan but for me he had at least one good point. Before one of the early Adelaide GPs he (and Tom Walkinshaw) gave speaches to entertain the crowd at a pretty low key charity dinner. His speach was very entertaining but what impressed me was the time he spent afterwards stopping off at each table for a quick chat with each group and handing out helmet stick pins to one and all. He must have spent over an hour doing that and it was much appreciated. Maybe I am naive but it seemed to me to show a pretty nice side to 'Nige'.