Glad to see this debate has acquired a distinctly 1980s flavour. Thats when I first got into F1, after my dad took me to an F1 test day at Brands Hatch (remember those?). Maybe it's rose-tinted spectacles, but I think the racing was better. And the drivers DEFINIELY had more personality.
Rosberg, Alboreto, Arnoux, Villeneuve, Lafitte, Berger - real characters.
Mind you, compared to the 60s and 70s I guess the 80s era drivers were pretty boring!
King Nigel Mansell
Started by
King Nigel
, Dec 04 2001 10:59
61 replies to this topic
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#52
Maldwyn
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Posted 12 December 2001 - 21:13
Ahhhhh, the joys of the PR machine that dominates F1 nowadaysOriginally posted by mikedeering
Maybe it's rose-tinted spectacles, but I think the racing was better. And the drivers DEFINIELY had more personality.
Perish the thought that drivers could have a mind of their own and be allowed to speak their minds!!!!!!!!!!
#53
holiday
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Posted 12 December 2001 - 21:46
Originally posted by mikedeering
...I entered this debate on whether Mansell lucked into the best car and was therefore underserving of his 92 Title. I disputed this
I agree with you on this, however my reasoning is a different one.
Before NM joined Williams he had already been runner up two times, both times because of bad luck, though Prost with a grossly inferior TAG engine with 70 horsepowers less or so deserved his title every bit.
If you take Mansell's career as a whole he clearly deserved one WDC, if not more.
Originally posted by mikedeering
If Patrese was so great, why did Williams, most uncharacteristically, give in to all of Mansell's demands in order to sign him for 91?
Imo because they perfectly knew that the '91 Williams would be a title contender and Mansell was at his best in very good cars.
That's just plain arrogance - you should state something like "we have a difference of opinion similar to our Prost-Senna discussion."
That's about what I wanted to say. However, I have to point out it's not a small one.
Do we have a source on that description? I don't doubt it's authenticity, but the manner of it suggests it was hardly written by a pro-Mansell fan...
www.f1rogues.com
Don't mind the tone of the author. He speaks this way about almost any driver.
It's a..uh..somewhat different formula1-page
There ARE drivers which wear down material much sooner than others. That aspect has to be factored in every evaluation, otherwise you may be speaking of anything, but not of MOTORsport!
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The car should always be able to withstand the punishment of the driver - didn't Enzo Ferrari say something along those lines...
Didn't Ferdinand Porsche say that the perfect race car is the one that falls apart immediately after crossing the finishing line....
From time to time both Mansell and Senna were clearly overanxious in this respect ...
#54
MrAerodynamicist
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Posted 12 December 2001 - 23:23
I've always had something for drivers who fall in to the "racer", and I don't think many would disagree that he falls in to that catergory! So what if he was a pain out of the car (after all, its motorsport, not personalitysport 
)
)
#55
King Nigel
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#57
Giraffe
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Posted 18 February 2012 - 09:49
"If there's one thing I cant stand more than a whinging racing driver, it's a whinging racing driver with a Brummie accent!"
Nige has done a great deal for youth charities over the years which is what he got his gong for, so fair play to the man.
Nige has done a great deal for youth charities over the years which is what he got his gong for, so fair play to the man.
#58
rallen
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Posted 18 February 2012 - 12:55
Intersesting thread. I always liked Mansell the racer but his name in the UK sadly appears to be mud through a combination of people thinking he wasn't a pleasant chap and that he only won the WDC because he had the best car. I would love to know what the view of Mansell is in other countries? how is he viewed in German, Italy and France for example?
#59
Emery0323
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Posted 19 February 2012 - 01:25
By chance there's a piece by Nigel Roebuck about Mansell and Mario Andretti's opinion of him in "ask Nigel Dec 5 on www.autosport.com
Can anyone elaborate on Mario Andretti's opinion of Nigel? The linked article requires a subscription
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#60
King Nigel
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Posted 05 June 2015 - 23:46
Here are some details about Nigel's new autobiography available on September 24, 2015 :
http://books.simonan...l/9781471151828
#62
F1matt
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Posted 24 January 2018 - 20:23
Is Mario the best person to ask about Nigel? He is going to be biased as he was his beaten team mate when Nigel turned up in the USA and won the title in his first season, we all know Nigel is a moaner but which top driver hasn’t moaned to get his own way? On the track he was one of the bravest drivers out there who was willing to take a chance with some ballsy overtakes, not the best but deserves more recognition than he gets.
