9 replies to this topic

[FerrariV12]

I've got some questions about the Red 5 with which Nigel Mansell became synonymous, Mansell quickly became my boyhood hero when I first started watching F1 in 1991. How exactly did the "Red Five" thing come about? I've seen photos and footage of Mansell's Williams at the start of 1985 and he had a white 5 - while his first victory at Brands he had red 5. What was the first race Williams changed the colour, and why did they?

I understand some teams often change the colour of their numbers to help tell the cars apart - off the top of my head Stewart did it in 1999 when Barrichello had red 16 and Herbert green 17. But if that's the case, why did Thierry Boutsen's car have a white 5, had Mansell made red 5 his own already by 1988, and if that's the case when roughly speaking was the phrase coined?

Thanks for any info

[jcbc3]

'Red Five' is from the original Star Wars movie. It's on Luke Skywalkers fighter jet/rocket as they attack and destroy the Death Star. I think he is also called on his radio with that. 'Red five, come in' or something like that. Someone at Williams probably saw the movie and realised Mansell could be made a hero too.

[monoposto]

I always understood the Red 5 came about from Our Nige's association with The Red Arrows - the RAF's aerobatic display team . Each team member is known as Red 1, Red 2 etc through to 9

Mansell's race number was 5, and it changed from white to red in 1985

[giacomo]

I am quoting Quentin Spurring, 1986:
"Mansell had now become a hero of the British public and the tabloid media was sending a man to every race, chronicling his every move. One of this quintet of reporters christened his car 'Red Five', so they became known as 'Brown Five' among the regulars in the media rooms."

[ensign14]

The number on the side was to remain navy, but at a few races mid-season was also coloured red. I think it was merely an additional way of identifying the driver at speed, from the front Mansell's and Rosberg's helmets were both white with blue bits.

[Twin Window]

Originally posted by giacomo

One of this quintet of reporters christened his car 'Red Five', so they became known as 'Brown Five' among the regulars in the media rooms.

Q has always been a top bloke!

[L'Autista]

Even on Nigel's 2 subsequent Williams returns, he made sure the number he used was red on the nose, even if the 1994 number was a red 2. He must have had some superstition about it, he took it to Indycar with him as well, and I believe in the BTCC races he contested in the Mondeo.

Perhaps that is why his Ferrari years were lean against expectations- the white numbers!

[Mohican]

Originally posted by ensign14
The number on the side was to remain navy, but at a few races mid-season was also coloured red. I think it was merely an additional way of identifying the driver at speed, from the front Mansell's and Rosberg's helmets were both white with blue bits.

Interesting. Today, the racing numbers are very difficult to pick out at all - and the driver helmets look very similar as the designa are normally submerged beneath sponsor decals etc.

[ensign14]

Originally posted by L'Autista
Even on Nigel's 2 subsequent Williams returns, he made sure the number he used was red on the nose, even if the 1994 number was a red 2. He must have had some superstition about it, he took it to Indycar with him as well, and I believe in the BTCC races he contested in the Mondeo.

I think he had 55 in the Mondeo.

Not really superstition but he had been associated with the number so they fiddled it in CART (as numbers went to the team's previous year's finishing position he should have had 2 in taking over Michael Andretti's spot but swapped with Scott Goodyear). It was a sort of brand and therefore sensible to exploit it further - also for CART.

[subh]

Originally posted by L'Autista
Perhaps that is why his Ferrari years were lean against expectations- the white numbers!

The Ferrari custom was to have square yellow flashes on the wings of one car, so as to make identification easier at a distance. I wonder whether anyone has assembled a catalogue of all these identifiers, or whether this might be the place to do so. For instance, Sauber for some years used red, yellow, and blue wing mirrors for ID - blue for the T-car.