The 1980’s was an exciting time in Formula One racing history, there were many great drivers like World Champions Keke Rosberg, Nelson Piquet, Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna and Niki Lauda, as well as the likes of Gilles Villeneuve, Jacques Laffite and Carlos Reutemann, all battling it out in cars that according to Martin Brundle, “tried to kill you on every corner”.
In amongst these was Nigel Mansell, an Englishman who at 23 years of age used his own money to come up through go-kart racing to eventually quit his job as an Aeronautical Engineer and sell most of his personnel belonging to fund his foray into Formula Ford racing. He overcame an accident that came perilously close to him becoming a quadriplegic, then raced up through the ranks of Formula 3 until 1980 when he debuted in Formula 1 with Lotus.
Mansell went on to win the Formula One World Drivers Championship with Williams in 1992 as well as 31 Grand Prix over 15 seasons. In 1993, the next year after his retirement from F1, he went to America and became the first driver to win the Indy Car World Series in his debut year with Newman/Haas Racing and remains the only driver to have simultaneously held both the F1 World Drivers’ Championship and the American open-wheel National Championship.
In terms of race wins, Nigel Mansell is the second most successful British Formula One driver with 31 victories, behind Lewis Hamilton with 105 wins, and is eighth overall on the Formula One race winners list. He held the record for the most pole positions set in a single season, which was broken in 20011 by Sebastian Vettel and also remains the last Formula One driver to win a Grand Prix over the age of 40, when he won the 1994 Australian Grand Prix.
Although Mansell returned to F1 in 1995 with Williams and had two mediocre races with McLaren, in 96 he retired again from F1 and only raced occasionally in the British Touring Car Championship.
Still one of Britain’s most loved racing drivers, he appeared at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed driving the 1986 Williams F11 up the hill climb, and David Tremayne caught up with him to talk about the memorable 80’s.
Nigel Mansell Interview – Goodwood 2025
*** Images courtesy Honda
