Nigel Mansell

British racing driver

Mansell's long road to 1992

Nigel Mansell needed more than a decade and three runner up finishes to become champion, then won the IndyCar title the very next year.

Nigel Mansell was born in Upton upon Severn, England, on 8 August 1953, and paid much of his own way up the ladder. After karting he won the British Formula Ford 1600 title in 1977, then moved to Formula Three, and Lotus gave him his Grand Prix debut at the 1980 Austrian Grand Prix.

Five seasons at Lotus produced podiums but no wins. His first victory came only after he moved to Williams, at the 1985 European Grand Prix at Brands Hatch, and he followed it with another in South Africa at the next round. With Honda power he won five races in 1986 and six in 1987, finishing runner up both years. Ferrari signed him for 1989, and he won on his debut for the team in Brazil, then again in Hungary later that year.

Back at Williams in 1991 he won five times and was runner up again. In 1992 the Williams Renault was the class of the field, and Mansell won nine races, including the first five of the season, to take the championship at last. Rather than defend it, he moved to the United States and won the 1993 IndyCar title with Newman/Haas Racing in his first season there, the only driver to hold both championships at once.

He returned to Formula 1 for four races with Williams in 1994 and won the last of them, the Australian Grand Prix, then made two starts for McLaren in 1995. His career closed with 187 starts, 31 wins, 32 pole positions, 30 fastest laps and 59 podiums.

1 world titles, 31 wins, 32 pole positions, 187 starts.

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