Mansell's Best Qualifying Lap Ever

[Sato san]

Originally posted by pb btcc
was there any other session that year he went more than 2 seconds a lap faster than anyone else.

i think he did in Brazil as well . I think he was nearly 2 seconds clear of Patrese as well at that circuit .

[Mattracer]

Originally posted by Dino IV
The 1992 Williams ... "a car a monkey could become World Champion in"

Ahh, that old chestnut again.

[Knowlesy]

Well, I didn't see Patrese winning any titles. In fact he won less races than in 1991.......

Mansell deserved his opportunity in the best car and he made the most of it. Alain Prost did his best the next year, in a slightly more developed version, to make it look one of the worst cars on the grid.

[Peter Mallett]

Yep.

Much as I liked Ricardo he was severely massacred after the first half of 91. (I'm sure that's hyperbole but you get my drift).

[Sato san]

i also think that because for various reasons during the first half of 1991 , Ricardo generally out paced Mansell , that gave Nigel even more motivation to go fast and turn the tables back again.

[Dino IV]

Well drivers are not like wine ... they usual tend to degrade over the years when experience, habits and fear tend to overwhelm their initial drive, enthusiasm and fearless sense of invicibility. Even TGF was on par with Piquet right away, while a decade earlier Nelson was really awesome. Same goes for Patrese which would have been a tough cookie for Nigel if he was as fresh and fast as he was a decade earlier. In the Williams he was old and experienced and hot properties were guys like Alesi and Berger. Mansell was pretty special tough in preserving his initial 'bite'.

[Peter Mallett]

Good point Dino. But if anything I felt his aggression increased with experience. He was the archytypal racer. Once he tasted that champagne he just seemed like there was nothing else for him. Unlike Piquet etc. Apart from the disasterous Macaroon escapade he was as good in a F1 car after Cart as before.

[krt917]

I must admit that my first thought was Silverstone '92, but I seem to recall him 'whitewalling' his tyres round Monaco one year during the turbo days. I forget which year, but two Williams efforts stand out round the principality:

1985 - Qualifies 2nd in the (at that stage of the season) pretty difficult FW10. Did 1m20.536s, compared to Rosberg's 1m21.320 and Rosberg was bloody quick in qualifying and was strong at Monte Carlo.

1987 - On pole with a 1m23.039. The next three men on the grid were: Senna - 1m23.711
Piquet - 1m24.755 (in the same car!!)
Prost - 1m25.083
Enough said! (oh, except for the fact that he should hae won the race too!)

The great thing about Nige is that, despite all this, I always remember him as a great RACER - he could charge and overtake. Made F1 even more interesting.

[rdjones]

Sorry it has to be Silverstone 1992.......

[Knowlesy]

He had some pretty good laps at Monaco in the Lotus' as well. He qualified on the front row once or twice I think. Very impressive!

[krt917]

Originally posted by Sato san
i think he did in Brazil as well . I think he was nearly 2 seconds clear of Patrese as well at that circuit .

I've just dug these stats out of Autocourse '92:

Brazil - Mansell - 1m15.703
- Patrese (2nd) - 1m16.894
- Senna (3rd) - 1m17.902
One of several qualies where Nige was a second clear of the field, though it is notable how McLaren had closed the gap a bit by the end of the season.

His other great pole in '92, apart from Silverstone, was at Spa:
Pole - 1m50.545s
2nd - 1m52.743s (Senna)
3rd - 1m53.221s (Schumacher)
4th - 1m53.557s (Patrese)

Can't have been too bad a lap....