Much has been made of the rivalry between Ayrton Senna & Alain Prost, team mates at McLaren during the dominant seasons of 1988 & 89. But for British F1 fans who lived through that era it was Senna’s rivalry with Nigel Mansell which captured the public imagination - equally intense but without the bitterness which clouded Senna’s relationship with the Frenchman. 

Like Senna, Mansell was a racer, becoming legendary for his late race charges, pursuit of seemingly lost causes and never say die approach. A hero to  British fans, having won his first Grand Prix for Williams at Brands Hatch in 1985, Mansell had a real shot at the world championship in 1986 and ‘87 only to be thwarted by a famous blown tyre in Adelaide and a practice crash at Suzuka which handed the title to the usually slower Nelson Piquet. An uncompetitive 1988 led Mansell to Maranello - the last driver to be signed by Enzo Ferrari. Mansell won on his debut for the scuderia in Brazil, being christened Il Leone (“The Lion”)by the Tifosi. He won again in Hungary later in the season, charging through the field from 12th on the grid and passing  Senna for the lead with 20 laps to go. 1990 was more difficult, with Prost as teammate, and Mansell was back at Grove for 1991. While Senna won 7 races on the way to his 3rd and final title, Mansell won 5 times, the Williams Renault being the class of the field by the season’s end. Into 1992, Mansell and Williams were dominant, winning the first 5 races of the year - an unprecedented feat at the time. And then Monaco, a circuit where Mansell had never won but where Senna had taken victory no less than 4 times. Mansell’s qualifying performance in 1992 was almost faultless -taking pole position at 14 of the 16 rounds. Just as he had elsewhere, he dominated Monaco qualifying, putting his car on pole by nearly a second from teammate Riccardo Patrese with Senna just behind. At the start, Senna muscled past Patrese into the first corner and up the hill to Casino Square and while he could do nothing about Mansell, it was this move which ultimately won him the race. The Englishman was cruising out front, building a lead but driving within himself and able to turn the pace on as he pleased, casually lapping 2 seconds a lap faster than the rest of the field as late as lap 59.  With 8 laps to go and a 22 second lead, Mansell’s car twitched coming out of the tunnel. Nigel suspected a puncture but actually a wheel nut had worked loose. He dashed for the pits and charged back into the race, with Senna already in the lead & ahead by 5 seconds with 7 laps to go. On fresh rubber and with the bit between his teeth, Mansell tore into Senna’s lead at a rate of 1.5 seconds a lap and with 3 tours of the twisting street circuit to go the nose of the Williams was right on the gearbox of the McLaren Honda. But Monaco is always a difficult place to pass and Senna placed his car just where it needed to be.  Those last 3 laps were mesmerising - Mansell’s car ducking and weaving to find a way to overtake, holding the crowd on the edge of their seats, and millions watching on TV around the world enthralled. Try as he might Mansell couldn’t find a way through - neither driver resorting to contact as a way of resolving the fight. Of the race Mansell said “We both drove our hearts out, but I was very proud of the fact that we didn’t make contact”. Senna took a famous victory - the 5th of his 6 wins around the principality. By the time the F1 circus reached Hungary in August, Mansell had secured that elusive world title. Into 1993, he walked away from

F1  & crossed the Atlantic to take a dominant win as a rookie in the Indy Car World Series. Meanwhile, while he won again at Monaco, and famously in the rain at Donington, Senna endured a difficult season in a largely  uncompetitive McLaren Ford and signed for Williams Renault for 1994…..  

In lots of ways, the summer of 1992 marked the end of an era for one of the greatest rivalries in the history of Grand Prix racing. Of that afternoon in Monaco, Senna said “I had to use all my knowledge about Monaco, and it was really exciting. I tried to stay inside the track and at the right place - it felt good to tame the lion.”

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