Post by schumi on Jun 5, 2007 14:06:31 GMT
The question has been asked, and the answer, it seems, depends on which position you view him from. His team bosses thought he was going out of his way to cause an argument. Patrick Head once said “he thinks everyone is trying to shaft him at all times”, whilst Frank Williams described him as “a pain in the arse.” Nelson Piquet called him “an uneducated blockhead”, and even the media tired of his constant complaining. He’s been described as “boring”, “whinging”, and is remembered for his “constant blame of others” – hardly gracious by any standards. It’s been said he never took responsibility for his own actions and blamed anyone or anything else if something went wrong. An Australian commentator once asked: How do you know which car Mansell is driving? The answer was: It is the one where the whining continues when the engine is switched off.
But the fans seemed to love him for his aggressive, wheel to wheel style and “never give up” attitude. The fact that he became the 1977 Formula Ford champion despite having come perilously close to quadriplegia when he broke his neck in a testing accident, shows just how determined he was to win at all costs. Indeed, doctors told him he would be confined for six months and never drive again, but he sneaked out of hospital after telling nurses he was going to the toilet, and raced on. Foolish or gutsy?
Mansell entered formula 3 in 1977, and the following year had another horrific accident which he was lucky to survive. He suffered from broken vertebrae, but this didn’t stop him from impressing Lotus owner Colin Chapman enough to become a test driver for the team the following year, despite having to be dosed up on painkillers to drive so soon after his accident. In1980 he became a fully fledged F1 driver, but in his debut at the Australian GP a fuel leak in the cockpit left him with painful first and second degree burns on his backside. However, during his spell with Lotus he became very close to Chapman, his boss, and was subsequently devastated when he died in 1982. Mansell took his first career pole in 1984, though will more famously be remembered that year for fainting in the hottest GP on record (US GP) as he crossed the finishing line in sixth. But the signing of Ayrton Senna left him without a drive at the end of the season and so he returned in 1985 with Williams.
Finally, he won his first race – the European GP at Brands Hatch – and broke down in tears on the podium. He followed that up with a win at the South African GP, then went on to win 9 more races over the next 18 months, taking the championship to the wire in 1986 in a four horse race with Senna, Piquet and Prost. A burst tyre in Adelaide put paid to his hopes and he ended up finishing the year as runner up to Prost.
In 1997 he won six more GPs, including a popular victory at Silverstone in which he came from 30 seconds behind to set 11 lap records and beat his team mate, with his car running out of fuel on the slow-down lap. But an accident in qualifying at Suzuka meant he finished the season with a spinal concussion and gave the championship to Nelson Piquet.
He finally won his first (and only) world championship in 1992 for Williams, when he started the year with five straight victories, and eventually won the Drivers' Championship by setting the then record for the most number of wins in one season (9) and highest number of pole positions (14). He quit F1 racing in 1995.
My report of him probably doesn’t do his racing justice. Many people can name a particular instance where Mansell caught and overtook one of the greats, and from some way behind, but for me I don’t find arrogance an endearing quality. It’s interesting that I’ve read my own words and compared him to Schumacher – the win at all costs attitude, never giving up, and not being afraid to take someone out in the never ending quest for glory, but I've never been a fan of Mansell, and that works vice versa for other fans of F1. The question is, how can you like one but not the other when the two have so many similar attributes? Answers on a postcard...
But the fans seemed to love him for his aggressive, wheel to wheel style and “never give up” attitude. The fact that he became the 1977 Formula Ford champion despite having come perilously close to quadriplegia when he broke his neck in a testing accident, shows just how determined he was to win at all costs. Indeed, doctors told him he would be confined for six months and never drive again, but he sneaked out of hospital after telling nurses he was going to the toilet, and raced on. Foolish or gutsy?
Mansell entered formula 3 in 1977, and the following year had another horrific accident which he was lucky to survive. He suffered from broken vertebrae, but this didn’t stop him from impressing Lotus owner Colin Chapman enough to become a test driver for the team the following year, despite having to be dosed up on painkillers to drive so soon after his accident. In1980 he became a fully fledged F1 driver, but in his debut at the Australian GP a fuel leak in the cockpit left him with painful first and second degree burns on his backside. However, during his spell with Lotus he became very close to Chapman, his boss, and was subsequently devastated when he died in 1982. Mansell took his first career pole in 1984, though will more famously be remembered that year for fainting in the hottest GP on record (US GP) as he crossed the finishing line in sixth. But the signing of Ayrton Senna left him without a drive at the end of the season and so he returned in 1985 with Williams.
Finally, he won his first race – the European GP at Brands Hatch – and broke down in tears on the podium. He followed that up with a win at the South African GP, then went on to win 9 more races over the next 18 months, taking the championship to the wire in 1986 in a four horse race with Senna, Piquet and Prost. A burst tyre in Adelaide put paid to his hopes and he ended up finishing the year as runner up to Prost.
In 1997 he won six more GPs, including a popular victory at Silverstone in which he came from 30 seconds behind to set 11 lap records and beat his team mate, with his car running out of fuel on the slow-down lap. But an accident in qualifying at Suzuka meant he finished the season with a spinal concussion and gave the championship to Nelson Piquet.
He finally won his first (and only) world championship in 1992 for Williams, when he started the year with five straight victories, and eventually won the Drivers' Championship by setting the then record for the most number of wins in one season (9) and highest number of pole positions (14). He quit F1 racing in 1995.
My report of him probably doesn’t do his racing justice. Many people can name a particular instance where Mansell caught and overtook one of the greats, and from some way behind, but for me I don’t find arrogance an endearing quality. It’s interesting that I’ve read my own words and compared him to Schumacher – the win at all costs attitude, never giving up, and not being afraid to take someone out in the never ending quest for glory, but I've never been a fan of Mansell, and that works vice versa for other fans of F1. The question is, how can you like one but not the other when the two have so many similar attributes? Answers on a postcard...
;D ;D
You can if you really feel the need, just remember you're in the presence of a lady.