Jack: An interview with my childhood hero, Nigel Mansell

They say you should never meet your hero.

I was always fine with that. After all, mine was tucked away perfectly inside a gloriously built racing car anyway.

As a boy I'd fall asleep with my mind full of images of him with his helmet on, at work as one with the car. I didn't think much about how he looked or acted out of the car and cared little for his thoughts on anything other than driving. For me, what he did inside the greatest looking race cars ever built was more than enough.

He was the answer to all the questions you get at school. Hero? Favourite sportsman? Even favourite footballer. Cross out footballer and write driver.

As a seven-year-old I sat at the first corner at the Brands Hatch circuit, a small part of over one hundred thousand spectators squeezed into the picturesque English circuit, blessed with simply stunning curves that became even more radiant when powerful, wide Formula One cars, with gorgeous thick back tires, took on their challenge.

I watched him take on all comers that day, defeat some of the greatest drivers the sport has ever been graced with, and win his first ever Grand Prix. We cried together. He as he reached the top spot of the podium for the first time and me as my dad told me it was over and time to go home.

Almost thirty years on I am waiting for him in the lobby of a Toronto hotel. He is in town to be inducted into the Canadian Motor Sports Hall of Fame for his performances on tracks in this country and he has agreed to meet me for an interview.

I'd been used to seeing him in environments where thousands of people followed him just to get some kind of piece of him – a photograph, a handshake or an autograph if they were lucky. Yet, these are now different times.

Don't meet your hero they say.

Too late for that now.

Nigel Mansell greets me with a warm smile and puts his arm on my shoulder.

I am on crutches following foot surgery and immediately it's an icebreaker. He is concerned. He is intrigued.

He is also supremely educated on injuries. That's what happens to a man who drove the cars he did in the 1980s and early 1990s. His career boasts more races won than bones broke but it was much closer than he would have liked.

A hero (masculine) or heroine (feminine) (Ancient Greek: ἥρως, hḗrōs) refers to characters who, in the face of danger and adversity or from a position of weakness, display courage and the will for self-sacrifice—that is, heroism—for some greater good of all humanity.

For me, Nigel Mansell was always a modern day Gladiator figure. My hero. There are those who believe the term hero should not be used in sports, saved instead for the work of those in the real world where the harsh realities of life can often remind us all how trivial sporting theatres can become.

However, sports are a release for many from such woe. Watching Formula One cars prior to the death of Ayrton Senna at Imola in 1994 was what makes sports so captivating for me. Of course, no one wants to see people lose their lives but there is a quite remarkable rush when you are drawn to watching humans who can bring together supreme talent and bravery while accomplishing something most of the entire world couldn't do.

"The tracks back then were scary, real scary," Mansell tells me. "We raced on some circuits and if we came off the track it's a monumental accident. We had corners we took at 200mph with no run-off area. We used to be scared shitless and get hurt real bad too."

Some much worse than others, and he would see colleagues killed like his former team-mate and friend Elio De Angelis and, of course, Senna, one of his greatest rivals.

"Ayrton and I shared a lot of incredible races, where he was first and I was second and vice-versa. I think it's fair to say I am the only racer in Grand Prix history who wasn't intimidated by him and I think that was great for the fans – it did make us have a few close calls though! He told me one day to my face that I was mad and absolutely crazy but he was ruthless to the point if he could shunt the car up the back of you, like he did to me in Australia once, then he could do that. I am a sportsman and I have never done that, and I suppose if I was more ruthless like that I could have won more races and championships but I reflect back on that now and think that just wasn't me. "

There is no resentment in his voice, which rises high in appreciation of what Senna did behind the wheel of a car. I remind him of the iconic vision of him picking up the Brazilian at the British Grand Prix in 1991 when his car broke down and he called it a " a compassionate moment, a genuine gesture of friendship to help him get him out of there."

At age 61 Mansell is supremely comfortable in his own skin and admits he looks back and is surprised at what he was able to accomplish. Winner of 31 Grand Prix races, the 1992 World Championship and the 1993 IndyCar Championship.

Nothing came easy to Mansell. In a sport where money is more important than talent when it comes to getting a drive to try and reach the peak, his story is one of an unlikely success. Working 20-hour days, sleeping in the back of a van, selling his apartment and losing parents at a young age were just some of the significant challenges he and his wife Rosanne faced as they battled to get into Formula One, which he eventually reached by 1980.

At Brands Hatch in 1985 he was a 32-year-old in his sixth F1 season and still without a win. Then on that October day in the south of England his life changed forever.

He smiles when we discuss the move he made to get around the leader, Senna, and his attention to detail would make a stranger think he is talking about something he did yesterday.

"There was so much concentration required in those cars. There was no power steering, no traction control, no gizmos like today, the wheels would spin at 165mph because the power would kick in (so fast). Down that front straight (prior to the pass) we are doing 192mph and common sense would say you don't have any time to think about anything, but the greatest attribute of a racing driver is slowing things down, so we have time to process information to do the job in question.

"That day too many things came into my mind," he laughs. "192mph up to 200mph, yes this is the moment, don't get too excited, don't mess it up, it was wonderful the conversation you have with the little voice you have inside of your head and I went on to win and it was very special.

"Afterwards I was exhausted, absolutely depleted. I felt the relief. The first win is the most important because you have done it – like (his friend, pro golfer) Greg Norman said to me 'once you have done a golf shot once you can do it again and again and again', and after that win we had broke through."

To win the European Grand Prix, Mansell overtook Senna, battled with other World Champions Nelson Piquet, and teammate Keke Rosberg, while McLaren's Alain Prost went on to become World Champion himself that day. It was a time in the sport where many greats went head-to-head, one that Mansell appreciates now more than ever.

"As you get older you do reflect more. They were great times but the biggest thing we all had to deal with a lot more disappointment from an engineering point of view, there was not the reliability that there is now. I think Michael Schumacher was almost gifted three World Championships through total, unbelievable, unprecedented reliability of his Ferrari car, and no one would disagree that anyone in that car at the time would have won those championships, but back in the eighties you had 20-30 per cent of a chance of finishing the race, it was a giant hill to climb every time and I'm just glad we did it sometimes."

He understands the part he played in the rivalries and how it helped grow the sport's popularity, something we have seen this season with the battle between Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes.

"When I was teammates with Piquet and Prost they were prolific in what they would get up to undermine you," Mansell reveals. "It was frustrating but I realized if you are a World Champion several times over, I suppose it must really upset you if the number two driver keeps beating them! I was threatening them all the time, and got in their head.

"It's wonderful when everything is level playing field and this season Mercedes have to be very careful how they manage it. At the press of a button, one car can go faster than the other. Nico has had some extraordinary things that have happened to him lately. Mercedes will choose who they want to be World Champion – Lewis is on a high now but Nico has done a fantastic job too and he should be given equal opportunity."

Equal opportunity is a phrase he uses often. He has stories that would shock fans about how the likes of Prost and Piquet would do whatever it took to defeat him.

"In the end, though, at Ferrari, I left on great terms and Prost got fired," Mansell reminds us and it's clear he treasures a lot of relationships he formed, particularly with fans all around the world.

At Brands Hatch that day he captured the hearts of the British public. I watched him win again on home soil in 1986, 1987 and then again with Williams in 1991 and 1992 after his time with Ferrari where fans in Italy also fell in love with the man they called 'il leone' – the lion.

Mansell is extremely proud of the connection he had with his fans worldwide: "A pure fan of any sport knows the sport better than those participating in it, that's why they are fans of it. I was a driver and a racer. The difference between drivers who can be great World Champions and racers, who are also World Champions, is that racers don't wait for things to happen, they make things happen. The fans always embraced me because of my driving style, even when I was on the back foot, if I didn't have the best car, engine, or was number two in the team, I still gave it my all. It didn't matter where I was on the grid, I would drive the backside of the car. Fans loved that I think."

This one certainly did. I'll forever have memories of Mansell the driver. Now I have one as Mansell the gentleman. A true champion on and off the track.

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Nigel Mansell, F1 champion turned secondhand car dealer

Nigel Mansell and his son Leo will use the personal touch at their new car dealership and museum.

Nigel Mansell was Formula One World Champion in 1992 Photo: HEATHCLIFF O'MALLEY

What does a retired grand prix star do to fill his days on leaving the world of motorsport? For Jody Scheckter it’s all about organic buffalo farming, Carlos Reutemann prefers the world of Argentine politics and Sir Stirling Moss narrated a toddlers’ telly show. By comparison, Nigel Mansell’s latest venture seems a little mundane: 20 years after winning the Formula One world championship he is opening a used-car dealership in Jersey.

Any islanders with upwards of £4,000 in their pocket can head to the historic Art Deco building in St Helier that is being renovated and from January will be home to the Mansell Collection. There, either Leo Mansell or, if they are lucky, his father, will help source their dream car, while they browse “Our Nige’s” trophies and race-winning cars in a new museum. For motorsport fans it sounds like a dream come true, but surely Nigel could find a more exhilarating pastime?

“People come and go on this planet and very few people leave legacies behind; I’m hoping this unique building and what Leo is achieving will leave a great legacy,” says Nigel. “In truth we’ve been looking for a home for the memorabilia for probably 20-plus years. The biggest exciting thing is the opportunity to bring all of our future [business] interests and current interests together so that the power base comes from here. So although we’ll be trading downstairs and have the museum upstairs, there will be many other strings to the bow which people won’t see.”

Selling cars is not a new venture for Mansell. In addition to having been a special constable, charity director and grand prix superstar, he owned a Ferrari dealership and several franchises of Westover Motors on the South Coast. Surely a more obvious choice would have been to go back to flogging supercars?

“We want to throw our net and have the opportunity of anyone in Jersey coming and seeing if we can be of any assistance,” he explains. “Whatever the budget the customer has, that’s an important budget to them, and to us. We are going to develop a more personal way of doing business. We are not looking at quantity, we are looking at quality and that makes a big difference in how you trade. With the experience we have and with the enthusiasm that the Mansell team have, and our history in motorsport and the car industry, we are looking at doing things a little bit differently.”



Offering a personal service is key to the venture; as Leo (pictured above) explains, Jersey’s small population means customer satisfaction is all-important, as word will quickly get around. In fact, the business has already begun sourcing cars for people who spotted the website and got in touch, and there will also be a hand-picked selection for sale in the showroom.

The thing that makes this dealership unique is that, while downstairs you may cast your eye over a second-hand Mini, upstairs you can see the Williams FW14B with which Nigel won the world championship in 1992. There are four race-winning cars from across his career as well as the trophies which, unusually, his contracts stipulated he would keep.



“There are all the trophies throughout my karting career, trophies in F3, F2, IndyCar, GP Masters – the cross-section of interest in there is extraordinary,” says Nigel. “Everyone can have an opinion but as the stats stand at this time, the collection is second-to-none in the world. There’s much more memorabilia in there to do with motorsport which will create great interest for people who visit and will be an incredible tourist attraction.”

Unfortunately there is one evocative car missing from the collection: the Newman/Haas Lola with which Nigel won the 1993 CART IndyCar World Series at his first attempt the year after leaving Formula One, making him the only driver simultaneously to hold world titles on both sides of the Atlantic. Mansell unfortunately didn’t get to keep the car. “I even won a tractor, a nice big tractor, and I never got to see that either,” he says.



Leo, aged 27, briefly followed his father into the world of motorsport but is now focused on the business. He has already spent a year of hard work building the dealership and overseeing renovations to the building, which has always had a motoring use, from showroom to mechanic’s garage and taxi-firm headquarters.

“It’s a great environment to come and buy a car,” says Leo, who will run the business alongside general manager Steve Ainsworth. “To have the collection upstairs is the cherry on the top which gives us the opportunity to be a unique place and to hopefully sell a product which people will be very happy with.”



And will his father, who can still be found in the Formula One paddock as drivers’ steward at selected races, be stepping on to the shop floor to clinch a sale or two? “He’ll be overseeing everything and I’m sure if he’s in Jersey he’ll be on site, if not every day, then every other day. He has a very hands-on approach so there is the potential that, yes, someone could have Nigel Mansell sell them a car.”

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"I went from Sports Personality of the year to being a nasty smell."

Damon Hill’s turbulent relationship with Williams led to him losing his drive on the brink of becoming World Champion. The men at the heart of this tale talk candidly for the first time about what went wrong

This is the story of how Damon Hill came to lose his drive and win the World Championship at the same time. It is about the disintegration of a professional relationship, about three men tied together by tragedy into a situation none of them ever envisaged.

It is the story of how a largely unheralded racing driver was forced by the death of his team-mate to take the leadership of the best team in Formula 1. But the men who ran that team were never fully convinced he was up to the job and so, even as he was poised to deliver the ultimate prize, they had already decided to let him go. It is the story of Damon Hill, Frank Williams and Patrick Head – and, aside from the basic facts, much of it has never been told before.

No-one involved imagined Hill would end up World Champion when, out of work and already 30, he was taken on by Williams as a test driver in 1991, nor even when his impressive performances won him a seat alongside Alain Prost in the race team for 1993.

“I was a number two,” Hill says. “I understood that. Frank was basically saying, you’re a good test driver, we think you’ll make a good, solid guy to be there for us, but we’re paying lots of money to Alain Prost.”

Hill, as he puts it, occasionally “bit Alain’s ankles” in 1993, but Prost’s retirement at the end of the season only emphasised his status – new recruit Ayrton Senna was at least half a second a lap quicker than the Englishman. But then Williams’s world turned upside down. Senna was killed at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix – and Hill’s role in, and relationship with, Williams changed completely.

“Damon,” says co-owner Patrick Head, “played a large part in the process of holding the team together. He’s a remarkable character.

“He came up [to the factory] on the Saturday after the Imola race and spent hours with us, participating in the process of going through the accident. We literally must have had an eight-hour day going through various video clips and data time by time, which was a remarkably disciplined thing to do knowing that he would be in the car.”

That data, Hill says, convinced him that Senna had made a mistake. In a more fuel-heavy car, Senna was trying to stay ahead of Michael Schumacher’s Benetton. The car was running closer to the ground than normal because the tyres were still not up to pressure after a safety car period and Senna chose the tighter line through Tamburello that Hill was avoiding because of two treacherous bumps that badly unsettled the car.

The Brazilian hit the first bump, the car lost downforce, but Senna caught the slide. Then it hit the second bump, and this time, Hill believes, “it threw him just off-line enough for him not to be able to get it back on the track, and that was that”.

That is the theory Williams expressed at the inquest into Senna’s death, the team believing that the data from Senna’s car refutes the contention of the Italian prosecutors that the steering column failed, robbing him of control.

“I had to find out for myself, for my own comfort if you like, my interpretation of what happened,” Hill says. “Now you might say I came up with an interpretation that made me feel comfortable about driving again, but I honestly think that Ayrton was such a determined competitor that he regularly put himself at risk with his car and his driving, and he couldn’t do anything else.”

Hill says he never had any thoughts about stopping racing. “You come away from an event like that and just think, ‘well, if you stop now it sort of suggests you haven’t really understood the risks.’ And I thought I did understand. I always knew this was dangerous. I’d known people who’d died. My dad did, too. So I didn’t have any illusions that this was a potentially fatal sport. I thought, ‘no, you’ve got to keep going.’”

That was easier said than done. Head says the whole team was “on auto” at the next race in Monaco, and Hill, still in shock, was out of the Grand Prix by the first corner, after a tangle with Mika Häkkinen’s McLaren.

Two weeks later, though, he won in Spain, after Schumacher’s leading car became stuck in fifth gear. “That was crucial,” Hill says. “I knew I could do it, but I needed something tangible to hang it on. In this sport, everything is bullshit. Ultimately, people can only relate to a result. You get a result, and you’ve got a certain amount of breathing space.”

The win, Williams says, “made the team regain its confidence – in the end, it was a joyous event”.

“Spiritually,” adds Hill, “for people to go forward they need to believe there is an opportunity for something positive to happen. What we felt for Ayrton was channelled into our championship. And I just felt that because of what happened to Ayrton, I had to completely give everything I had to try to win the championship.”

That looked a long shot in the extreme, so great was Schumacher’s lead. But Benetton found itself embroiled in controversy after controversy, which ultimately meant Schumacher failed to score in four races. Hill won all of them, and went to the penultimate race in Japan still in with a chance, and with Nigel Mansell back at Williams as support.

At Suzuka, Hill produced a performance that has gone down in history as one of the sport’s most remarkable drives – in the pouring rain, on Formula 1’s most demanding track, “Damon,” as Head puts it, “just outdrove Michael, and not many people did that to Michael in the wet.”

Hill takes up the story: “The preceding race [at Jerez] was a disaster, and the truth of that was there was a cock-up with the refuelling which I had to bring to their attention. I was a long way behind [Schumacher] because I was carrying tons of fuel. And that was overlooked. So I had an investigation into it. So there was a little bit of friction there between Frank, Patrick and myself.

“I was supposed to be the team leader but for some reason I just could not seem to get that indication from Frank.

“Frank and Patrick never regarded me, at that stage, as being their front-line guy. That’s why they had Nigel there. So I constantly felt they were looking for someone else to deliver. I felt that was really demoralising. I thought there was obviously something about me which made them doubtful of me. And I doubt myself. I’m constantly giving it out. I don’t think I can blame them for that. I wasn’t someone who can walk in and have 100 per cent confidence and give off that vibe. Like, say, Michael Schumacher does. So I don’t think that was helpful in that situation. I was very internal and introspective. And eventually at Suzuka Patrick gave me a bit of a talking to.

“I was getting very intense about the whole thing and I was in a bit of a strop because they were all over Nigel and I thought: ‘He can’t win the title! OK, he won it before, but he can’t win it now. I can. Why are they making such a big deal about Nigel?’ And eventually you just go: ‘I don’t get it. I don’t care. I’m just going to drive.’ And I released myself from something.

“I had admired these people for so long, I wanted very much to impress and I came to the realisation that I’m never going to get that. You’re going to have to please yourself, concentrate on yourself and deliver for yourself. So I just changed my attitude and did my own thing, and made the best of whatever opportunity I had.

“Something came out of me which I’d been trying to get out, which needed the right circumstances. I never got to the height I did at Suzuka before, or perhaps even since.”

Head says he does not remember the conversation, but does admit: “Damon’s a remarkably honest character, and that honesty goes as far as if he has any self doubt then you tend to see it.”

“I certainly wasn’t trying to wind him up,” Head adds, “but obviously I must have succeeded. But I’m in full admiration of the drive Damon did on that day. Whether any action of mine helped him to open that door, whether it be bullying or whatever, then he certainly responded very well.”

The win at Suzuka put Hill one point behind Schumacher going into the final race at Adelaide, but the tensions at Williams were still there.

“Of course after every victory a driver is totally unbearable for 24 hours,” Hill says, “so I thought I was God’s gift to racing, at that point. I went and stayed with Barry [Sheene], we flew from Melbourne to Adelaide and Barry was going: ‘You know, Frank should be paying you more money.’ And I was going: ‘Yeah, you’re right Barry. What do you think we should do?’ ‘Well, you should say something. You’ve got to stand up for yourself.’

“So I met Murray Walker off the plane, and I went: ‘They’re not paying me enough.’ They wanted to know what was going to happen in the showdown, and there’s this spoilt brat saying he’s not being paid enough. What a way to completely shoot yourself in the foot! So I walked into the garage and there’s all these long faces looking at me. And I remember saying to Patrick: ‘You always hurt the ones you love, Patrick, I’m sorry.’

“It’s just horrible to think back, but I just completely did not have the skills to deal with this end of the business at all.”

At Adelaide, Hill drove another superlative race, pressuring Schumacher so hard that the German made a mistake and slid off the track, only to rejoin and take both cars out of the race.

Although Hill and Williams had lost the championship, things looked promising for 1995. Instead Schumacher, Hill remembers, “ran rings around us”. Head admits the team was often out-thought on strategy by Benetton, and tensions within Williams were increased by the team’s refusal to impose team orders on David Coulthard to help Hill.

“It’s a bit of a blur,” says Hill, who did win four races between the humiliations. “When I went down, I went down, mentally, and it all just got to me. The stress of ’94 was immense, and I somehow didn’t manage to regroup myself properly.

“I went from Sports Personality of the Year to being a nasty smell. It was catastrophic. I’d already signed for 1996, but I think that’s when Frank and Patrick decided: ‘We’ve got to get someone for beyond that because he’s up and down like a yo-yo.’ If they’d said: ‘Damon, it’s all over,’ I think I’d have said: ‘you’re right!’”

They didn’t, though. Not yet, anyway. There were rumours at the time that, exasperated by Hill’s performances, Williams had done a deal with Heinz-Harald Frentzen for 1997, but for now they were just rumours, and Hill set about putting his annus horribilis behind him.

Following a particularly poor race at Suzuka, after which he says he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry so bad had things become, Hill won the final race of 1995 at Adelaide. He used that as a springboard to go away and prepare comprehensively for ’96 – to find ways of dealing with what he calls the “burden” of his position as team leader and bearer of the hopes of a nation.

When he turned up for pre-season testing, Head and Williams were impressed. “We were full of admiration for the way he went away and got himself enormously fit over the winter,” Head recalls. “I think he felt that Michael was better in 1995, but he went away and got a new trainer and worked unbelievably hard, so when he turned up in ’96 his mindset was ‘no way is Michael fitter than me, no way is he better prepared’.

“He felt he could beat Michael and he went out and did it. So I don’t think we felt he was inconsistent in 1996. He was inconsistent in ’95, but it was a mental thing more than an ability thing.”

Hill says: “I knew ’96 was my last chance. The understanding I had of the sport was, if you win, you’ll be in demand, and naturally they’ll want to keep you [for 1997]. If I don’t win, they won’t keep me, so I was under the impression that I’m going to win the title and they’ll keep me. So to win and not be kept was not something I’d factored in at all.”

The year started well. The Williams-Renault FW18 was one of history’s great cars. Schumacher’s Ferrari was not. And, bar a couple of not-entirely-unfamiliar trip-ups, Hill was having little trouble beating team-mate Jacques Villeneuve. The championship seemed a formality.

Behind the scenes, though, things were not what they seemed – and this is where this writer comes into the story.

I was working for Autosport magazine, and, in mid-July, a source told me that Williams had already decided not to retain Hill for ’97, that Frentzen’s contract was already signed. It seemed incredible, but the source was so good that we had to run with the story.

It was on the front cover of the magazine on the Thursday before the German Grand Prix and, inevitably, the paddock went into overdrive. Arriving at the track, I thought it would be a good idea to let Hill get the business of the day out of the way before I went to explain to him why we had published it. But when I finally walked into the Williams enclosure, he was not pleased to see me. “Get out, Andrew,” he said. “You’ve made yourself look very stupid.”

We did not speak for a few weeks after that, but by 1997 we were back on good terms, and we have remained that way ever since. But 12 years on, the interview for this article was the first time we had talked through what happened.

“I shot the messenger, didn’t I?” Hill laughs. “I’m sorry. You’re leading the World Championship and you expect to pick up Autosport and see: ‘Can Damon win?’ And instead it says you’re fired. I thought: ‘That can’t be right.’ My response was: ‘Why would you do that to me, when I can win a World Championship? And you know you’re going to sell more copies of Autosport if I do.’ I just couldn’t get it.”

Did you think that the press should be supporting you?

“I did naïvely think that.”

Williams eventually told Hill a month later, between the Belgian and Italian Grands Prix.

“Frank phoned me at home and said: ‘I’ve got to do what’s right for the team.’ And I thought: ‘I can’t argue with that.’”

You felt OK about it?

“Yeah, what can you do?”

You were leading the championship, and you had been angry at the press for writing the story and doing unsupportive things.

“I thought it was untrue. I thought it was speculation. So then Frank tells me, yes, it is true, you’re not going to be driving for me next year, and for me it’s like, well, the bus driver is telling you you’ve got to get off now.”

But an outsider would be forgiven for thinking you might direct some of that anger and frustration at Frank.

“I’d got past that. I knew I had the chance to win the title. If I never drove again, I was going to walk off into the sunset with the World Championship. That was all that mattered. That’s my head in ’96 – if I never again drive for anyone, do you know what, I’m probably better off. I was pretty sick of it all, to be honest.”

Hill says he “accepted that it was not about my performance in ’96; it was more about my performance in ’95”, and the same source who tipped me off told me later in 1996 that the deal had been done late the previous season.

In the course of the research for this article, another extremely well-informed insider was adamant that was indeed the case. Frentzen said he could not remember.

But Head insists that in fact Frentzen was only signed “around the middle” of 1996 – and Williams concurred. Head even went to the trouble of digging out the contract during our interview, although he would not show it to me, or reveal the date it was signed.

Williams and Head say Hill’s adviser, Michael Breen, went for initial talks with Williams about a new contract for ’97, and they did not go well. Head describes it as “a breakdown in communications”, and that it was a “strategic error” for Hill to send Breen in to negotiate for him. Williams says Hill, like Mansell before him, “became impossible” over money.

In many ways, though, the truth of when the contract was signed is less important than what the episode says about Williams’s view of Hill. Whether it balked at the price Breen was asking, or took the decision in exasperation at Hill’s performances in 1995, it comes down to the same thing – a lack of faith in Hill’s ability to deliver the goods on a consistent basis.

Is it fair, I ask Williams, to say you and Head never viewed Hill as a top-line driver?

“Well,” he replies, “we took that approach. We wouldn’t have considered him a Prost or a Mansell in ’93 or ’94, but when we realised he was our number one driver after Ayrton, he got our total focus and attention.”

But that’s different from how you perceived him as a driver.

"He was the best available to us on the market. If you say, was he as good as Nigel, you would probably say no.”

Hill admits it left a “sour taste” when he won the title at Suzuka “that when I got out of the car that would be the last time I would drive for Williams”. But despite all this, the mutual regard between the three men is clear.

“I want to state: I love Patrick, I love Frank and my time at Williams was some of the best years of my life,” Hill says. “I had such great experiences as having had the privilege of being in that team and I certainly never found what I found at Williams anywhere else.”

“On his day,” Williams says, “Damon was splendid – a world-class driver. He picked up the opportunity with both hands and he didn’t drop it, and now he has stepped out and re-emerged further down the road as president of the BRDC, he’s doing a very good job of leadership. He’s a lovely person, a real gentleman. Quiet. Still waters definitely run deeper in that case.”

Head, too, made it clear he has boundless admiration for Hill the man, and how he has dealt with the knocks in his life. And he dismisses those cynics who say Hill only ever won because he had the best car.

“The more you know, the more you realise you don’t know,” Head says, “and it’s only the people who don’t really know very much who rigidly in their minds say: ‘Ooh, Michael’s three-quarters of a second quicker than Damon, therefore whatever.’ No, when Damon was good, he was very good. When he was there, he was top level. But those days didn’t come along often enough.”

“I absolutely accept that I had ups and downs as a driver,” Hill says. “Away from the intense, critical spotlight of Formula 1, I was more consistent, but I didn’t enjoy the constant what I would see as attempts to undermine. I needed to put myself under extreme pressure, and then something would give and I’d be able to do it.

“My inspiration [was] my dad’s experience – just because someone’s got greater natural ability doesn’t mean they can’t be beaten. It doesn’t mean you can’t do it; you’ve just got to try harder.”

He adds: “I know this now – I was deeply, deeply affected by my dad’s death when I was 15, and other things as well, and my response was to fight. I didn’t quite know how to present myself and my desire to race, other than to say give me the car and I’ll show you what I can do.

“Once I was in the car, I believe I was on occasions every bit as good as Michael Schumacher. That’s my own personal relationship with myself. I feel I’ve enjoyed satisfaction, knowing that. You might think one thing, but actually I know in myself that I can do that, and from my own point of view I’ve proved it to myself, which is enough.”

When he was good...
Hill had the best and worst of times at Williams, as these results show

✓ Spain ’94: A somewhat fortunate win, gifted to him when Schumacher’s Benetton became stuck in fifth gear. But its importance to Williams in the wake of Ayrton Senna’s death cannot be overstated.

✓ Japan ’94: Hill describes this race as “extreme driving”. He beat Michael Schumacher in one of the most exciting F1 finishes, in a GP decided on aggregate times because of a mid-race red flag. A thrilling battle in the wet, and one of the few races to support Hill’s contention that on his day, he was every bit as good as Schumacher.

✓ Australia ’94: They say your true colours come out under the most pressure… In the title-deciding race, Hill pushed his nemesis so hard that Schumacher made a mistake and slid off-track – and then deliberately took the Williams driver out of the race to secure the title.

✓ Monaco ’96: Hill’s own choice as one of his best ever drives. He was romping away from the field at a track where his father Graham had won five times, only to suffer a mid-race engine failure.

✓ Canada ’96: “Damon’s got incredible grit,” says former Williams chief designer Adrian Newey, “and he was capable of digging deep. He did it at Montréal ’96, when he had to race against the clock to beat Jacques Villeneuve on a slower strategy. He kept plugging away, and he did it.”

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x Germany ’95: Needing to win to erase some of Schumacher’s points lead, he spun off at the first corner at the start of lap two when the race looked his for the taking.

x Italy ’95: Misjudged his braking point while chasing Schumacher, cannoning into the back of the Benetton. Psyched out by the German’s relentless brilliance, it was the second time that summer he had needlessly collided with Schumacher and forced both of them into retirement.

x Japan ’95: By Hill’s own admission, the low point in a “catastrophic” year. Hill went off twice, the second time for good, at the same corner, Spoon, within three laps during a mid-race shower. To add insult to injury, he was fined for speeding in the pits.

x Spain ’96: Spun three times – and into retirement – in the first 11 laps in a soaking wet race that produced arguably the greatest drive of Schumacher’s career.

x Italy ’96: Clipped a tyre barrier and spun out with the title within his grasp.

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A Chat With Nigel Mansell About The Mexican Grand Prix

Nigel Mansell was the last driver to win a Mexican Grand Prix, back in 1992 for Williams. He dominated. Now, the Mexican GP is back for 2015 and Nigel has a corner named after him and is going to attending the event as a guest of the organisers – he’ll be meeting and greeting  fans too. Probably talk about his new book too, but for now you can enjoy a chat with Nigel Mansell about the Mexican GP and F1 in general.

Used under licence from Sutton Images

The last Grand Prix of Mexico was dominated by Williams, what did you think during the race while you driving alone on the track?
The big thing I thought about when leading any race was the management of the car, you want to make sure that you drive within the car’s limits and finish the race – that’s the most important thing. When I was competing, reliability was a huge issue so once you were out in front, the main focus was on bringing the car home.

Did you think to dominate the race in that way and who was the driver (oponent) to be careful of?
Good question. For me the key has always been to be focussed on myself and my machine and its limits and capabilities. Of course I was aware of my opposition, I raced with some of the best; Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost and let’s not forget my team mate at the time, Riccardo Patrese, he kept the pressure on me too. I always tried not to look over my shoulder too much though, mostly it was me and my machine in my mind.

Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher are legends of F1, what did you need to beat them at the Grand Prix of Mexico?
I needed the perfect car set-up and that’s what I had. My engineer and I put in so much work to ensure the optimum set-up ahead of the race. That was really the key to my success on the day, we prepared really, really well and I drove a good, strong race.

What do you remember of the old circuit of the Grand Prix of Mexico?
The main challenge of the old track was getting the car balanced on all the corners. For the most part, this wasn’t possible as the altitude reduced downforce by approximately 20 per cent so we had to prioritise which corners we wanted the best balance on. The old track was a superb test of a drivers ability and nerve behind the wheel. In addition to the challenge of the track we had the atmospheric changes to deal with such as the heat and the high altitude, both factors that had a huge strain on a driver and he must adapt quickly to get the most from competing under such conditions.

 

The Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez was it a challenge race track?

Yes, it was famous for being extremely challenging. I think it was built on a old salt bed so it moved and shifted over time, it was a really dynamic track and the old Peraltada was a huge challenge and opportunity from a driver’s perspective.

How did you celebrate the win in Mexico? Did you meet any restaurant, you stay in the hotel or what did you do?
Sadly in those days there was no real time for celebrating like you have now, we finished the race, packed up, jumped on a plane back to Europe for a few days of testing before heading out to the next race. I can’t remember exactly but I probably got on the plane and fell fast asleep!


While you stayed in Mexico, Did you sightseen before or after the race?
There wasn’t really time for sightseeing however, I was and still am, a huge fan of playing golf so I did manage to squeeze in a few fantastic games of golf in Mexico during my times racing there. I always remember that the higher altitude allows the ball to go further than it does at sea-level which I really appreciated – it made me feel like a pro!

What was your favorite food while you were in Mexico?
Unfortunately I didn’t really have much of a chance to sample the local food outside of the race track. I know that Mexico is now famous for it’s cuisine and it’s one of the things I’m most looking forward to experiencing when I return for the race this year!

What do you think about the return of F1 to Mexico?
I think it’s great for the sport, for the city and for the fans. When I last raced there you could feel the passion and energy of the fans in the air. No where else on the race calendar brought that level of colour, excitement and diversity – I’m really looking forward to being back there for the race.

Have you seen the new track in México? In your opinion, what is the difference between the Mexico Grand Prix in 1992 and 23 years later?
I’ve seen graphics but i’m yet to see it in person. I think that the new track remains largely true to the former track so it will be great to drive. I’m told it will be the second fastest on the race calendar after Monza (Italian Grand Prix). The main change is to the final corner where the Peraltada used to be.

How do the drivers prepare before driving a new circuit (in this case, México)?
These days the drivers are incredibly lucky as they have simulators so the data of a new track can be loaded weeks ahead of the race for the driver to prepare. The technology is mind-blowing, the simulators provide such a real experience. It’s nothing like in my day when you prepared by walking and driving the track alone.

Sergio Perez is the only Mexican driver in F1 today, Do you think he has the talent to be champion in F1?
I think anyone who has made it as far as the starting grid has the chance to be a future champion but getting there is one thing, the most important thing then is to maximise on the opportunities once you’re there. You must raise your game, put in the time with your car and the team and make the most of every moment to improve and realise your potential. Sergio is a really good example of someone who is making the most of the opportunities he has, only time will tell if he has the talent to consolidate it all and become world champion.

Esteban Gutierrez is Ferrari test driver, in your opinion, what does he need to return to drive a F1 car?
Even as a test driver, I would say the same to Esteban as I would to Sergio, you must make the most of all the opportunities available to you – put in the time, the work and push your hardest.

F1 has changed so much. Were the old cars better compared to the current ones?
So much has changed since I was competing. The main thing for me is that the physicality has been removed, you don’t need to be as physically strong now to be a driver as you did when I was racing because you have the addition of power steering. In my day, the driver carried the car, these days I think it has become the opposite, the car carries the driver to a certain degree. Don’t get me wrong, talent is still essential but I miss the raw strength that used to be required.

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Nigel Mansell is now a Pointless Celebrity

The Birmingham racing driver is a contestant on the BBC1 quiz Pointless Celebrities

Nigel Mansell with his star on Broad Street

Ever wondered what happened to Birmingham racing driver Nigel Mansell?

Now we have the answer – he’s become a Pointless Celebrity.

The 61-year-old former Formula One world champion disappeared after retiring from driving but is now popping up again on TV, having filmed an episode of the hit quiz Pointless Celebrities.

Alexander Armstrong and Richard Osman have made a new series of the show for Saturday nights, which will return to BBC1 on August 29.

Nigel will be teaming up with his fellow Brummie, commentator Murray Walker, in a bid to find obscure answers to general knowledge questions.

Racing driver Nigel Mansell in 1991

The series will also include Brummies Adil Ray (aka Citizen Khan), Patrick Baladi from The Office and thriller writer Mark Billingham, plus Wolverhampton’s Suzi Perry and Ruth Badger from The Apprentice.

Alison Hammond will team up with Strictly Come Dancing professional Robin Windsor in the Christmas special, which will also feature Walsall’s Jeffrey Holland (with Su Pollard).

Other contestants include Gary and Harry Lineker, Scott Mills, Greg James and Trevor Nelson and children’s TV presenters like Anthea Turner, Andy Crane and Mr Tumble.

The first show features cricketing stars like Michael Vaughan, Phil Tufnell and Henry Blofeld.

The Formula 1 episode goes out on November 28 where the other contestants include David Coulthard and Mark Webber.

Nigel is the second most successful British F1 driver of all time with 31 race wins and the seventh overall. He is also one of only three people to have won the BBC Sports Personality of the Year twice, in 1986 and 1992.

He grew up in Hall Green and in 2011 he was given a star on the Broad Street walk of fame in Birmingham.

The father-of-three now lives quietly on Jersey.

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