Norris can’t complain about Madring: How Mansell lost the 1991 title in the pit-lane

On this day, but in 1991, Nigel Mansell He stopped in the pits while leading the Portuguese GP. A victory would have allowed him to continue in the fight with Ayrton Senna and his McLaren-Honda for the championship. But the mechanic of the right rear wheel does not tighten the wheel properly and misfortune occurs: from getting ten points as first, he goes on to make a zero with the subsequent black flag, which basically leaves him out of the fight for the world cup.

Luck did not smile on Mansell, any more than it smiled on Lando Norris during the race in Madringwhere problems with his right front wheel led to a seven-second stoppage. Even without the error, he would most likely have finished third, behind Max Verstappenand in no case would he have been able to maintain the lead with Kimi Antonelli due to having passed the pit entrance when the virtual safety car was activated. But losing the victory, in a year where it seems he has no chance of fighting for the world championship again, is nothing compared to what his pit stop cost Mansell in 1991.

Nigel Mansell was a driver who, despite competing in all the big teams of the time such as Lotus, McLaren, Williams and Ferrarihe just wasn’t in the right place at the right time to have a competitive and reliable car to win the championship.

In 1986, a mechanical breakdown in the last racewhen he was third, meant that the world championship ended up in the hands of the Frenchman Alain Prostby only three points difference.

The 1991 Portuguese GP

So by 1991 he was still looking for his first title in the premier category of motorsport. had returned to Williams after 2 years without luck in Ferrari and, when the race in Portugal arrived, which was the 13th of the 16 that Formula 1 had that year, he was 18 points behind with his Williams-Renault Ayrton Senna.

At that time, victories gave you 10 pointsand he only scored up to sixth, so victory gave you almost double that of second place. With the victory he would have positioned himself at 12 Brazilian points.

Mansell managed to get second from fourth position, overtaking Senna on the first lap and on lap 18 he passed his teammate to take first; he was the fastest in Estoril. But bad fortune visited Williams again, one of your mechanics did not adjust your wheel correctly during the stop made on lap 29, when he was leading.

The wheel comes off the car still in the pit lane, and the mechanics come out with a new one and install it on the Williams, Right into the pit lane! Carrying out this repair in that area is totally outside the regulations, so the Briton’s subsequent comeback to sixth position is in vain, since on lap 51 he is disqualified by showing him the black flag.

If we can be 12 points away with three Grand Prix ahead, becomes 24a practically insurmountable distance. Senna finishes second behind Ricardo Patresegetting six gold points for his cause.

The next race makes the disaster in the pits in Portugal even more bitter. He 1991 Spanish GP He debuted the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in F1, and Mansell took the victory, while Senna only got two points. If it had not been for the debacle in Portugal, This left Mansell four behind Senna with two races remaining and thus the calculations for the Briton to win the championship in the last two Grands Prix in this motorsport-fiction exercise come out much more easily.

Ayrton Senna would end up sealing, in a mathematical way, his third and last championship in the penultimate race in Japan.

Nigel Mansell had his happy ending in F1 when, finally, was able to win the title in 1992 dominantly with the Williams FW14 created by Adrian Newey.