AT&T Williams F1

After finishing second in the World Championship on three occasions, Nigel Mansell finally clinched the sport’s biggest prize at the 1992 Hungarian Grand Prix. Peter Windsor, who was Williams’ Team Manager that year, reflects on an emotional weekend.

“Nigel had already had a few near-misses in terms of clinching the World Championship and by the time of Hungary 1992, when he had another chance to win it, everyone in the Williams race and test teams were trying not to think about it. My memories of the race weekend are that it was relatively boring from Nigel’s point of view: he didn’t qualify on pole and he didn’t win the race, but he did what he had to do, which was to finish second.

When Nigel crossed the line, I didn’t feel as emotional as I did when he won his first Grand Prix in 1985, also for Williams. That race at Brands Hatch was the high point of my career with Nigel because it was vindication that this guy, who no-one had rated for six or seven years, was good enough to dominate a Grand Prix. By 1992 everybody was on the Mansell bandwagon and everybody knew that he was obviously a great racing driver, so that edge had been taken off the satisfaction of his Championship win.

Nonetheless, I felt jubilant from a team point of view when he crossed the line because everyone had worked so hard that year. I defy anyone to put together a better race team than the one we had at Williams during 1991/’92 and I remember walking around the garage and shaking hands with everyone in the team. There were a few bear hugs and there was a genuine feeling of satisfaction, but the moment passed quickly. I don’t remember any parties that night and Frank [Williams] kept everyone on an even keel by reminding us that we’d been beaten by McLaren that day because Ayrton [Senna] had won the race. It was the typical F1 thing of tomorrow being the only thing that matters.

I had a couple of nice conversations with Nigel about the feeling of satisfaction of having finally achieved the World Championship, but they weren’t the sorts of conversations that I imagined I would have with him back in 1978 when he was starting in Formula 3. A lot of people begrudged him having such a great car and so much advantage in ’92, but after the uncompetitive cars that he’d had to drive throughout his career I think he was entitled to have one year with the best car. He drove the FW14 beautifully.”