In order to see this content you need to have both Javascript enabled and Flash installed. Visit BBC Webwise for full instructions. If you're reading via RSS, you'll need to visit the blog to access this content.
Watch short highlights of the 1986 Hungarian Grand Prix
Watch short highlights of the 1988 Hungarian Grand Prix
Watch short highlights of the 1989 Hungarian Grand Prix
Watch short highlights of the 1997 Hungarian Grand Prix
Watch short highlights of the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix
The highlights will be available on satellite and cable from 0900 on Wednesday 22 July and will stay up until Saturday 25 July. They will be on Freeview channel 301 from 1600 on Thursday 23 July until 0830 on Friday 24 July.
Mansell had actually won on his debut for Ferrari in Brazil at the start of the season - a victory that ranks among the most unexpected in F1 history.
Ferrari designer John Barnard pioneered the semi-automatic gearbox with this car, the 639. Within a couple of years, the system, operated through paddles on the back of the steering wheel, was to become de rigueur in F1. But Ferrari had serious development pains with it.
The car had failed to complete more than a handful of laps at a time in pre-season testing. And so convinced was Mansell that it would not last the distance in the heat of Rio de Janeiro's Jacarepagua circuit that he booked an early flight home - which he promptly missed when the Ferrari not only lasted the race, but finished it first as well.
No-one seemed quite sure how the car had lasted, and sure enough Mansell and team-mate Gerhard Berger had to get used to parking their cars at the side of the track during the first half of the season.
By Hungary, though, Ferrari had got on top of their reliability issues, and the car was becoming a major challenger. Nevertheless, Mansell's chances of a second victory of the season did not look great when he qualified 12th, complaining of traffic, at a circuit where overtaking is notoriously difficult.
Things began to look up when he vaulted up to eighth with a great start, and things further played into his hands when pole-sitter Riccardo Patrese held on to the lead in his Williams, and delayed McLaren's Ayrton Senna and Berger, who were soon joined by Senna's team-mate Alain Prost in a four-way battle for the lead.
Mansell, meanwhile, was at the back of a four-car battle for fifth place headed by Dallara driver Alex Caffi - who had qualified an astonishing third, thanks to his Pirelli tyres offering better one-lap grip on the dusty surface than the Goodyears used by the front-runners. And by the time Mansell had worked his way to the front of that group, he was 17 seconds behind fourth-placed Prost.
This, though, was when it became apparent that he had a genuine shot at victory. He started slicing into that gap at around two seconds a lap and by half distance was on the back of the lead group - which meant fourth place as Berger had by now stopped for tyres.
There then followed two of the best overtaking moves you will ever see. Mansell blasted past Prost between Turns Three and Four - not a recognised overtaking place - having gone through Three much faster than the Frenchman.
No sooner was he past Prost than his battle with Senna became for the lead, as Patrese began to run into problems that were to lead to his retirement and both the Brazilian and Mansell overtook him within a couple of corners with about 20 laps to go.
For a few laps Mansell tracked Senna and despite clearly being faster was unable to challenge, as the superior horsepower of the McLaren's Honda engine pulled the world champion just far enough ahead down the main straight to be safe from an attack under braking.
But then, with 20 laps to go, Mansell saw his chance. Coming out of Turn Two, Senna was closing rapidly on backmarker Stefan Johansson's Onyx. Through Turn Three, the Swede was on the racing line and, right behind him, Senna uncharacteristically hesitated and had to lift off the throttle. Mansell stayed flat, and on the exit of the corner the Ferrari jinked out from behind the McLaren and its superior momentum carried it ahead up the hill into Turn Four.
And with that, the race was in the bag. It was, as Murray Walker put it in the commentary, "one of the most memorable grands prix for a long time".
Let's hope this weekend's race in Hungary can live up to it.
Click
No comments:
Post a Comment