The 1991 Canadian Grand Prix is well remembered for Nigel Mansell losing victory when his Williams stopped on the final lap after he’d already been waving to the crowd. But what actually happened?
In this week’s episode of our Bring Back V10s podcast, we look back at the theories around Mansell’s car grinding to a halt – with a little help from legendary Williams technical director Patrick Head – and reflect on the explanations Mansell and Adrian Newey have given over the years as well.
The 1991 season was the year Williams and Mansell – freshly back from Ferrari – laid the foundations for the domination that was to follow.
We take a look at why Williams’s cars kept breaking down at the start of the year, the moment McLaren realised its car and engine was no match for the the Newey-Head-designed Williams-Renault FW14, how Mansell upset Renault when he rejoined the team, why he thought his title chances were over so early in the year, and why team-mate Riccardo Patrese looked so against Mansell initially.
The episode’s not just about Williams either. The rising Benetton team – which snatched that Montreal victory with Nelson Piquet – and its mix of ambitious plans and acrimonious political wrangling behind the scenes features too, including the tale of its departing design guru John Barnard telling Ayrton Senna not to join the team!
We also revisit the Ferrari upheaval of 1991 from a different perspective to the Alain Prost side of the story we’ve previously covered, and look at how Johnny Herbert’s long awaited full-time return to F1 reduced him to tears on his first weekend back with Lotus.
Plus there’s talk on a significant weekend in Jordan’s F1 history and how F1 driving standards and reliability have changed from 30 years ago to today.
To find the show on your podcast provider of choice, search for ‘Bring Back V10s – classic F1 stories’.
– Listen via Apple Podcasts
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