25 years ago today: Senna beats Mansell by 0.01s
Grand Prix flashback
Ayrton Senna, Nigel Mansell, Jerez, 1986
On this day in 1986, Nigel Mansell and Ayrton Senna crossed the finishing line in Jerez just 0.014 seconds apart.
The 1986 Spanish Grand Prix witnessed one of the closest finishes in F1 history.
Mansell came desperately close to scoring Williams’ first win since team founder Frank Williams had been dreadfully injured in a road accident.
And the three points he missed out on would have made him champion at the end of the closely-fought 1986 season. Here’s the story of that celebrated race and its epic finish.
The accident
One month earlier, Frank Williams had suffered a dreadful accident which cast a shadow over his team.
On March 8th, Williams were at Paul Ricard for the final test session before the season opened in Brazil. The new Williams-Honda FW11 was already proving competitive. Mansell and Nelson Piquet had put the car through its final paces, with Frank Williams keeping an eye on proceedings.
Satisfied with progress, Frank Williams set off on the 90 minute journey towards Cannes and Nice, with the team’s PR co-ordinator Peter Windsow in the passenger seat.
About 15 minutes into the journey in the hills near the village of Meounes-les-Montrieux, Williams lost control of the car. It ploughed nose-first into a field several feet below the road and landed upside-down. The left-front corner of the roof collapsed, trapping Williams underneath.
Williams survived but suffered paralysis and was kept away from his team for months while he made a slow recovery.
In his absence the team pulled together. Mansell said: “We will close ranks. We have already put Plan B into operation, with Frank’s approval. The best thing we can do, and myself and Nelson Piquet, is get the success the team and especially Frank deserves.”
Rio de Janiero
At the season-opener at the Jacarepagua circuit in Brazil the teams had their first taste of racing under new fuel regulations, with the maximum permitted fuel load cut from 220 to 195 litres. This created an efficiency challenge which the Honda-powered Williams excelled at.
Piquet beat Senna’s Lotus-Renault, with 12 litres of fuel still left in the tank and still managed to shave a second off Alain Prost’s two-year-old lap record.
Mansell’s race was much shorter and less successful – he collided with Senna on the first lap and was out.
In his autobiography he said: “On the first lap of the race in Rio I got a good start and thought I had done enough going down the straight to pass him down the inside into the fast left hander. I got alongside, my right front wheel level with his shoulder and began braking, but he suddenly came across and hit me. I braked hard to avoid an accident, but his left rear wheel hit my right front and sent me off the road into the Armco, tearing off my left front wheel.”
“We did not talk about it afterwards, but I learned an important lesson about racing against him that day. If I hadn’t backed off we would both have hit the Armco and it could have been a serious accident. As it was I came off worse and it would not happen again. His tactic was to intimidate and I refused to be intimidated.”
Three weeks later, the teams were in Jerez for the Spanish Grand Prix.
Jerez de la Frontera
After a four-year hiatus, the Spanish Grand Prix had returned to the world championship calendar with a race at the brand new Jerez de la Frontera circuit near Seville.
It was a brand new circuit, 4.218km in length, 16 corners in all, and regarded as more than adequately wide everywhere. It has been modified since, as the map above shows.
But the spectators’ enclosure was almost empty. There was no Fernando Alonso or any Spanish driver or team to draw in the crowds. Others were put off by the cost of entry – £25 to get in then and at least another £50 for a grandstand seat.
Senna was typically dominant in qualifying. The official Lotus press handout said it all: “Ayrton senna was the quickest driver round the new Jerez circuit [...] setting a time of 1’21.605. Second fastest driver, Nigel Mansell, set a time of 1’23.024 in his Williams.”
1986 Spanish Grand Prix grid
| Row 1 | 1. Ayrton Senna Lotus Renault |
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| 2. Nelson Piquet Williams Honda |
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| Row 2 | 3. Nigel Mansell Williams Honda |
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| 4. Alain Prost McLaren-TAG |
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| Row 3 | 5. Keke Rosberg McLaren-TAG |
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| 6. René Arnoux Ligier-Renault |
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| Row 4 | 7. Gerhard Berger Benetton-BMW |
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| 8. Jacques Laffite Ligier-Renault |
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| Row 5 | 9. Teo Fabi Benetton-BMW |
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| 10. Johnny Dumfries Lotus-Renault |
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| Row 6 | 11. Stefan Johansson Ferrari |
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| 12. Martin Brundle Tyrrell-Renault |
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| Row 7 | 13. Michele Alboreto Ferrari |
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| 14. Riccardo Patrese Brabham-BMW |
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| Row 8 | 15. Elio de Angelis Brabham-BMW |
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| 16. Jonathan Palmer Zakspeed |
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| Row 9 | 17. Alan Jones Lola-Hart |
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| 18. Patrick Tambay Lola-Hart |
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| Row 10 | 19. Thierry Boutsen Arrows-BMW |
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| 20. Philippe Streiff Tyrrell-Renault |
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| Row 11 | 21. Piercarlo Ghinzani Osella-Alfa Romeo |
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| 22. Marc Surer Arrows-BMW |
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| Row 12 | 23. Christian Danner Osella-Alfa Romeo |
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| 24. Andrea de Cesaris Minardi-Motori Moderni |
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| Row 13 | 25. Alessandro Nannini Minardi-Motori Moderni |
On Sunday morning, Senna got away from the line and it was the scene was laregely uneventful at the first corner. At the end of the opening lap it was Senna, followed by the two Williams cars, then Rosberg, Prost and Arnoux.
Mansell said in his autobiography: “I was getting rather worrying information from my fuel consumption readout so I decided to drop back a bit and see how things worked out. It worked; by lap 19 the readout said that I was on target again and I put in some hard laps to try to make up some of the ground I had lost.”
He passed Piquet from second place on lap 34 and forced Senna to get boxed in behind a benchmarker for long enough to pass him. He opened up a lead of around four seconds and held it until his tyres began to disintegrate with 10 laps to go.
A nail-biting finish
Today the 1986 Spanish Grand Prix is remembered as a classic. But some commentators at the time saw it very differently (how little has changed), not least of which Motor Sport’s venerated Denis Jenkinson.
His race report said: “As always, testing and qualifying was the most interesting time, the race itself being a different matter altogether and the 72 laps round the new Jerez circuit was no exception.
“With fuel limited to 195 litres and tyre wear being critical it was a race of tactics rather than gutsy racing. For the first half the leading bunch, of Senna, Piquet, Rosberg, Mansell and Prost, circulated in [single] file letting Senna set the pace, which he did on his fuel consumption gauge rather than his rev-counter.”
But what most people remember is the nail-biting finish.
By lap 66 Prost had closed in to make the leaders a trio. Senna saw a gap and dived through on lap 68 and Mansell retreated into the pits. His rear diffuser panel was coming loose and one of the rear tyres had picked up a slow puncture.
He came straight back out to record a lap time in the 1’29s from a standing start – just 1.3s slower than his fastest flying lap.
With eight laps to go, Mansell was third behind Prost, almost 20 seconds behind Senna. It took Mansell just half a lap to overtake Prost. With two laps to go, Mansell was 5.3 seconds adrift. One lap later, he closed that down to just 1.5 seconds.
Mansell said: “[Senna] was on the limit and so was I. Under braking from the final hairpin I was too far behind to try to pass, but coming out of it I was right on his gearbox. He weaved, but I wasn’t going to be deterred and I kept my foot in.
“We raced for the finish like 100m sprinters ducking for the tape and although I passed him halfway down the straight, he had crossed the line first by 0.014 seconds, or 93 centimetres. If the finish line had been five yards further down the road I would have won. And those [three] extra points would have made a big difference at the end of the year.”
The McLarens of Prost and Keke Rosberg finished third and fourth, believing they had severe fuel consumption problems when in fact they were seeing faulty cockpit readouts. The reliable Benetton B186s of Teo Fabi and Gerhard Berger took the last of the six points-paying places. Only two other cars were classified.
In the words of Nigel Mansell: “Afterwards Prost came up to me and apologised. He said: ‘I thought that Ayrton was too far ahead for either of us to catch him. If I had known you could do it I would have let you past!’”
1986 Spanish Grand Prix result
| Pos | Car | Driver | Team | Laps | Difference |
| 1 | 12 | Ayrton Senna | Lotus-Renault | 72 | 01:48:48 |
| 2 | 5 | Nigel Mansell | Williams-Honda | 72 | 0.014 |
| 3 | 1 | Alain Prost | McLaren-TAG | 72 | 21.552 |
| 4 | 2 | Keke Rosberg | McLaren-TAG | 71 | 1 Lap |
| 5 | 19 | Teo Fabi | Benetton-BMW | 71 | 1 Lap |
| 6 | 20 | Gerhard Berger | Benetton-BMW | 71 | 1 Lap |
| 7 | 18 | Thierry Boutsen | Arrows-BMW | 68 | 4 Laps |
| 8 | 16 | Patrick Tambay | Lola-Hart | 66 | 6 Laps |
| 11 | Johnny Dumfries | Lotus-Renault | 52 | Gearbox | |
| 3 | Martin Brundle | Tyrrell-Renault | 41 | Engine | |
| 26 | Jacques Laffite | Ligier-Renault | 40 | Halfshaft | |
| 17 | Marc Surer | Arrows-BMW | 39 | Fuel System | |
| 6 | Nelson Piquet | Williams-Honda | 39 | Engine | |
| 8 | Elio de Angelis | Brabham-BMW | 29 | Gearbox | |
| 25 | René Arnoux | Ligier-Renault | 29 | Halfshaft | |
| 27 | Michele Alboreto | Ferrari | 22 | Wheel Bearing | |
| 4 | Philippe Streiff | Tyrrell-Renault | 22 | Engine | |
| 22 | Christian Danner | Osella-Alfa Romeo | 14 | Engine | |
| 28 | Stefan Johansson | Ferrari | 11 | Brakes | |
| 21 | Piercarlo Ghinzani | Osella-Alfa Romeo | 10 | Engine | |
| 7 | Riccardo Patrese | Brabham-BMW | 8 | Gearbox | |
| 23 | Andrea de Cesaris | Minardi-Motori Moderni | 1 | Differential | |
| 14 | Jonathan Palmer | Zakspeed | 0 | Collision | |
| 15 | Alan Jones | Lola-Hart | 0 | Collision | |
| 24 | Alessandro Nannini | Minardi-Motori Moderni | 0 | Collision |
Were you at this race? Do you remember it? Tell us about it in the comments.
Grand Prix flashback
- 25 years ago today: Senna’s first win for McLaren
- Today in 1993: Senna’s last great race at Donington
- Today in 1953: Peron’s Grand Prix ends in carnage
- 20 years ago today: Mansell finally wins the title
- Today in 1987: Mansell defeats Piquet at Silverstone
- Today in 1962: The Clark-Lotus era begins at Spa
- Today in 1982: Start line crash in Canada kills Paletti
- On this day in 1982: Gilles Villeneuve killed at Zolder
- 30 years ago today: Villeneuve and Pironi’s fatal feud at Ferrari
- 20 years ago today: Schumacher’s first podium and Mexico’s last race
Image © Williams/LAT
Don M. said on 13th April 2011, 12:43
Great memories of this era. I remember a great comment about the Minardi-Motori Moderni cars being too slow – “Their Motoris are not Moderni enough”.
Sean said on 13th April 2011, 15:18
Fantastic.
HounslowBusGarage said on 13th April 2011, 13:14
Very nice article. I remember the race – more particularly, I remember the tension of the last few laps and the anguish of Mansell losing by that miniscule distance.
A good read and good memories. Thanks
Fixy (@fixy) said on 13th April 2011, 13:17
What a great character Prost has!
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner) said on 13th April 2011, 13:52
Made me smile!
Guitar Bob said on 13th April 2011, 15:52
That shows the utter hate Prost had for Senna. He just knew back then that he wasn’t in the same league as Senna.
It reminded me of Alonso in 2008 vouching his help for Massa, to prevent Hamilton from winning the championship.
So is Massa the new Mansell? I doubt it.
S.J.M (@sjm) said on 13th April 2011, 19:44
That shows the utter hate Prost had for Senna. He just knew back then that he wasn’t in the same league as Senna.
This race happened in ’86, the Senna/Prost rivally happened a few years afterwards, and im not even sure that Prost hated Senna before then.
GameR_K (@gamer_k) said on 13th April 2011, 21:11
Would he have? It’s easy to say, hard to do
djdaveyp85 (@djdaveyp87) said on 13th April 2011, 13:19
I was five months old, so probably sat in my nappy somewhere at home!
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner) said on 13th April 2011, 13:51
That’s such a great read, thanks Keith.
Interesting reading about the fuel consumption. I don’t know what 12 litres relates to these days with regards to fuel effeciency but it does sound like an awful lot to be carrying around, but then to beat the lap record as well? Brilliant stuff.
RIISE (@riise) said on 13th April 2011, 14:42
Just though i’d point it out.
Just noticed the title says 0.01 seconds…It wasn’t that close that I do know.
tobinen (@tobinen) said on 13th April 2011, 15:37
Not sure why you think it wasn’t that close.
I remember watching it live and it was/still is the closest winning margin of 0.014 seconds.(14/1000ths)
Unless you have evidence otherwise?
Dizzy-A (@david-a) said on 13th April 2011, 17:06
I think the Italian Grand Prix in either 69, 71 or 73 was 10 thousandths (0.01).
Burnout said on 13th April 2011, 20:35
Peter Gethin won the ’71 Italian GP by 0.01 seconds. And the top 5 were covered by 0.6 seconds. Simply unimaginable today! But that was on the old Monza layout, before Rettifilio, Roggia and Ascari were added.
Tupac (@tupac) said on 13th April 2011, 13:54
i wish we could go back to those days of close racing.
will we ever see a finish similar to this again in my lifetime? i’m getting fed up of drivers winning races by 10, 20, 30 secs.
JCCJCC (@jccjcc) said on 13th April 2011, 15:41
On those times, there where a lot of wins with 20, 30 or even bigger gaps. It was common to have laped drivers on the podium. Having the first 10 on the same lap was almost imposible in the 80s.
Tupac (@tupac) said on 13th April 2011, 17:02
even so during the race there was far more overtaking on track and not in the pits!!!
Snow Donkey said on 13th April 2011, 18:46
Rubens/Schumacher at indy 2002 wasn’t close enough for you? 0.011
Oh wait memories begin to return…
Gridlock said on 13th April 2011, 15:06
Great article, wish the archives were more open.
By the way the mobile version doesn’t list authors.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine) said on 13th April 2011, 15:12
Good point, will look into that.
d3v0 (@d3v0) said on 13th April 2011, 15:35
Senna was a product of kart racing, and carried that into F1 (unlike other drivers who previously karted). He greatly preferred karting as the purest form of racing. So alot of that came out in his aggressive driving, where it is typical to bump and get very close. That’s not to say he was justified in alot of the aggressive moves that happened, but its simply the reasoning behind it. He felt he was right because he was doing what came natural – as a kart racer.
Additionally, he was a product of the period, where you didnt get a penalty for moving across the track to defend your position – this was the 70′s (karts), 80′s (FFord, F3, F1) and 90′s where racing was…allowed.
Guitar Bob said on 13th April 2011, 15:48
Too bad, I wasn’t even borned when this race happened :( I bet Mansell was angry after losing to Senna in an inferior Lotus.
d3v0 (@d3v0) said on 13th April 2011, 15:49
Neither was I, but there are many places to find full seasons of BBC coverage of the F1 races (typically races only) and I have watched every season since 1984 :)
DaveW said on 13th April 2011, 16:33
Really nice article. This right on the edge of my F1 memory and it’s brilliant to get that refresher.
Poul said on 13th April 2011, 20:01
Quite easy for Prost to state that he “would have” let Mansell pass. Knowing Senna I have no doubt that he “would have” honored the recovering Sir Frank by letting Mansell have the win – was it not for the championship points and personal career to be considered.
After all it was Sir Frank that gave Senna his first F1 test for which he was forever grateful.
Great article and comments by Sean.
butterdori (@butterdori) said on 13th April 2011, 20:01
How the hell did Mansell manage to decrease the gap by 3.8 seconds? Was Senna being deliberately slow?
Poul said on 13th April 2011, 20:09
His tires were completely run down but he didn’t have time for a stop so he chanced it and won.
Scott Joslin said on 13th April 2011, 20:24
This was a great race and a very well detailed article Carl!
I don’t know why people are commenting on Senna, to me the star of this race was Mansell.
He was involved in most of the overtaking in the first part of the race and then after making a late pitstop produced fastest lap after fastest lap to try and hunt down Senna.
To be fair to senna, the lap he produced on the penultimate lap most probably kept him that race win, as Mansell had been closing at over a second a lap, and on the last lap but one Senna managed to produce a matching lap to Mansell to give him a bit of a cushion for that last lap.
But for me Mansell made this race electric, just look how late he breaks in to the last hairpin on the last lap, desperate to get as close to Senna as possible.
Good days…
Andy C said on 15th April 2011, 10:44
Keith
I’ve got tickets to the Senna premiere in London. Are you going? @Grandprix diary is organising some beers afterwards if you are..
Regards
Andy
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine) said on 15th April 2011, 10:46
I’ve already been to see it so I’ll leave the place for someone who’s not been yet. Would be up for meeting up though.
Paulo Pinto said on 17th May 2011, 0:22
Se houve uma vitória de Senna, que Prost adorou, certamente foi essa…