1991 British Grand Prix

Silverstone July 14. In my report of the 1991 Monaco Grand Prix (Motor Sport June 1991) after the combination of McLaren/Honda/Senna had won their fourth race on the trot I wrote the following: "When someone appears and beats the McLaren/Honda/Senna combination fairly and squarely, not by luck or misfortune, it is going to be well worthwhile being there, for what ever the combination is it will be something very special." I think I can now say without fear of contradiction, that the occasion arrived in all its glory at the rebuilt Silverstone circuit on the occasion of the British Grand Prix, and something in the region of 150,000 people were there to witness it. That combination was Williams/Renault/Mansell, though to read our daily newspapers you would think Mansell did it all himself.

He made fastest time in the Friday morning test-session, fastest time in the Friday Qualifying period, fastest time on Saturday morning, fastest again in Saturday Qualifying, fastest in the Sunday morning "warm-up" session, and fastest lap in the race which set a new record for the new Silverstone circuit. His pole position lap was at a speed of 144.420 mph, his race average was 131.227 mph and his lap record was 135.325 mph. Nigel Mansell was the disputed master of the whole three days of the British Grand Prix, and he used a Williams FW14 car powered by a Renault V10 RS3 engine.

[caption id="attachment_637477" align="alignnone" width="2000"] Mansell and Senna on the front row at the start of the race[/caption]