Senna’s skills superior to Mansell’s car – the last 10 laps of Monaco GP, 1992
Nigel Mansell had proven the supremacy of his Williams-Renault in South Africa, Mexico, Brazil and San Marino; he started out in Monaco so strong that Ayrton Senna could only shrug his shoulders and say: “We can’t do anything.” The race took a turn when Mansell had to stop into the pits for a change of tyres. The leader of the race was now 5 seconds behind Senna with only 10 more laps to go.
The fresh tyres gave Mansell a crucial advantage, and he closed in with Senna in a blink of an eye. Senna knew how difficult and exciting his situation was – his tyres were worn out and gave no grip to put power down. As Ayrton described it after the race, it was “like driving on ice”. Mansell kept weaving just a hair’s width behind Senna, but Senna had won this race for 3 years in a row, and he kept the way blocked. He was confident that his skills could overcome the handicap of an inferior car.
With only 0.2 seconds in the lead, Ayrton Senna won one of the most exciting battles in the history of Monaco Grand Prix.
"My duel with Ayrton Senna in Monaco 1992? It looked like a bus, every time I tried to overtake him, he blocked me. Am I proud that there were no accidents between us? Well, that time we showed how close you can get to your opponent without hitting anyone.” Nigel Mansell
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