5. 1987 – Mansell vs Piquet
“If willpower was horsepower, Nigel Mansell would have at least another hundred.” Another corker from F1 commentating demon Murray Walker as the 1987 British Grand Prix entered its final stages. With most of the grid deciding not to pit for fresh tyres, a slow puncture in the closing stages lost Mansell more than 30 seconds to the leaders, and he was now hunting down Williams teammate Nelson Piquet for his third win of 1987 and his third consecutive win on home ground.
Their inter-team rivalry was already a hot topic, mental – and sometimes physical – intimidation playing its part between the Brit and Brazilian in ways only the infamous Senna/Prost rivalry would beat. That Piquet would win ‘his’ race wasn’t an option, and despite being 29 seconds behind with 28 laps to go, Nigel Mansell broke the Silverstone lap record 11 times to pull himself to less than a second behind Piquet. A brilliant dummy down the Hangar Straight cemented a comeback victory and one of the British GP’s finest hours.
