A capacity crowd of 400,000 people are expected to visit Silverstone over the course of the British Grand Prix weekend, with many hoping for a spectacular climax in Sunday’s main event.
It certainly wouldn’t be the first time that the British public were treated to a fine racing spectacle, as the Northamptonshire venue has played host to a number of incredible races over the decades.
From home heroes such as Nigel Mansell and Lewis Hamilton sending the crowd into raptures, to more infamous incidents, Autosport has picked out some of our favourite moments:
1987, Mansell’s famous dummy – Kevin Turner
Race winner Nigel Mansell, Williams FW11B Honda
Photo by: Motorsport Images
Few drivers have captured their home fans’ imagination as much as Nigel Mansell did in his pomp. Being on British soil seemed to bring out the best in the tough racer and the 1987 grand prix at Silverstone has to be regarded as one of Mansell’s greatest performances.
The Williams-Honda FW11B had a significant advantage over the opposition at that point of the season and Mansell arrived having won the previous weekend’s French GP.
Mansell was outqualified by bitter rival and team-mate Nelson Piquet, who averaged nearly 160mph as he pipped Mansell by 0.07 seconds. After a brief challenge from the fast-starting McLaren of Alain Prost, the race became a duel between the two Williams drivers.
Piquet held a narrow advantage until Mansell dived into the pits on lap 35 of 65 with a vibration, caused by a suspected lost wheel balance weight. This was a time before mandated tyre stops and, with a 28.4s gap to make up in 29 laps, Mansell had work to do.
And he did it. Throwing caution – and his fuel readout – to the wind, Mansell repeatedly smashed the lap record with his fresh rubber. With 10 laps to go the gap was 7.5s, five laps later it was 1.7s.
On lap 63, Mansell sold Piquet his famous dummy on Hangar Straight, moving to the outside, then diving to the inside at Stowe to take lead before the Brazilian could close the door. It must be one of Mansell’s most satisfying overtaking moves and gave the Silverstone crowd the sort of drama it wanted.
“Real gritty stuff” is how Williams co-founder Patrick Head describes Mansell’s drive, which netted victory by 1.9s. Mansell ran out of fuel on the slow-down lap and was surrounded by track-invading fans.
PLUS: Grand Prix Gold – 1987 British GP
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