6) 1984 Monaco Grand Prix
The Monaco Grand Prix of this year, although controversial, but saw great performances from future F1 stars like Nigel Mansell and Ayrton Senna.
Alain Prost took pole position, he was joined on the front row by Nigel Mansell, while Ayrton Senna had qualified 13th in his uncompetitive Toleman.
The Race day was greeted by heavy showers, due to which, the start was delayed by 45 minutes. At the start, Prost made a perfect getaway, closely followed by Mansell, while Senna climbed up from 13th to 9th by the end of the first lap. Mansell, who was just behind Prost, overtook him for the lead. But, his lead didn’t last long, as he crashed out on lap 16. Prost, now again led the race, followed by Lauda and in third place Senna.
After getting past Lauda, Senna now hounded Prost for the lead. During all the action at the front, remarkably Stean Bellof, who had qualified last on the grid, was now behind Senna and closing the gap to him. Senna was now consistently closing in on Prost and had closed the gap to just under 10 seconds, when Prost started to wave frantically at the start/finish line to stop the race.
Finally, on lap 31, the race was stopped. If the race had progressed further, then surely Senna would have caught Prost within a few laps, if his pace had continued. Although stopped in between, this race remains amongst the most memorable Formula 1 races and Monaco grands prix of all time.
5) 1993 European Grand Prix
The 1993 European Grand Prix at Donington Park saw one of the finest drives from one of Formula 1’s greatest drivers Ayrton Senna. During the season, Williams were the team to beat who were reaping all the benefits of their superior traction control. In this Grand Prix, Senna showed that even if in an inferior car he can still beat his rivals if the conditions favored him.
Throughout the season, the Williams duo of Alain Prost and Damon Hill dominated in qualifying and similar was the case in this race, where Prost took pole followed by Hill in second while Senna was down in fourth behind Schumacher.
The race day was greeted with rain and it was raining quite heavily, but the rain showers had suspended just enough for the grand prix to start. At the start, Prost led the pack, while Schumacher blocked Senna, which gave away third place to Wendlinger. Senna passed Schumacher at the third corner and then went past Wendlinger on the outside at Craner Curves.
As he climbed the hill, he went to the inside of Hill and took second place. Senna was now just behind Prost and when they reached Melbourne Hairpin, Senna went to the inside and took the lead. Thus, just within ten corners, he moved up from fifth to first. At the end of second lap, Senna had a lead of 4.2 seconds, but this lead started to shrink when the track began drying up.
Then, at around lap 20 it started to rain again, due to which everyone pitted for wet tyres, Senna stayed out on slicks and further extended his lead before pitting for wets. The track then dried once again and everyone pitted for dry tires, but Senna lost his lead due to the cross threading of his right rear wheel nut during his pitstop.
The rain then returned once again and race leader Prost and his teammate once again took wet tires, before stopping again for dry tires. This time Prost stalled his engine and when he got going, he was a lap behind Senna and in fourth place. The uncertain weather continued for the remaining part of the race. Senna then went on to win the race and Prost finished third, albeit a lap down.
This is another race, which shows the mastery of Ayrton Senna on wet tracks, where even his rival and F1 great Alain Prost proved no match to him.
4) 1987 British Grand Prix
The British Grand Prix at Silverstone witnessed one of the most titanic battles for the victory between Williams’ driver Nigel Mansell and Nelson Piquet.
Piquet had got the pole with Mansell just behind him. At the start, Alain Prost surged ahead of the two Williams into the lead, but it did not last long, as he was soon overtaken by both of them. After this, the battle for the victory closed down to them, as both Prost and Senna could not catch them.
Halfway through the race, Piquet was leading, while Mansell just a few seconds behind him was struggling. It seemed that a wheel weight had fallen from his car, which was causing the car to vibrate, due to which Mansell struggled in his driving. With Senna further back in third place, the team decided to pit him to solve the problem.
Mansell then joined the race, now 29 seconds behind Piquet. After this, Mansell charged through lap after lap, closing the gap to his teammate and in the process, broke the lap record an astonishing 11 times. Finally, at the second last lap of the race, Piquet fell for a dummy move down the Hangar Straight, and Mansell reeled in inside at the Stowe corner to pass him for the lead and later took the chequered flag.
This remains one of Mansell’s emphatic victories and also easily one of the greatest in Formula 1.
