F1 British Grand Prix: Top 5 races of all time at Silverstone

2017 British Formula 1 Grand Prix Race Day Jul 16th
Silverstone is among the most iconic racing tracks ever

#3 The 1987 British Grand Prix: Mansell claims a stellar win

1987 British Grand Prix
At 1987 British Grand Prix, Nigel Mansell clinched his finest race among home fans

This might be the era where aerodynamics and tyre-compounds stake a claim in defining the Hamilton-versus-Vettel saga, but back in the day, Silverstone in the 1980s was largely about the grit and mental toughness of stalwarts like Senna, Mansell, Prost and Piquet.

And none among them held onto a great 1987 triumph better than one of England’s finest racing-heroes: Nigel Mansell.

A race that right from the start belonged to his Williams teammate, Nelson Piquet Jr., a champion of the sport, what made Mansell’s win at Silverstone special and in a league of his own was the sheer mind-boggling gap he truncated and overcame to register a furious win.

Which was the last Grand Prix where you saw a driver get the better of a margin of around 28 seconds to reach the race-leader and claim the track position?

But in so doing, Mansell not only overcame a hell hole of a gap to his teammate and title rival for the 1987 season, the Brazilian eventually winning the crown (despite Mansell clinching more races in the year), but also successfully won what is considered his greatest ever win at Silverstone.

Piquet, despite clinching pole seemed sluggish on the start and found Mansell registering way faster laps in the same car from the onset of Lap 12.

Thereafter, Mansell would have to deal with other pursuers of the track position, including “The Professor” Alain Prost in a domineering McLaren.

Suddenly as lap 25 arrived, Mansell, it seemed, begun losing the grasp over the race shocked with a car showing signs of recalcitrance to overall balance. The gap between Piquet and him ever widening, saw the two holding on somehow.

The real shocker would arrive in Lap 35, with Mansell’s chances of reducing the gap to his teammate shrinking considerably, thanks to waning tyres. As Mansell would pit for a new set of the “Goodyear’s” Piquet, seeming dominant would extend the lead by 29 seconds.

Nothing too drastic would unfurl until Lap 63 would arrive, wherein Piquet would experience a real test of nerves.

At all this time, Mansell, who had recovered well, having driven speedily for 28 laps (since the pit) was now a tiny one second off from the lead.

It was at this very moment that Silverstone produced a heart-stopper.

Piquet, who had just blasted ahead of Mansell at the Chapel, was under attack from the Briton once again.

But instead of initiating a move onto the inside, Mansell dived onto the left of Piquet. Within a split-second, as the Brazilian moved instinctively to cover Mansell, the British driver would dive right back to the right and clinched the track position.

With under 2 Laps to go, Nigel Mansell ran a classic dummy and held on to the lead to win his greatest drive at the Silverstone.

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Edited by Raunak J