This is the steering
wheel that was used by Nigel Mansell on the Williams FW14B for the first
7 races of the 1992 championship winning season. Used to secure 6 pole
positions and win the first 5 races of the season.
The year began with
five straight victories, all from pole position, which gave Nigel an
unassailable lead in the World Championship that he was never to lose.
The sixth race of
the year was the now legendary Monaco Grand Prix. Again on pole
position, Nigel quickly asserted his dominance over the race, pulling
away from Ayrton Senna’s Mclaren Honda with relative ease. With less
than ten laps to go, his FW14B suffered a lose rear wheel that required
an unscheduled pit stop. Returning to the race behind Senna, an intense
battle ensued all the way to the flag, with Nigel never more than a car’s
length behind the Mclaren all the way to the finish.
Next time out in
Montreal for the 1992 Canadian Grand Prix, Nigel again found himself
battling for the lead with Ayrton Senna, who had taken his first pole
position of the year. Early in the race the two drivers disputed the
lead at the chicane, resulting in Nigel’s first retirement of the year
as he crashed through the gravel trap, coming to rest someway down the
pit straight following Senna’s refusal to yield the lead of the race.
During the recovery of the stricken FW14B, the working mechanicals of
the steering wheel were damaged hence this item was decommissioned.
At the 1995 Spanish
Grand Prix, Nigel Mansell signed it at the request of Richard West, then
Marketing boss of the Williams Team. This race would be the last in
Nigel Mansell’s long and distinguished Formula One career. The
steering wheel was part of the Williams family’s private collection of
memorabilia and is provided with full documentation from the Williams
Team. |