Why F1 champion Mansell has corner named after him in Mexico

As the sun sets on yet another rivetting F1 season, the tide of the title race seems to be going towards Lewis Hamilton yet again. For the second year in a row, the Brit could seal a championship at the very aptly named Autodrome Hermanos Rodriguez track at Mexico.

However, the Rodriguez brothers are not the only F1 racers whose names adorn the circuit. One more illustrious character, 1992 champion, Nigel Mansell, has a corner of the track named in his honour. Why? Well, you should have gotten a clue when you read the word ‘illustrious’.

Mansell was known to be a fiery character, with his fearsome moustache only adding to his persona. He gave it all on the track, even collapsing while pushing his car by hand over the finish line, when it broke down meters behind it. So, there was no doubt as to his courage.

This was demonstrated in the 1990 Mexican GP when Mansell was racing for Ferrari alongside Alain Prost. He was personally handpicked by their legendary founder, Enzo Ferrari, and was his last F1 selection; which made it an even more special partnership.

Mansell was racing hard for second place with another F1 legend, Gerhard Berger. Those days, the final corner at Mexico, named the Peraltada, was one of the fastest sections on the circuit, and was thus equally dangerous to overtake.

One small misstep and any F1 driver’s life could be in danger. However, none of that mattered to Mansell. Berger passed Mansell before the Peraltada corner, but Mansell had none of it. He kept his line and remarkably passed Berger on the outside, leaving everyone bewildered.

Check out his pass here:

For all his valour and courage, Mansell should have more than one title (in 1992) but his attitude and relationships were too problematic for any team to keep him on long enough. But the Mexican organizers had no qualms with that and promptly decided to name the final corner after him when F1 returned there in 2015.

As of now, the final corner has been redeveloped into a slower stadium corner because of the safety concerns surrounding the same.