1989-08-10 F89 640/2 (27) Nigel Mansell HUN - Hungaroring 1
On August 10th, 1989, Nigel Mansell won the Hungarian GP on board of this F89 640/2 . One of the best drives of Mansell’s career.
Mansell believed that 1989 would be a development year and that he would be able to challenge for the championship the following season. In his first appearance with the team he scored a very unlikely win in the 1989 Brazilian Grand Prix at the Autódromo (the 640 is also included in this collection). The year was characterised by gearbox and various other problems, it was the first year with electronic gearbox. After some mixed results he came to the tight and twisty Hungaroring for the Hungarian Grand Prix. Early in practice Mansell had seen that trying to qualify the car high on the grid was a pointless exercise and he decided instead to concentrate on a good race set-up. After qualifying 12th (0.681s behind teammate Gerhard Berger in sixth and 2.225s behind pole man Riccardo Patrese in his Williams-Renault) and not even being considered a chance for the race, he charged his way through the field until he pulled off a sensational passing manoeuvre on the McLaren-Honda of World Champion Ayrton Senna on lap 58 to take a lead he would not lose.
