Grand Prix Gold: Hungary 1989
AUTOSPORT relives the great races of the past: Hungary '89 - Nigel's Eastern Bloc-buster
For the first time in two years, McLaren-Honda was outpaced. And by a league this was the best race of the season, maybe of several. Nigel Mansell always thought he and the Ferrari would be on the pace in Hungary. On qualifying tyres, though, the car was a disaster - so much so that he spent the last session on race rubber, concentrating on a race set-up.
It was a sound gamble, time well spent. Qualifying only 12th, he took the lead from Ayrton Senna with 20 laps to go. Senna was cheerful in defeat. The man in tears was Riccardo Patrese, who took pole and led for 52 laps before a radiator burst.
Share Or Save This Story
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.