Nigel Mansell branded ‘arrogant’ by David Coulthard in Prost v Senna comparison

Nigel Mansell, the 1992 World Champion, has been branded “arrogant” by former McLaren and Red Bull driver David Coulthard.

And Coulthard believes Ayrton Senna was “a mix of both” Mansell and his great rival Alain Prost in an assessment of the three F1 legends.

David Coulthard unimpressed by ‘prickly’ Nigel Mansell

Coulthard began his F1 career with Williams, where he had the chance to work up close and personal with Mansell, Prost and Senna, with the Scot handed his grand prix debut by the team following the Brazilian’s fatal crash at Imola in 1994.

After taking his first F1 victory with Williams at the 1995 Portuguese Grand Prix at Estoril, Coulthard went on to spend nine years with McLaren, where he would collect a further 12 wins, before ending his career with four years at Red Bull from 2005.

Appearing on F1’s Beyond The Grid podcast, Coulthard recalled his experience of working with Mansell, who turned 71 earlier this week, with the “prickly” 1992 World Champion leaving a poor impression compared to Prost and Senna.

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Asked to compare the trio, Coulthard said: “Very different personalities.

“Mansell was one of the most naturally talented drivers, very gutsy and physical at a time when the cars were very physical – no power steering, and the likes – and brave. Absolute belief in himself.

“But that did make him come across as a little bit prickly and it did make him err on the line of overconfidence. Another word could be arrogance.

“I am a huge fan and I’ve got so much respect for all of those drivers, so I say this not to offend anyone who can never see anything but sunshine coming from Nigel’s whatnot, but I’m just facing the reality of answering this question.

“Alain? Introvert, a little bit nervous, always biting his fingernails, limited the amount of laps he did on track – one because he wanted to spend time analysing the data with engineers, but I actually also think that he understood that every lap was a potential crash and every crash was a potential injury.

“I think that he really was so focused on [the idea that] every lap had to count.

“And then you had someone like Ayrton who was a mix of both of those drivers.

“Not as arrogant, maybe, as a Nigel when he was explaining his success; absolutely committed, of course, to driving, doing the laps; a belief in himself and a belief that he had this higher power guiding him around the racetrack.”

Coulthard went on to reveal that the World Champions were united by a desire to align themselves with the “key people” within the team, with all three recognising that personal relationships with the major players were key to their success on track.

He explained: “The one thing that united them all, beyond the speed, was their intense connectivity with the team.

“The key people that were the drivers of the performance of the car, whether it was the race engineer, whether it was the designer, whether it was a team principal who they would want to lobby to release funds and an area that they felt was lacking relative to their competitors.

“They were like conductors in an orchestra, a brilliant orchestra when it’s at its very best.

“And then at a certain point, they will turn around and jump in the vehicle and then exploit the performance.”

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