Mansell: 'Today's drivers will never know what real F1 is like'

2021 must offer F1 a much-anticipated renewal in single-seaters, with a significant effort to restore interest in racing. On the technical side, cars should no longer lose as much aero downforce when following another car, and the majority of downforce should be generated from underneath the car.

Enough to bring a little madness back to a discipline that is sometimes too monotonous during certain events and also offer a renewed challenge to the drivers. But for veterans who experienced the great era of the 80s, nothing will come close to this golden period.

" The Williams FW11B from 1987... Nothing comes close to this car, nothing in the world, confesses Nigel Mansell in the latest issue of AUTO, the FIA ​​magazine. And Formula 1 will never return to that.

Today's drivers will never know what a real F1 car looks like. In qualifying you literally had 1 horsepower. BMW would have even had more. And to skate in sixth gear on the straight, at 500 or 175 km/h…

You can't express that in words as a driver. Every corner you came to, the car was literally trying to kill you. »

The Briton, titled in 1992 with the Williams FW14B and its active suspension, also recognizes that the environment of the discipline has largely changed. “In the 80s and early 90s, it was euphoric to be part of what was happening in F1, continues Mansell.

The abundance of talent, the most incredible things that made you say “but how did that happen… We ran around parking lots in Las Vegas… you can’t even think about doing that today.” It was an exciting time and I was grateful to be a part of it. »