Silverstone established itself as the permanent home of Formula 1 in Britain and Mansell Mania visited the circuit.
Spectators at the 1988 British Grand Prix were treated to a wet weather driving master class by Ayrton Senna. The McLaren’s had struggled in qualifying, the front row being occupied by Ferrari, but in the race they had no answer to Senna. Nigel Mansell finished second in the Williams-Judd and Alessandro Nannini was third.
Senna was on pole for the 1989 race but went off early. His team-mate and rival for the championship, Alain Prost, went on to win. Mansell again finished second, this time in a Ferrari. As he did the previous year, Nannini crossed the line in third.
Mansell was hopeful of a home victory in 1990 and put his Ferrari on pole. In the race he was passed by team-mate Prost and then retired with gearbox trouble. Prost won from Boutsen and Senna but it was overshadowed by Mansell’s announcement that he was going to retire from the sport.
Mansell did not retire, moving to the Williams team instead. At Silverstone in 1991 he outqualified his team-mate Riccardo Patrese for the first time and went on to score a memorable win. Gerhard Berger was second for McLaren with Prost third. Despite running out of fuel Senna was classified fourth and given a lift back on the side-pod of Mansell’s car.
By 1992 Williams had the best car in the field. Mansell had a perfect weekend, taking his FW14B to pole, fastest lap and the race win. Patrese ended up second with another Briton, Martin Brundle, third. The race also saw the debut of Damon Hill, driving the uncompetitive Brabham. At the end of the Grand Prix there was a mass track invasion by British supporters keen to congratulate Mansell.
The early stages of the 1993 race saw a spirited battle between Senna and Prost, the former defending his lead doggedly from the Frenchman. The superiority of Prost’s Williams eventually told and he went on to win. Hill had been leading only for his engine to expire, denying him a home win. Senna again ran out of fuel and was eventually classified fifth. Michael Schumacher finished second with Patrese completing the podium. Michael Andretti, son of 1978 World Champion Mario, continued his dismal season by going off at the first corner.
In 1994 Hill managed what his World Champion father never did, winning the British Grand Prix. Michael Schumacher was disqualified for overtaking on the formation lap and his Benetton team were heavily fined. Jean Alesi took his Ferrari to second with Mika Hakkinen’s McLaren in third.
The main talking point of the 1995 race was a controversial collision between Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill. The latter dived up the inside of Schumacher in an optimistic move that eliminated both of them. Johnny Herbert inherited the lead but was being caught by David Coulthard. A stop/go penalty for Coulthard, due to speeding in the pit-lane, relieved the pressure on Herbert and the Englishman scored his maiden Grand Prix victory.
