By any other standards, the weekend would have been a breeze for Mansell. But for team Williams in 1992 it was no walk in the park!
Mansell scooped qualifying, 0.550 seconds ahead of his teammate, and better than 1.1 seconds ahead of 1991 World Champion, Ayrton Senna in the McLaren-Honda. And he did so on a single qualifying run, aborting the session due to damage from debris sustained on his second outing!
When the race got underway on Sunday, July 26, 1992, Mansell got away poorly but managed to retain the lead after some heavy braking and a brave run through turn one with Patrese knocking at the door. Having survived the first corner, the two Williams teammates stormed away from the field and settled into a pace that the competition couldn't match but that was comfortable for the remarkable Williams/Renault combination.
Mansell exited the pits ahead of a young Michael Schumacher but on fresh tires left the Benetton-Ford behind.
Mansell came into the pits ahead of schedule, suffering from a sudden oversteer condition and with a warning light suggesting a deflating rear tire. The Brit regained the track just ahead of Schumacher but with Patrese in the lead and Senna in second. The Brazilian made Mansell fight for the position for several laps but, perhaps feeling a pass was inevitable, eventually waived the Williams by after the pair tangled at the Ostkurve chicane on lap 19. Mansell inherited the lead; Patrese having stopped for tires a few laps prior.
As the laps wound down Mansell was very concerned about a vibration coming from the left-front tire. On the fast Hockenheim circuit the #5 Williams was shaking so badly that the Lion, as he was nicknamed, had to back off on the straights just to see where he was going! With a comfortable lead he could afford to do so and scored a victory that placed him on the cusp of his first and only World Championship!
At speed on the straights, the vibrations from his left-front tire caused such trouble seeing that Mansell had to brake early just to see the corner ahead!
