David Coulthard reveals why Nigel Mansell was so hard to work with at Williams

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Nigel Mansell is one of the finest British drivers ever to race in Formula 1.

After making his F1 debut in 1980, Nigel Mansell finally became an F1 champion 12 years later while driving for Williams.

Politics meant that Mansell quit F1 at the end of that campaign, only to go on and become IndyCar champion the following season.

Il Leone, ‘The Lion’, as he became known during his time at Ferrari, drove in one of the most competitive eras of Formula 1.

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Alain Prost thought Mansell was jealous of him at Ferrari, while he was going wheel-to-wheel with the likes of Nelson Piquet and Ayrton Senna.

It was Senna’s fatal crash at Imola in 1994 that brought Mansell back to F1 with Williams in 1994, where he encountered a young David Coulthard.

The Scottish driver has now shared what that experience was like and why he found it so difficult to work with the 31-time Grand Prix winner.

READ MORE: Nigel Mansell once admitted he ‘didn’t respect’ one F1 champion he was teammates with

David Coulthard admits Nigel Mansell never thought he was wrong at Williams

Coulthard was ranking F1 champions on The Red Flags Podcast and was asked to choose between Mansell and his McLaren teammate, Mika Hakkinen.

He said: “Mansell, I grew up watching him. Unbelievable doggedness and fighting spirit.

“I was his test driver. Then we shared the car in 1994 after Ayrton [Senna] passed away.

“With all of that respect for sort of pure speed, I’ve got to go with Mika. But that’s a really tough one in terms of two great, great champions and the fact that Nigel did it at 40.

“I think it was Peter Collins who was at Lotus back in the day when Nigel left there.

“Not everyone’s cup of tea.

“Very sort of single-minded and one approach to how he went about things.

“He was [tough to work with] because when he decided that’s the way, that became a fact.

“There are opinions in life, and we can all have one. And then there are facts, aren’t there?

“So, if we’re arguing over facts, then two of us are wrong. If we’re arguing over opinion, that’s fine.”

However, Coulthard admitted that Mansell always viewed his opinion as fact when it came to making decisions at Williams.

READ MORE: David Coulthard recalls how ‘conniving’ Alain Prost upset McLaren after retiring from Formula 1

How Nigel Mansell ended up returning to Formula 1 to replace David Coulthard in 1994

Senna had wished Coulthard luck in a Formula 3000 race just before he was killed at the San Marino Grand Prix.

It wasn’t the circumstances in which Coulthard would have wanted to reach F1, but after Williams skipped the Monaco Grand Prix, the Scottish driver made his debut in Spain before scoring his first points in Canada.

Williams wanted Mansell back immediately, but his IndyCar commitments meant he made a one-off appearance at the French Grand Prix before taking part in the final three races of the campaign.

That’s when he achieved his last win in Formula 1 in Adelaide, which is a race that is likely to be spoken about a lot more this season.

Mansell’s win ahead of Gerhard Berger and Martin Brundle was the last time a driver over the age of 40 stood on the top step of the podium.

Both Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso will be hoping to achieve that feat during the upcoming regulations changes in 2026, but for now, Mansell’s name is still etched in the history books.