Coach’s favorite races: Belgian Grand Prix 1992 Car News

Sunday was long, wet, uncomfortable, and I remember feeling hungry most of it. But it was also fantastic. The coach left Brussels at a crazy hour and once in Spa I wandered through the woods to the middle of the circuit to Pouhon, the double left-handed mega-fast. There I found an excellent vantage point, perched on a tuft of grass on the steep bank just at the corner entry point. I first watched Oliver Gavin win the Formula Opel race – one of his first milestones, for a driver I had come to know well in the years to come – and then waited for the start of the Grand Prix.

It was better than I could have hoped for. Mansell started from pole position, but quickly fell behind Ayrton Senna’s McLaren, before he and Riccardo Patrese reaffirmed their usual dominance of Williams. Then the characteristic rains of Spa threw everything into the air. While most dives for sprained rubber, Senna has bet on staying out and conditions improving. They didn’t – and when he finally pitted the great Brazilian quit the competition.

Now Michael Schumacher has come to the fore. A year earlier, the German had burst onto the F1 scene by qualifying seventh on his debut with Jordan. Now he was there exactly a year later, an established favorite with Benetton.

It was a mistake that made its day. Schumacher got off the road at Stavelot and his teammate Martin Brundle, who had gained momentum after a difficult start to the season, edged him – but as he did, Michael spotted the condition bloated rear tires from the Englishman. . At that point, he decided to stop for the slicks – and it was a decision that won him the race. Brundle later admitted he should have delved into himself, but chose not to in his excitement to be ahead of Schumacher, while Mansell changed three laps too late.

Nigel, already confirmed world champion at this stage of the season, returned to the track five seconds behind the new leader, but a broken exhaust thwarted his pursuit. Schumacher, for the 18th time, won a grand prize for the first time.