With the dashboard warning he would run out of fuel, Mansell kept attacking Piquet at Silverstone. The title fight still had a twist ahead.
The warning on the dashboard
The dashboard said he would not make it to the finish. Nigel Mansell saw the warning and kept his foot down. Ahead, Nelson Piquet was trying to carry his lead to the flag at Silverstone. Only a few laps remained, and both men drove for Williams. Mansell chose to attack with his fuel running short.
The chase became a duel between teammates. Piquet managed the race; Mansell closed the gap. The risk was plain: he could catch the Brazilian and run out of fuel before the finish. Mansell described his gamble as “all or nothing.” At Silverstone, that decision would change the outcome.
A contest from the year before
A year earlier, Williams had placed Mansell and Piquet at the heart of a title fight. At Adelaide, the final round of 1986, they were battling for the championship against Alain Prost of McLaren. Prost won the race and secured his second world title. Williams’ two drivers ended the season without the championship.
In 1987, the contest continued within the team. Piquet and Mansell were teammates, but also rivals for the title. At Silverstone, Piquet started from pole. At the outset, both Williams drivers were expected to race without changing tyres. Piquet stuck to that plan, following Goodyear’s recommendation and managing his lead.
Mansell and the team, however, decided to stop for fresh tyres. He rejoined about 29 seconds behind Piquet, with 28 laps remaining. The gap looked substantial. Still, Mansell began hunting him down, lap after lap.
All or nothing at Silverstone
As he drew closer, the dashboard made the cost of his decision clear: he might run out of fuel before the flag. Mansell pressed on. Piquet stayed ahead, trying to protect his lead on the tyres he had chosen to keep. The race narrowed to the two Williams cars and the distance still between them.
With only a few laps left, Mansell caught Piquet and took the lead. The chase ended in a win for the Briton, one of his most memorable Formula One performances. The dashboard warning did not make him back off. His “all or nothing” gamble put Mansell first at Silverstone.
The title was still undecided
The win did not settle the championship. Mansell won six races that season; Piquet won three. But Mansell crashed in practice for the Japanese Grand Prix, injured his back, and had to give up the title fight.
Piquet won the world championship for the third and final time. That gave the Silverstone duel another dimension: Mansell won the race with a chase that nearly cost him his fuel, but the season ended with the title in his teammate’s hands. That day, Williams watched its two rivals fight for the lead to the limit. The dashboard warned that there might not be enough fuel to finish. Mansell attacked anyway, and won.
