Nigel Mansell had to wait, and keep waiting, to win the Formula 1 world championship. Three times he was runner-up before he finally got over the line.

Mansell led the championship going into the 1986 season finale in Australia, only to suffer a heart-shattering tyre blowout with less than 20 laps to go. Alain Prost prevailed in a three-way battle that also featured Nelson Piquet.

The following year, Mansell narrowly missed out again, with Piquet besting him this time. After a two-year stint with Ferrari, he returned to Williams in 1991.

McLaren’s Ayrton Senna came out on top, as Mansell watched on from the silver-medal position. But at last, he triumphed in ’92, nearly doubling the tally of second-place teammate Riccardo Patrese.

In all, Mansell partnered six world champions during his career – Mario Andretti, Keke Rosberg, Piquet, Prost, Damon Hill and Mika Hakkinen. He only played a bit-part role alongside Hill and Hakkinen in the ’94 and ’95 F1 seasons before he retired for good.

Mansell finished his career with 31 Grand Prix victories, which ranks him eighth all-time, just below Fernando Alonso. In a sign of his misfortune, he’s the highest-placed driver without multiple championships.

Nigel Mansell names Lewis Hamilton as the best F1 driver ever

In an interview with ESPN at the F1 75 launch earlier this week, Mansell mentioned that Lewis Hamilton is, in his opinion, ‘the greatest ever’. Perhaps there’s an element of national bias there, but the stats certainly justify the selection.

No driver has won more championships than Hamilton, who’s level with Michael Schumacher at the top of the list on seven. He leads outright for race wins (105), pole positions (104) and podiums (202).

He’s now looking to become the first driver over the age of 40 to win the title since Jack Brabham in 1966. To that end, he’s left Mercedes and joined Ferrari.

Hamilton will follow in Mansell’s footsteps by representing the Scuderia. His predecessor didn’t manage to bring the title to Maranello, but he did pick up three winners’ trophies.

“Lewis has done something absolutely amazing,” Mansell said. “If not the greatest … I think he is the greatest ever.”

Nigel Mansell has one wish for Lewis Hamilton’s first season at Ferrari

Hamilton was smiling ‘throughout’ his first interviews as a Ferrari driver on Wednesday. There’s been a palpable change in his motivation after a desperately disappointing final season at Mercedes.

If he manages to win an unprecedented eighth title at Ferrari, some will view him as the undisputed ‘GOAT’. But the debate is extremely hard to settle in F1 given that it spans multiple generations and must account for factors like car performance and the strength of rivals.

Max Verstappen named his all-time top five F1 drivers last year, picking Hamilton, Schumacher, Senna, Alonso and Juan Manuel Fangio. The Red Bull superstar is entering the conversation is himself.

Mansell says it would be a ‘dream’ for Hamilton to win the Australian Grand Prix, his first race for Ferrari. The moustachioed legend achieved that feat himself in Brazil back in 1989.