Own a piece of F1 history: Nigel Mansell’s championship-winning Williams FW14B

In a driving performance that had the country on the edge of its seat – and wildly enthusiastic F1 TV commentator Murray Walker usually well off it – Mansell took his number five Williams-Renault FW14B to first place in five grands prix in 1992 on his way to clinching his first, and only, F1 world title. It was the first time a Briton had won the championship since James Hunt in 1976.

Williams-Renault FW14B chassis number eight was driven by Mansell in seven of that year’s grand prix before being given to his teammate Riccardo Patrese. Now “White 6”, the Italian scored more points in the car and ended that year as runner-up to Mansell in the drivers’ championship, while Williams won the 1992 Formula 1 Constructors’ World Championship.

As one of the most dominant grand prix racing cars of all time, the Adrian Newey-designed Williams qualified on pole position seven times in its 13 races and also helped Mansell to set other F1 records in period, including becoming the first driver to win nine GPs within a single season.

Today, the blue and yellow Camel-sponsored car is an icon of F1, as instantly recognisable now as it was 27 years ago when it and its famously moustachioed driver appeared on a million posters, epitomising the “Mansell mania” that gripped the country.

The latest in a series of historic collectors’ cars to be auctioned by Bonhams at the Festival of Speed, the Williams FW14B was one of the most sophisticated and complex of F1 cars. Powered by a 3.5-litre V10 Renault engine, it features a six-speed semi-automatic transmission, hydraulic, ride-levelling active suspension and advanced aerodynamics.

It all still works perfectly, too. Bonhams says the car has been running in recent weeks, and the car has had just one private owner since it was acquired from Williams.

Bonhams director of global motorsport Mark Osborne is a big fan of the car and its place in the country’s motorsport history. “As a young man I, along with a nation, was in patriotic awe of the brilliance of the British Williams cars, and of Red 5 in particular,” he tells GRR.

“Chassis eight was the focus of that adulation – the best of the breed – and in Mansell's hands it took the first five rounds of the championship. We are honoured to have been entrusted with such a motor racing legend.”

How much will Red 5 make at auction? Bonhams is not giving an estimate but there’s speculation around the £3m mark. Last year Bonhams sold Ayrton Senna’s Monaco Grand Prix-winning McLaren-Ford MP4/8 for €4.2m (now about £3.7m), while the record for the most valuable public auction sale of an F1 car stands at £5.6m for Michael Schumacher’s 2001 Ferrari, the car that took him to his fourth World Drivers’ Championship.

Additional photography by Motorsport Images.