1986 British Grand Prix



The 1986 British Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Brands Hatch on July 13, 1986. It was the ninth race of the 1986 Formula One season. It was the last Formula One race held at Brands Hatch, from 1987 onwards all British Grand Prix would be held at Silverstone.

Jacques Laffite broke both legs during a multi-car pile up at the start, leading to his retirement from the Grand Prix racing. Despite the crash happening just past the pits, the first doctor on the scene happened to be British Zakspeed driver Jonathan Palmer, who has started the race in 22nd place on the grid. Palmer, who had stopped his car just past Laffite's crashed Ligier-Renault, jumped out of the Zakspeed, and raced to assist the injured Frenchman. The race had been Laffite's record equalling start for most Formula One career starts.

The pile-up included a significant number of cars which blocked the track entirely. The race was stopped without any drivers completing a single lap. The race was restarted over an hour later as Laffite had been airlifted to Sidcup Hospital and the race could not be restarted without the medical helicopter in attendance. This was fortunate for Nigel Mansell whose Williams-Honda had a driveshaft failure at the first start, but was allowed to restart as there had not been a lap completed.

Mansell went on to win against a depleted grid in the team's spare car, which had been set up for team mate Nelson Piquet as it was his for the weekend. Mansell defeated Piquet in a straight fight, leading the Brazilian home by 5.574 seconds, much to the delight of the 110,000+ crowd in attendance. Reigning World Champion Alain Prost finished 3rd in his McLaren-TAG, one lap down on the Williams pair.

The race was the first time in 1986 since his car crash in France that had left him a paraplegic before the start of the season that Frank Williams had appeared in the Williams pits. It was also the first Williams 1-2 result of the season.

Standings after Grand Prix

 * Drivers' Championship standings


 * Constructors'  Championship standings


 * Note:        Only the top five positions are included for both sets of  standings.