1986 F1 Season

1986 is the year the best car lost the drivers' title. Williams won nine races and the constructors' championship with 141 points, 45 more than McLaren, and arrived at the final round with both its drivers in contention. The champion was the third man, Alain Prost, in a clearly slower McLaren.

The last race was in Adelaide and it came down to a tyre. Nigel Mansell started from pole with the title within reach, and our data records his retirement in a single word: tyre. Prost won the race, Nelson Piquet finished second, and the final standings read 72 for Prost, 70 for Mansell and 69 for Piquet. Three drivers within three points.

The best eleven results rule played its part too: Prost scored 74 and Mansell 72, and both had two points removed. It did not change the order, but it tightened even further a finish that was already the closest of the decade. Prost became the first driver to retain the title since Jack Brabham in 1960, and Ayrton Senna, with eight poles in the Lotus, gave notice of what was coming.