How do you start a 30-year-old F1 race car? With difficulty…

Williams-renault FW14B chassis #11 had spent most of the previous 30 years either sitting in the foyer of the team’s headquarters or alongside other significant examples of the winning art in Williams Heritage. It hadn’t turned a wheel in anger at any stage.

Goodwood preparations called for a rebuild as though #11 was about to go racing. Parts were removed, their numbers checked against meticulous records used for the ‘lifing’ of components. Wishbones were x-rayed, uprights crack-tested and rebuilt, radiators checked and filled, a new Willans harness fitted, along with a new ATL bag tank – but only with a 70kg capacity since a full fuel load would obviously not be required.

The only major hurdle in the rebuild process came with firing up the Renault V10. Thirty years on, the technicians responsible for it had long since departed – as had the computers required to bring the V10 to life. Fortunately this problem wasn’t new, Williams having previously called upon Cosworth Engineering to assist starting the French unit in FW14B #8 after it was sold at auction in 2019 (to Sebastian Vettel) for £2,703,000.

Using this experience, the engine in #11 fired on demand at Goodwood. But the lack of 1992-spec tech support became evident during the first official run on Thursday when Mansell reported a misfire in third gear. Without access to the data, Williams were unable to determine the precise cause. Not that it mattered: Nigel was determined to make a glorious sight and sound with whatever he was given.