Thread: Mansell beats up team mate

According to Sebastian Hohenthal his team mate Greg Mansell (son of Nigel) punched him after an incident involving the two during the second race at Monza in the British Formula 3 series.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/60223

"After the second race Greg came into the truck and asked the team members to leave so that we could chat alone," Hohenthal told Autosport.

"Then he punched me in the back of the head, and once more on my face. I guess he was upset because he's tried to pass me and ended up running wide and losing places."


Hohenthal admitted that he is now considering his future with the team, where he partners both Greg and Leo Mansell, the two sons of 1992 Formula One world champion Nigel.


"I love Fortec, but I'm not sure about carrying on here," he added. "I'm in a horrible position, and as long as I am quicker than the Mansells then it's hard."

It would be a shame if Seb had to leave Fortec right in the middle of the season. He has at the moment scored twice as many points as both Mansell brothers combined (well, Leo Mansell hasn't scored a single point yet).

The championship standings:
http://www.driverdb.com/16championship2007.html

There were talks about the incident before Seb spoke to Autosport, so I guess it was known in the Fortec crew what had happened.

Anyway, it seems clear now that Seb will leave the team. In an interview with his local newspaper he said:
"The co-operation with the team is working well, but I'm not comfortable with the Mansell family. If the co-operation isn't working because a group of people is acting badly the best solution is a break up."

So, I guess Greg is not the only Mansell he's having problems with....

He also said that any changes would only benefit his continuation in the championship. That was good news to hear that he's not bailing out of the championship but probably will switch team. Hopefully to something better than Fortec even.

Fortec Motorsports has come to some sort of compromise in this situation now.

They will infact run two teams:

1. Sebastian Hohenthal

2. Greg and Leo Mansell

They will have no co-operation regarding set-ups or any other information.

Not an ideal situation but I do think this will hurt the Mansell's more than Seb as they don't have as much single seater experience and probably could use a more experienced hand when it comes to setting up the car.

Oh... just found this wonderful little clip again from the UK Formula Renault series when Seb battles his old nemesis Paddy Hogan. Seb's friendly wave at 1:45 or so into the clip when Paddy spins off is rather funny. That's the way to make friends!

Hahahaha!! "Bye-bye!!!"