We take a look back at the very first Formula 1 race hosted at the Spanish circuit over a quarter of a century ago. Less than a year before the Olympic Games were to be hosted in the city.

Formula 1 teams know the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya like the back of their hand. Spain’s temperate climate during the winter makes the circuit a favoured testing ground. Opinions on the circuit are very much divided but it remains one of F1’s traditional European visits whilst others have fallen by the wayside.

Following Martin Donnelly’s horrific accident at Jerez in 1990, concerns over safety meant the circuit had fallen out of favour with the F1 fraternity and a brand new facility near Barcelona hosted the race for 1991.

Going into the race Nigel Mansell simply had to win to keep his slim chances of the title alive, the Briton had suffered heartbreak at the last race just a week earlier at Estoril following an exclusion following Williams’ calamitous pit stop blunder. He had not made things any easier by sustaining an ankle injury in a football match. His chief rival Ayrton Senna was in a much more comfortable position, 24 points clear of Mansell in the standings.

Further down the field a future motorsport hero made his debut in a Jordan, Italian F3000 driver Alex Zanardi replaced Roberto Moreno for the final three races. While off track, Max Mosley had been elected FISA President, defeating the controversial Jean-Marie Balestre to begin his 18-year leadership of the sport.

Qualifying saw a McLaren-Honda take pole position, but surprisingly it was Gerhard Berger rather than Senna. The Brazilian would start the race from third behind Nigel Mansell, one up to the Briton going into Sunday. When race day dawned the weather took a turn for the worse, the rain had stopped by the start of the race but the track was still wet.

Mansell had a slow start and lost a place to Senna. Then going round the first lap he lost another position to the Benetton of the young German Michael Schumacher, shining in only his fourth Grand Prix. Schumacher then challenged Senna for second. Not everyone got through the first lap cleanly as Thierry Boutsen and Eric Bernard collided, both were eliminated on the spot. Ivan Capelli was another early retirement after a tangle with Emanuele Pirro.

As Berger began to pull out a slight lead, Senna, Schumacher and Mansell were engaged in a three-way tussle. Mansell re-passed the Benetton in a bold move round the outside of Turn 12. While former World Champion Alain Prost, who had been prevented from starting on slicks by his Ferrari team, was the first to head to the pits for dry tyres. Gambling that the circuit would dry out quickly.

Then in one of the most memorable moments in the history of Formula 1, Nigel Mansell made his move on Ayrton Senna down the start/finish straight, the two of them side by side, their wheels separated by just inches. Mansell was the braver on the brakes and got past into second place.

The track was now almost dry and the front runners made their pitstops, but Gerhard Berger had a slow one. Mansell and Senna came in together, the Williams team perhaps mindful of Portugal were slower than the McLaren mechanics and the Brazilian was out first. As Schumacher and Mansell began to reel in Senna again there was another rain shower. On Lap 12 of 65 came something very unfamiliar, Ayrton Senna spinning off, the Brazilian lost it coming out of the final corner and dropped to seventh place.

Mansell was now unleashed once again and quickly caught Berger, muscling past the Austrian at Turn 4 on Lap 20. The Briton began to pull away with incredible pace. Schumacher also attempted to pass Berger but inexperience finally caught up with the youngster and he had a spin, dropping to sixth. As for Berger, his season of suffering continued when an electrical fault resulting in his seventh retirement of the year.

The action in the latter part of the race came from the fiery French-Sicilian Jean Alesi. The Ferrari driver was brought in for a 10-second stop-and-go penalty following a false start. Incensed by the decision, Alesi drove like a man-possessed and fought back from ninth to dive down the inside of Ayrton Senna to finish in fourth.

The entertainment did not stop there as Pierluigi Martini in the Minardi completed the last lap on three wheels, the Italian was innocently collected in a tangle between his team mate Gianni Morbidelli and debutant Alex Zanardi.

At the front Nigel Mansell took a superb victory ahead of Alain Prost, whose decision to switch to slicks paid off handsomely. The second Williams of Riccardo Patrese came home third. After a poor race Ayrton Senna finished fifth, meaning the race for the title was not quite over. And the new Catalunya circuit had put on a sensational first Grand Prix.