At the beginning of 1995, several drivers were in competition for the drive with McLaren, one of them was 1992 World Champion Nigel Mansell.

In 1994, following the death of Ayrton Senna at Imola, Mansell had driven for his old team (Williams) on four occasions, CART events permitting, pulling off a dramatic win in the season finale at Adelaide.

Still adored by the fans, and clearly still capable of winning, McLaren opted to sign Mansell to partner Mika Hakkinen in the MP4/10.

We'll probably have to wait until Ron Dennis writes his Autobiography - A printed work consisting of pages fastened together and bound on one side, containing of a full and frank account of my life, written in the first person - to get the full story, but basically Nigel couldn't fit in the car.

All manner of suggestions were put forward as to why Nigel couldn't fit into the car, with some claiming that he insisted on having his wallet in the back pocket of his overalls, while others simply claimed he'd eaten too many hot dogs while in the USA.

It was embarrassing for Mansell and McLaren.

Having been replaced by Mark Blundell in the first two races - a man who seems to have eaten his own fair share of the pies in recent years - Mansell made his debut with the Woking team at San Marino, where he finished tenth, two laps behind the leaders.

Two weeks later, in the Spanish GP, he retired after 18 laps, complaining about the car's handling, though the official reason for his retirement was; 'driver gave up'.

That was it. Mansell walked away from F1 to be replaced in the red and white car by Mark Blundell and Jan Magnussen.

Officially however, Mansell has never retired from F1, and therefore a come-back could still be on the cards, even Patrick Head threatened it recently.

However, as the 1992 World Champion prepares to take centre stage in the F1 parade through central London, a question has been nagging away at us.

How is it that 'Snakehips' Nige can fit in the Jordan but Jos Verstappen can't?

We should be told.