"Let's put the boxing gloves on" - When Nigel Mansell angrily confronted Michael Andretti at IndyCar's Australian GP

The 1994 Australian IndyCar Grand Prix produced paradoxical moments for Michael Andretti. The CART legend would go on to win the fourth running of the race at the Surfers Paradise circuit, but not without a heated exchange with Nigel Mansell, the man who replaced him at Newman-Haas in 1993 when he left for F1.

Mansell, who took pole position for the race for Newman-Haas, had Chip Ganassi Racing's Andretti alongside him on the front row. Torrential weather plagued the race from the beginning, delaying the start by over two hours, and witnessing four restarts in total.

Mansell squandered his pole position early on in the race and lost several positions after a spin in lap 25 to eventually finish ninth. Meanwhile, Andretti held onto the race lead and won the shortened race ahead of Emerson Fittipaldi. Photographer Richard Campion witnessed an altercation between Mansell and Andretti, which seemingly stemmed from a misunderstanding. He said via LA Times:

"Mansell went over to Andretti and pushed him on the shoulder, sort of pointing the finger at him. Mansell said, 'Let's settle this right now, Michael. Let's put the boxing gloves on.'"

Campion revealed how Andretti attempted to clarify the situation, saying:

"It wasn't me, Nigel."

However, Mansell wasn't convinced and replied:

"It was you."

Mansell's time in IndyCar didn't see him get along with the Andretti family. The 1992 F1 champ had a clear rift with Michael's father Mario in 1993 when they were Newman-Haas teammates.

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Michael Andretti's magical IndyCar partnership with Newman-Haas Racing

Michael Andretti at the 1991 Toyota Grand Prix of Monterey - Source: Getty

Michael Andretti rewrote IndyCar history with Newman-Haas Racing. The second-generation Andretti was the winningest driver in American open-wheel racing's CART era with 42 victories, 31 of which came with Newman-Haas. He joined the now-defunct team in 1989 after six years with Kraco Racing.

In his first year with it, Andretti took two victories and finished third in the standings. In the following two years, he consistently improved to win five races in 1990 for a second-place standings finish, and finally, his only championship in 1991, on the back of eight pole positions and as many victories. It almost seemed like a fairytale written for him. It was his father Mario Andretti who was responsible for the team's birth after he piqued Hollywood star Paul Newman's interest in owning a team in the premier American open-wheel racing series alongside Carl Haas.

The team ceased its IndyCar operations after the 2011 season, three years after Newman's passing and when Haas started suffering from Alzheimer's.

Michael Andretti left the team after the 2000 season to join Team Motorola, which changed to Team Green in 2002 before he bought a stake in it and rebranded it to Andretti Green Racing, which is known as Andretti Global in today's IndyCar landscape, one of the series' top teams.