Nigel Mansell backing Mark Webber for F1 title

Mansell is backing Red Bull's Mark Webber to lift the Formula One title this season, although he thinks it will be tough to beat McLaren's Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button.

He said: "It would be really fantastic if Mark Webber won it. He's come up the hard way and had a lot of knocks, and I'm a big supporter of him. His team-mate Sebastian Vettel is still there, although he didn't help his or Mark's case in the last race.

"He's going to have incredible competition from Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button. McLaren look fanastically strong and have done a brilliant job.

"I thought Fernando Alonso and Ferrari were going to be very strong, but they seem to have stood still, and standing still in Formula One means you go backwards.

"It's an incredible year. Stopping refuelling during races has made it a lot better. It's a lot safer in the pits, and it shows the skill of the team when you can come in and change all four tyres in less than four seconds. How unbelievable is that?

"It's more testing for the drivers because they have to manage the car a bit more, how they drive and the tyre consumption, so the set up of the car is more crucial. That's the one thing computers can't do. That's a good thing.

"I've won grands prix where I've stopped for tyres two or three times and others where I've stopped once. It depends on the temperature, the circuit and how hard you push.

"The Canadian Grand Prix I won one year with a turbo engine. Mid-course of the race, from leading I had to go down to third place to conserve enough fuel to be able to push again. Then I head to catch the leaders again and pass them, which made it a very exciting race.

"But being told from the pits to slow down and let them overtake you is a very hard discipline to do. It goes against the competitive instincts."

Mansell, 56, was pleased to see Michael Schumacher return to Formula One, and tips the German to improve as the season goes on.

He said: "He's done a great job. The car isn't as competitive as it was last year, but it's still a great car. He finished fourth in the last race and that's very creditable and it won't be too long before he's on the podium again."

Mansell is still involved in motorsport and this weekend he's competing in the Le Mans 24 Hour race, with his sons Leo and Greg as co-drivers.

He said: "It is going to be an awesome experience and a very daunting week. We don't expect to win, but it's going to be incredibly exciting and very rewarding

"Driving the same car as Leo and Greg is historic, as it's the first time a father and two sons have done that at Le Mans. It's a very special week in the lives of the Mansell family."

After that it will be back on his bike for Mansell. He's taking part in a 375-mile charity bike ride from London to Paris next weekend, before embarking on his 1,200 mile trek around the UK on July 22. It finishes in Canary Wharf on August 3.

He will be accompanied by a team including former Tour de France rider Magnus Backstedt (pictured), who has been overseeing the training programme.

The route will include visits to Cardiff and Glasgow, as well as Silverstone, and there will be no rest days for the riders on the way.

Mansell is president of UK Youth, which works to help make a difference to young people's lives, and wanted to do something special to mark the charity's centenary year.

He said: "We needed to do something special for the centenary year. Climbing Mount Everest seemed too far removed, so what's beter than riding a bike, which is something everyone can do. It will be an epic ride and it will be stunning.

""I am looking forward to it because now we're ready. With all the work and the racing there's only so much training we could have done, and we've done as much as we can. Now we've got to train on the ride and manage the ride, to do it properly and to finish it.

"The first few days are going to be hard, but then we are going to hit brick walls and going through those.

"I never did any cycling when I was racing. It's completely new and certainly totally new on racing bikes.

"We're hoping hundreds of thousands of people during the ride will come out and support the cause, which is what it's all about. The ride is incidental. It's to give the focus onto UK Youth and the charity.

"The message is to get people more positive about young people in Britain."

Although his competitive Formula One days are long gone Mansell still harbours faint hopes of getting into a Williams or Ferrari one more time, and he hopes his new-found cycle inspired fitness - which has seen him shed 20lbs - could help.

He said: "I'd love to test one again and I'd love to drive one in anger. And, hey, the way my fitness is going at the moment, who knows? But they might probably think I'm over the hill."

Nigel Mansell's UK Youth Cycle Challenge starts on July 22. Donations can be made by texting "Youth" to 84025. For more information visit positiveaboutyouth.org.uk.