4 world championship titles, 51 race wins and success against the world's best. France’s most prodigious racer, Alain Prost certainly has a claim to the title of greatest of all time. But there’s more to this stylish-nosed Frenchman than statistics show. Yes, Prost could have achieved even more than what he did had a few things just gone his way. Normally, when discussing great racing drivers, Prost’s name is often overlooked in favour of Schumacher, Senna or Hamilton. But Alain wasn’t called “The Professor” for nothing, after all. As you will soon learn, he was one of the greatest ever.
Prost tested for the McLaren team in late 1979, at the age of 24 at Circuit Paul Ricard in France. It's said that Teddy Mayer, McLaren team principal just looked at the French prodigy for 10 laps, before deciding he needed to be in F1. The following year, Prost made his debut with McLaren and things looked promising. He immediately looked faster than his more experienced teammate, John Watson and scored points in the opening two races. However, the 1980 McLaren was quite slow compared to the rest of the grid and Prost struggled with it. Eventually, his stay came to an end and Prost left the team in search of greener pastures.
For 1981, Prost signed with Renault, the pride of France and was partnered by the experienced René Arnoux. Prost came into his own in the Renault and won 3 races across the year, with his first win coming at home at the French Grand Prix. He was on the podium in every race he completed and proved to be more than a match for Arnoux. 1982 was a frustrating year for Prost (a common theme across his career) as he led the most laps out of anyone on the grid but thanks to the Renault engine’s woeful reliability issues, he couldn’t pose a threat for the championship. Tensions hit a new high with Arnoux, who left Renault in 1983. Prost excelled again in 1983, winning 4 races and missing out on the championship by a mere two points to Brabham’s Nelson Piquet. He had led for most of the year but Renault’s failure to develop the car meant Piquet’s late assault would succeed. With Prost and Renault blaming each other for missing out on the championship, departure was inevitable and Prost left unceremoniously.
McLaren snapped up their former driver and partnered Prost with then 2-time champion, Austrian Niki Lauda. McLaren had made a masterstroke for 1984, with a superb chassis, fast Porsche engines and two world class drivers. Prost went on to win an amazing 7 races, including the rain-affected Monaco Grand Prix, where half points were awarded as the race was cut short. Lauda managed 5 wins but, thanks to an untimely engine failure for Prost, won the championship. The Professor had missed out on a championship by just half a point. This remains the smallest margin ever to decide a championship, in history. Success, however, was right around the corner for our French hero.
1985 saw Prost win 5 races en route to his first world championship, winning by a staggering 20 points over Ferrari’s Michele Alboreto. The 1985 McLaren wasn’t as dominant as its predecessor, but Prost took it to great heights and stamped his authority all over the racing world. Alain was partnered by 1982 champion, Keke Rosberg for 1986. He had to face an extremely difficult challenge from the two Williams drivers, Piquet and Nigel Mansell. In the end, Prost defended his crown and won the championship by 2 points. Williams just got even faster in 1987 and Prost couldn’t mount a serious challenge. He still won 3 races and demolished yet another teammate, the talented Swede, Stefan Johansson. But 1988 would change Prost’s story and the entire racing world forever and a brand new rivalry would define the sport.
McLaren moved to Honda engines and brought in a new driver, the young Brazilian, Ayrton Senna. Prost was no longer the young upstart, he had become the experienced veteran and had to prove that he was still as fast as ever. He did that in style. Senna had raw speed on his side, winning 8 races. Prost, true to his nickname, was much more pragmatic and calm, winning 7. Prost scored a total of 105 points that season, 11 more than Senna. The experienced campaigner had bested the new challenger. However, for the championship, only the 11 best results were to be counted. As a result, Prost lost out to Senna by the tiny margin of 3 points.
1989 saw tensions hit a new level, with Senna and Prost engaging in another vicious battle, both on and off track. Prost emerged as the champion, besting Senna by 16 points as his calm, collected approach paid dividends. The Japanese Grand Prix that year saw the two collide on track and this fuelled emotions. Prost left McLaren at the end of 1989, as the champion, to join Ferrari for the following year. However, the Senna-Prost saga would continue.
Prost was joined by future champion Mansell at Ferrari for 1990 but it would be the Frenchman who took the fight to Senna and McLaren. He won 5 races but Senna proved to be too fast in the McLaren and Prost had to settle for second, losing by 7 points. Once again, the two bitter rivals collided in Japan and insults were thrown into the air by both sides. Mansell left Ferrari, as Prost proved too much to overcome.
Prost remained at Ferrari for the 1991 season, but the Scuderia was unable to supply a car capable of winning races let alone challenging for the title. A difficult season ended early for Prost, who was sacked by Ferrari with a Grand Prix still to go after referring to his car as ‘‘a truck’’. No competitive seats were available for 1992 and Prost took a year off from racing. He returned in 1993, joining the Williams team. Prost was challenged by, you guessed it, Senna and his teammate, future champion Damon Hill. However, The Professor was magnificent and won the championship by a stunning 26 points over Senna. Prost retired at the end of the year, ending a stellar career. Many still believe he could have won at least 3 more championships had some crucial moments gone his way.
Prost and Senna reconciled and developed a friendship after his retirement. However, this would be unfortunately cut short after Senna’s fatal crash in 1994. Prost never raced in Formula One again but he returned as a team principal in 1997 for his own team, Prost Grand Prix. Prost drove in ice racing, winning his last trophy, the Andros Trophy, in 2013, at a youthful age of 58! Currently, he’s a special advisor to Renault’s racing team and remains very involved in motorsport.
Alain Prost never enjoyed wet-weather driving and some say that’s because he wasn’t as brave as, say, Senna. However, they didn’t have to witness terrible, career-ending crashes as Prost did. Prost knew some risks just weren’t worth taking and I believe his philosophy was quite apt in the dangerous world of racing in the 80s and 90s. But don't forget, he has defeated names like Lauda, Piquet, Mansell, Rosberg, Senna, Hill, the list goes on. Prost was never a flamboyant character like some of his rivals, but there is no doubt at all that The Professor was one of the greatest ever to put his hands on a steering wheel.
The legend atlast got his corner in the Truth Media, thank you Gowri, he deserves it. Ironically, a formula one driver known for safe driving!!!