The Races we Remember: the Specials of the 80s The Races we Remember: the Specials of the 80s Selected and narrated by Mark Alan Jones, Australia As the first 50 years of the Formula One come to an end, Atlas F1 looks back at the ten most memorable races of the World Championship - two races from every decade. They were the best of times; they were the worst of times. These are the events that enriched our lives, left their mark and will forever be a part of racing heritage, for years to come 1986 Australian Grand Prix, Adelaide Winner: Alain Prost Second place: Nelson Piquet Third place: Stefan Johansson Pole Position: Nigel Mansell Fastest Lap: Nelson Piquet October 26, 1986 was one of the most dramatic days in the history of the world championship. The season had built up to a point and three drivers stared each other down for a battle for the title. All through the year the Williams drivers, Brazilian dual world champion Nelson Piquet and late blooming front running Brit Nigel Mansell, had staged a spectacular battle.

But reigning champion, McLaren's Alain Prost, had been quietly accumulating points and the three of them were in with a shot at the title. It was the second Australian Grand Prix, the few glitches in the new race's armour gone and everyone was looking forward to the last race of the year. Right from the word Go it was winner take all, as Piquet and Mansell fought over qualifying. Mansell took pole from his teammate ahead of Ayrton Senna (Lotus), Prost, Rene Arnoux (Ligier), Gerhard Berger (Benetton) and Keke Rosberg, having his last race in the McLaren. Mansell won the start from Senna, but would settle down into the third (fourth would do) he needed to be world champion, allowing the Brazilians to run away. Piquet, however, was soon in trouble with his fuel consumption and there was no way he could hold back... Rosberg! The Finn was determined to remind everyone that despite a wretched year, he was a world champion and loved the street circuits.

Senna faded slowly with a sick engine, Michele Alboreto (Ferrari) was out with damage from an incident with Arnoux, and local hero Alan Jones, like Rosberg also retiring and also showing the mettle that made him world champion, dragged his Lola-Ford up to eighth in the first 15 laps before the inevitable engine failure. Prost moved past Mansell into third and pressured Piquet into a spin on lap 23. Prost collected a puncture and dived in for an early pit stop. There was speculation that the cars would run non-stop. At this point the race appeared to settle. Goodyear were happy with the tyres that had come off Prost's car while Rosberg now had a big lead over the Williams duo, Piquet taking second approximately mid-distance. By lap 60, Prost had regained the lost time to the Williamses but Mansell had the championship under control. But without the slightest warning the race suddenly changed, leaving one of the challengers shattered and yet relieved, another disappointed, and the third utterly jubilant. On lap 63 Rosberg was parked against the wall with a failed rear tyre.

While the commentators made the right noises about the end of a great career, the Goodyear technicians didn't like what they saw. They liked even less the tyres that simultaneously came off Thierry Boutsen's Arrows during a pitstop. The order went out - bring them in. The order was given within the same lap but for Nigel Mansell it was too late; coming down Brabham Straight at full noise Mansell's left rear tyre spectacularly delaminated. The car sat down on the deflated corner and Mansell struggled to control the car at the fastest part of the track surrounded by concrete. In a shower of sparks and flailing rubber, Mansell somehow kept the car travelling straight and pulled the car up with a gentle nudge into the wall at Racetrack Hairpin. The Brit was philosophical - he wasn't a world champion, but he was alive. Piquet made the pitstop, which Prost didn't need after his earlier stop. Unbelievingly the Williams duo had lost and Prost has won. Prost never completed the cool down lap, waving his arms madly, then leaping from the car. The underdog had gotten up, for a race in Australia a somewhat fitting end.

1988 Italian Grand Prix, Monza Winner: Gerhard Berger Second place: Michele Alboreto Third place: Eddie Cheever Pole Position: Ayrton Senna Fastest Lap: Michele Alboreto On August 14, 1988, Formula One mourned the passing of the sport's biggest name - Enzo Ferrari, who died at the age of 90. His name will forever be associated with Formula One, and indeed with Motor Racing in general. Within five weeks of his death Formula One gathered itself at the 'cathedral' of motorsport and the spiritual home of Ferrari - Monza. It had been a great year, if you drove a McLaren-Honda. With the banning of turbos coming into force the following year, and Renault having pulled out of Formula One the previous year, several teams switched to the new 3.5 litre naturally aspirated rules early, including Williams and Benetton. However, the turbo cars had enough power to still be convincingly better than the non-turbo cars. McLaren's only real opposition was Ferrari.

Lotus-Honda were disappointing, especially Nelson Piquet, and the only other turbo team of any note was Arrows who picked up the occasional points finish using the Megatron, the brutally powerful motor formerly known as BMW. In the previous seven races Ayrton Senna had won four times and Alain Prost three, with the duo sharing five second places as well. Only Ferrari's blossoming Gerhard Berger and veteran Michele Alboreto, Lotus' Nelson Piquet and Benetton's Thierry Boutsen had stood on the podium at any other time. And Monza looked like more of the same. Ferrari had done a lot of homework on the car prior to Monza, and the cars appeared with revised turbos and exhausts. Suddenly the huge Honda fuel economy gap had been reduced. And at Monza there isn't much in the way of fast corners for the aerodynamically better McLaren to exploit. The McLarens however still qualified first and second. Ferrari were third and fourth. The rest followed. Prost won the start but Senna led into the Rettifilo, with Berger and Alboreto following. Senna was running away, but Prost was not.

The Ferraris kept the Frenchman in sight. Honda engineers were worried. Satoru Nakajima had an engine failure in the second Lotus, and soon after the reason for Prost's lack of speed became obvious when he cruised in with a blown motor. The Honda engineers quickly re-mapped the engine settings for Senna. With Senna running more conservatively Berger came back into the picture. Michele Alboreto was the fastest man on the track, setting the fastest lap of the race along the way and he too was catching the McLaren. Senna had a gap on the Ferraris good enough to probably ensure the win. But only probably. When Senna came up to lap Jean-Louis Schlesser, a man who would later become a dual World Sportscar Champion, in the Williams-Judd (subbing for the ill Nigel Mansell) he didn't have time to waste getting past. Schlesser locked-up his tyres on the entry to the Rettifilo. Senna, seeing the Williams wide to the right, well off line, went for the move. Schlesser made the first corner though and was on the apex of the second when Senna arrived at the same point.

The two touched and Senna spun across the next kerb and was beached with rear wheels in the air. The two scarlet cars blasted past and the crowd took up the refrain as they realised the McLaren wasn't coming around. It was almost as if Enzo himself had intervened. For the final two laps the Ferraris gloried in the adulation, as Gerhard Berger and Michele Alboreto took a 1-2 finish to a crowd reception to rival any Nigel Mansell Silverstone win. The old man would have been smiling smugly from a distance. Mark Alan Jones 5 Great Moments from Alain Prost's Formula 1 Career | Bleacher Report 5 Great Moments from Alain Prost's Formula 1 Career By Neil James , Featured Columnist Feb 24, 2015 Use your ← → (arrow) keys to browse the slideshow Getty Images/Getty Images Comments Alain Prost was one of the greatest drivers Formula One has ever seen. Hailing from Lorette in central France, Prost made his debut in 1980 for McLaren. A points-scorer in his first grand prix, a switch to Renault in 1981 brought his first race win.

Quick, intelligent and a master of race management, he could easily have won three world championships by the time his first arrived in 1985. Further titles in 1986, 1989 and 1993 cemented Prost's place in the history books. At the time of his retirement in 1993 he held the records for the most points, wins, fastest laps, podiums and points finishes. He remains the driver with the most wins in turbo-charged cars and the most victories at a home grand prix. Tuesday, February 24, to celebrate Le Professeur's 60th birthday, we look back at five great moments from his illustrious F1 career. Tweet In the 1970s, future F1 drivers didn't have to start karting before they could spell their own name. Prost was no exception—his biography on Formula1.com reveals he didn't sit in a kart until he was 14, only discovering the sport by chance while on holiday. Racing became a hobby and later a profession of sorts.

Without family funds or a wealthy sponsor, Prost paid his own way in the lower formulae by working as a kart distributor and engine tuner. He rose through the junior ranks, winning both the French and European Formula Three titles in 1979. Offered a one-off drive for McLaren at the final race of 1979, he declined—but signed with the team for a full season in 1980. The first race was the Argentine Grand Prix at the Autodromo Juan y Oscar Galvez. The layout used (the venue has many) would be enough to make the modern FIA safety department cry, but young Prost took the daunting circuit in his stride. He qualified 12th, ahead of team-mate John Watson, and he was one of only seven drivers to reach the chequered flag as, per ESPN , the circuit fell apart under their wheels. Sixth place and the first of 798.5 championship points was his reward. Tweet Though he had a good debut season at McLaren and was signed with the team for 1981, all was not well. Per ESPN , Prost was unhappy about numerous failures on the car which led to crashes and a number of injuries.

Renault wanted him for 1981, so Prost broke his contract with McLaren and joined his countrymen at Viry-Chatillon. The year didn't get off to a great start. Though he scored his first podium in the third round of the season, he failed to finish five of the first six races. The seventh was in France—for a French driver in a French car with a French engine and French tyres, this was the ultimate prize. Team-mate Rene Arnoux qualified on pole at the fast Dijon-Prenois circuit, but he fell back at the start and Prost, from third on the grid, took over as his team's primary challenger. He was second when the race was stopped on Lap 58 due to heavy rain, and at the restart he took the lead from Nelson Piquet. Though pushed all the way by former McLaren team-mate John Watson in the MP4, Prost stayed ahead to take his first race win. Prost won two more races in 1981 and, had his car held together more frequently, could have won the title. As it was he finished fifth, seven points shy of eventual champion Nelson Piquet, having scored points on just six occasions.

The man who would go on to become France's greatest-ever driver had arrived. The main video shows the end of the race. The full race, also with German commentary, is available on YouTube . Thanks to grandprix.com for their race report. Tweet Though the pairing had some success, Prost's relationship with Renault was at times difficult. He did not get on well with team-mate Rene Arnoux and the car—particularly the engine—was often unreliable. Despite Arnoux's exit, by the end of 1983 things had got unbearable. Prost left after losing out on the title to Piquet and moved back to McLaren for 1984. With the TAG-badged Porsche turbo engine mated to the excellent MP4/2 chassis, the team were the class of the field. That year he lost out on the world title by just half a point to team-mate Niki Lauda. On the podium at the final race of the season, per Andrew Benson , Lauda—perhaps realising the future had arrived—told Prost, "Don't worry, next year you'll win it." So he did.

Prost won five races and stood on the podium on a further six occasions to claim his first world championship. He was pushed all season long not by Lauda but by Ferrari's Michele Alboreto, who saw his own title chances fall apart in the final five races. The title was no less than Prost deserved—especially as he had missed out on the championship in the previous two seasons by a grand total of 2.5 points. The video above shows highlights from the 1985 British Grand Prix, one of five races Prost won. Tweet Prost was already a two-time world champion when Ayrton Senna arrived at McLaren in 1988. The younger Brazilian was regarded as the greatest natural talent on the grid, while Prost had a more reliable and consistent approach to racing. Senna emerged victorious in their first year together. Though Prost actually scored 11 more points, only the best 11 results from the 16 races counted toward the championship standings. But 1989 was Prost's year. Going into the penultimate round he held a 16-point lead over his team-mate.

The same "best 11" points system was in place; as things stood, had Senna won the final two races he would have been champion regardless of where Prost finished. Emotions were running high. The relationship between the pair had deteriorated to the extent they could no longer remain in the same team. The Frenchman would be joining Ferrari for 1990. Senna qualified on pole but Prost got off the line quicker and led into Turn 1. In The Telegraph , David Tremayne told how Prost had the gurney flap removed from his car on the grid for greater straight-line (and off-the-grid) speed. If Prost won, the title race was over, so Senna had to pass. He caught his team-mate and, on Lap 46, attempted to dive down the inside into the Casio chicane. The pair collided, putting Prost out on the spot; though Senna got going again and won, he was (somewhat unfairly) disqualified for cutting the chicane. Did Prost turn in earlier than usual and in effect deliberately cause the collision? Probably. Was Senna overly aggressive and unwise to try to force his way through from so far back?

Again, probably. Whatever the intentions and whoever should shoulder the blame, the end result was Prost's third championship. It was the only time Senna was beaten by a team-mate. Tweet Prost finished second at the 1993 Portuguese Grand Prix to clinch his fourth and final world championship with two races to spare. Only a few days earlier, he had announced he would retire from F1 at the end of the season. At the time, he told reporters at Estoril ( h/t LA Times ): I want to leave at the summit. It is a decision that I have reached after careful consideration throughout the year. It has not been taken in a hurry at all. I reached the final decision about a month ago but could not make the announcement at Monza because of the circumstances of the race. I feel after so many years at the top that I should be allowed to take a rest. It has been a long and difficult career. I feel I have given a lot to the sport, and I want to leave with a smile on my face. Prost finished on the podium for his final three races and left the sport a four-time world champion with more wins than any driver in the sport's history.

He'd also scored more points than anyone else, set more fastest laps and stood on more podiums. And perhaps more importantly, he had beaten a string of team-mates including Niki Lauda, Keke Rosberg, Ayrton Senna, Nigel Mansell and Damon Hill—all past or future world champions. The best way to end a career like that was to go out at the top, and that's exactly what Prost did. The video above shows the opening lap of his 51st and final win. Bon anniversaire, Alain. Atlas F1: The Formula One World Championship Timeline Atlas F1 Presents: all the milestones, all the names, all the changes, all the headlines - the complete Formula One timeline 1980 The battle to control Grand Prix racing erupts between the Formula One Constructors Association (FOCA) and the Federation Internationale Sportive Automobile (FISA). Its eventual resolution by an agreement known as the Concorde Agreement saw Bernie Ecclestone and FOCA win control of the commercial aspects of Formula One, a situation that continues to this day. Alain Prost has his first race in a McLaren at Argentina. Nelson Piquet wins his first Grand Prix at Long Beach.

The Spanish Grand Prix, won by Alan Jones is removed from calendar during the FISA / FOCA wars. Patrick Depailler is killed in a testing accident at Hockenheim just prior to the German Grand Prix. Reserve Lotus driver, Nigel Mansell, makes his Grand Prix debut at the Osterreichring, Austria. Imola hosts its first Grand Prix, temporarily replacing Monza as 1980 Italian Grand Prix venue while Monza is upgraded. Australia's Alan Jones wins the world championship, a first for Williams. 1981 Ron Dennis takes over McLaren, and the team debuts a carbon fibre chassis designed by John Barnard. The season opening South African GP, won by Carlos Reutemann, is removed from the calendar after the race is boycotted by FISA loyal teams over its decision to ban skirts. After the innovative twin-chassis Lotus 88 is banned by officials at Long Beach, Colin Chapman threatens to pull Lotus out of Formula One and boycotts the new San Marino Grand Prix at Imola. In his last race for Williams Alan Jones dominates the first Las Vegas Grand Prix, held in the vast car parks of Las Vegas casinos. Mike Hailwood is killed in a road accident.

Brazilian Nelson Piquet wins his first world championship for Brabham, with Constructors title to Williams. 1982 Niki Lauda returns from retirement to join McLaren. After the introduction of the Super Licence for Formula One drivers, the drivers protest the restrictions of new licence by going on strike before the South African Grand Prix. BMW debut their turbo engine in the Brabham. The FOCA teams boycott the San Marino Grand Prix at Imola, leaving Didier Pironi to win in a field of 14 cars. Canadian Gilles Villeneuve is killed during qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix at Zolder, after he lost control of his Ferrari due to contact with the March of Jochen Mass. Riccardo Paletti's Osella crashes into the stalled Ferrari of Didier Pironi during the start of the Canadian Grand Prix at Montreal. Paletti succumbs to his injuries. Didier Pironi is seriously injured after a collision with the Renault of Alain Prost in pouring rain, during qualifying for the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim, after setting Pole Position. Keke Rosberg wins Williams' second drivers title, Ferrari the constructors.

Colin Chapman, Lotus founder and Formula One's most innovative designer, dies of a heart attack. 1983 Spirit debut the new Honda turbo engine at the British Grand Prix. The first race is held at the reborn Spa-Francorchamps. Michele Alboreto's Tyrrell wins the 155th and last win for the Cosworth DFR/DFY engine at the United States Grand Prix at Detroit. A first appearance of the TAG-Porsche turbo with McLaren at the Dutch Grand Prix. Nelson Piquet wins Brabham's last and BMW's only world championship. Ferrari retain the constructors championship for the last time until 1999. 1984 Ayrton Senna makes his F1 debut at Jacarepagua, Brazil. Senna almost wins the Monaco Grand Prix in poor weather. Prost wins after race declared early. One-off race held in Dallas, Texas, is marred by severe circuit break-up problems. First race composed entirely of turbo charged cars is held at the Osterreichring for the Austrian Grand Prix. Tyrrell is disqualified for the entire 1984 season after allegations of infringements with water tanks, ballast and undertray.

Formula One returns to Portugal for the first time since 1960 at the Estoril circuit. Niki Lauda wins his third world title by half a point from McLaren teammate Alain Prost. 1985 Minardi make their Formula One debut. In only his 16th Formula One race, Ayrton Senna wins the Portuguese Grand Prix at Estoril. Nigel Mansell wins his first race, the European Grand Prix at Brands Hatch. French teams Renault and Ligier boycott the South African Grand Prix at the request of the French government, in protest over the South African's Apartheid. The First Australian Grand Prix is won by Keke Rosberg. Renault and Alfa Romeo retire from Formula One as teams. Their engines continue in use for another year. Benetton commence involvement with the Toleman team, first as sponsor (it was sponsor before to Alfa Romeo and to Tyrrell). But, in no time, the Clothing giant would purchase Toleman and enter the 1986 championship as 'Benetton Grand Prix'. Triple world champion Niki Lauda retires from Formula One. Alain Prost becomes the first Frenchman to win the Drivers' Championship.

1986 Williams team principal, Frank Williams, is paralyzed in a road accident driving back from a Williams test at Paul Ricard. Ayrton Senna beats Nigel Mansell by the smallest margin in the digital timing era, at the Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez (0.014 seconds) Elio de Angelis is killed in a private Brabham testing session at Paul Ricard. Jacques Laffite equals Graham Hill's record for most Grand Prix starts (176) at the British Grand Prix, but during the start crashes, breaking his legs and pelvis, ending his career. Gerhard Berger takes his and Benetton's first win in Formula One at the Mexican Grand Prix. It is also BMW's last Grand Prix win. The Hungarian Grand Prix becomes the first Formula One race to be held behind the 'Iron Curtain'. Alan Jones and Keke Rosberg retire from Formula One. Alain Prost wins the Australian Grand Prix and becomes the first back to back World Champion since Jack Brabham in 1960. Williams wins the constructors title. 1987 Lotus and Williams experiment with active ride suspension, while Honda extends its engine supply to Lotus.

A messy last race is held at the Osterreichring, where Nigel Mansell wins after two start-line pile-ups and a chequered flag shown a lap late. Earlier, Stefan Johansson struck a deer in practice. Alain Prost breaks Jackie Stewart's record for most Grand Prix wins (28) after winning the Portuguese Grand Prix. Ex-Ferrari driver Didier Pironi is killed in a powerboat racing accident. Adrian Newey is appointed the technical director of March. Formula One returns to Japan for the first time since 1977 for the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka. The FIA announce change to engine regulations with turbos to have pop-off valves for the 1988 season, to reduce power, then to be banned in 1989 in favour of 3.5 litre naturally aspirated engines with a limit of 12 cylinders. Nelson Piquet wins his third world championship for Williams. Jonathan Palmer wins the Jim Clark Cup for naturally aspirated engined cars. 1988 Benetton and Williams lead the change to non-turbo engined cars. Nigel Mansell misses several races through illness.

Gerhard Berger takes an emotional win in the Italian Grand Prix at Monza - the only non-McLaren win of the season - shortly after Enzo Ferrari died, at the age of 90. Ayrton Senna's eighth win of the year at the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka is a new record for a driver in a single season. McLaren dominate, winning 15 of 16 races. Ayrton Senna wins his first world championship. 1989 Phillippe Strieff is crippled in a pre-season testing accident for AGS. Renault return to Formula One as engine suppliers to Williams. Formula One reaches a peak in involvement, with 39 cars competing for most of the season. Riccardo Patrese breaks Graham Hill and Jacques Laffite's record for most starts at the Brazilian Grand Prix. Former Ferrari and Honda driver Richie Ginther dies of a heart attack, at the age of 59. Alain Prost wins his third world championship after a controversial collision with his teammate Senna in Japan ensures Prost's title.

June 11th, 2014 Counting Down the Five Most Notable Monaco Grand Prix Winners of All Time The Monaco Grand Prix is, arguably, the world’s most famous Formula One racetrack, and as such, there is a special glamour attached to winning this particular race, a glamour thousands of young drivers dream about. The track is also the most challenging—with its variety of elevation changes and tight corners—so becoming one of the hallowed Monaco Grand Prix winners remains out of reach for all but the most skilled drivers. Since the race first joined the Formula One World Championship in 1950, only 32 men have won it, and of those, only 13 have won the race on two or more occasions. The following five drivers, listed in descending order, are particularly memorable for their incredible contributions to the world of car racing: 5. Mark Webber Mark Webber, a native of Australia, scored his first podium at Monaco in 2005, with his first win following in 2010, leading home a Red Bull one-two after qualifying on pole.

In 2012, he won his second Monaco Grand Prix after he inherited the pole from Michael Schumacher (who was given a penalty). Webber experienced a fourth podium in 2013, shortly before retiring. 4. Juan Manuel Fangio Fangio only raced four times at Monaco, yet he left an indelible mark, and still ranks highly among the other Monaco Grand Prix winners. Starting in 1950, Fangio recorded the first win of his F1 career at that year’s Monaco Grand Prix. Incredibly, he lapped the entire field (while qualifying on pole by a margin of 2.6 seconds), leading all 100 laps. In doing so, he achieved his and F1’s first “Grand Slam”. He was prevented from another very likely win in 1955 by an unlucky transmission failure, but returned again to win in 1957, before retiring the following season. Despite his short career, he remains the only F1 driver to have achieved a 100 percent record of poles and fastest laps in the Principality. 3. Jackie Stewart Jackie Stewart, a Scot, was an incredible driver often sabotaged by mechanical failure.

He started the Monaco Grand Prix eight times, and would most likely have won six of them, had his vehicles not broken down as often as they did. Despite the unreliability of the cars of that era, Stewart still went on to win a remarkable three times—in 1966, 1971, and 1973—with two Grand Slams. As far as Monaco Grand Prix winners go, he left a solid legacy despite the many challenges he faced. 2. Alain Prost During the near-decade that passed between 1984 and 1993, only two drivers won the Monaco Grand Prix ; Alain was one of them. Prost would go on to win the race an amazing four times, beginning in 1984, when the race was dramatically halted due to torrential rains. This marked the beginning of a winning streak; Prost won again in 1985 and in 1986 he recorded a Monaco “hat-trick” (pole, fastest lap, plus a win). He won yet again after Senna crashed in 1988. 1.

Ayrton Senna No one can argue the fact that Ayrton Senna’s record is outstanding; he raced just ten times, and won an incredible six—a feat no other driver has achieved. The Brazilian driver inherited his first lead in 1987 from Nigel Mansell, after the Brit suffered an engine failure. Then (after an unfortunate crash in 1988), he recorded five victories in a row (from 1989 to 1993), securing his place as the most successful Monaco winner in the history of Formula One. Most believe it quite unlikely that this figure will ever be matched, though of course, in Monaco, anything is possible… Please follow and like us: Mayfair to Monte Carlo Supercar Tour 21 - 30 May 2017 La Marée Restaurant Luxury Terrace Monaco Grand Prix Hospitality 2017 Abu Dhabi Trackside Superyacht 2016 25 - 27 November 2016 Formula 1's greatest drivers. Number 5: Alain Prost - BBC Sport BBC Sport Formula 1's greatest drivers.

Number 5: Alain Prost 9 Oct 2012 From the section Formula 1 Share this page Media playback is not supported on this device F1's greatest drivers - Number 5: Alain Prost This year, BBC Sport is profiling 20 of the greatest Formula 1 drivers of all time. The BBC F1 team were asked to provide their own personal top 20s, which were combined to produce a BBC list. Veteran commentator Murray Walker provides his own reflections in a video of their career highlights, and chief F1 writer Andrew Benson profiles the driver. This week, number five - Alain Prost. Alain Prost drove like poetry and was an integral part of one of the greatest rivalries sport has ever known. The diminutive, curly-haired Frenchman won four world championships and, had fate taken a different turn, it could easily have been him who reached the magic seven long before Michael Schumacher did. That's quite a career. Yet to this day Prost is to a degree undervalued, dismissed as a calculating figure who played the percentages and when it came to ultimate speed was a poor second best to Ayrton Senna.

Alain Prost Wins: 51 (106 podium finishes) If Senna was still alive, though, he would almost certainly dispute that picture of Prost. It was Prost's outstanding talent against which the great Brazilian measured himself. It was Prost's deceptive speed that pushed Senna to such heights. It was Prost who beat Senna on equal terms more than anyone else - his career win ratio is actually slightly higher. If Senna was the greatest racing driver of all time, as many believe, Prost got closer to him than any contemporary. Where Senna was all-action, high-octane attack, Prost was understatement itself. Out on the track, he hardly ever seemed to be trying. He used so little of the road; the car was hardly ever out of shape, his driving silky smooth and ultra-precise. He turned in early on the brakes, exquisitely balancing the car to the apex, allowing him to get on the power early and come off the corner like a rocket. And it was all done with an apparent ease and economy of effort that made you think anyone could do it. The stopwatch, though, told a different story.

John Watson, Keke Rosberg, Jean Alesi, Damon Hill - all former team-mates who were left shaking their heads in admiration at how Prost took their car to limits beyond their reach. Even Nigel Mansell found him tough to handle when they were at Ferrari together in 1990. But it was Prost's incredible rivalry with Senna that has come to define his career. Their battle for supremacy, as McLaren team-mates in 1988-9 and after Prost moved to Ferrari in 1990, drove both men to new highs and new lows, and Formula 1 to an intensity it has never reached before or since. As they waged war on and off the track, both men were visibly out of their comfort zones. They pushed each other to the limit and beyond. It was frightening - and exhilarating - to watch. Alain Prost (centre) celebrates winning the South African Grand prix in January 1982 Only a driver of the very highest calibre could have done this to Senna, and Prost was undoubtedly that.

By the time these two mega-talents collided at McLaren in 1988, Prost was comfortably established as the man to beat in F1. He already had two world titles and should have had more. His first, won in dominant style in 1985 once the challenge of Ferrari and Michele Alboreto faded after mid-season, was long overdue. Had Renault's reliability not been so lamentable in 1982, Prost would have cruised to the title, once Ferrari's Gilles Villeneuve was killed early in the year. In 1983, he was in a seemingly unbeatable position with four races remaining, only for Renault's challenge to fade in the face of an onslaught by Brabham-BMW and Nelson Piquet, helped by a potent - and controversial - new fuel. And Prost should have won easily following a move to McLaren in 1984. He took seven wins; team-mate Niki Lauda five, four of which came after Prost suffered reliability problems while running ahead, the fifth after similar issues forced him to start from the pit lane. Prost lost out by half a point.

The mid-1980s was F1's first turbo era, which from '84 came with a fuel limit, and Prost's driving was perfectly tailored to the demands of the time. Time and again, he would start the race unobtrusively, saving fuel and tyres, sitting calmly some way back from the lead, only to turn it on as mid-race approached. Suddenly, the TV screens would light up with a succession of fastest laps by Prost. Then, the pit stops done, he would emerge in the lead and in control of the race. Prost underlined his position as the best all-round driver in F1 with probably his greatest championship victory in 1986. Faced with the faster Williams-Hondas of Mansell and Nelson Piquet, Prost drove a perfect season to steal the title from under their noses in the final race of one of the most exciting seasons in history. But as he climbed out of his car after taking the chequered flag in Adelaide that year, his joy visible even at some distance through the narrow aperture of his helmet, a threat to his position at the sport's pinnacle was already on the horizon.

Senna was emerging as the fastest driver on the planet and he had Prost in his sights. Alain Prost driving the McLaren Honda during the British Grand Prix at Silverstone in 1989 For 1988, McLaren had got hold of the coveted Honda engines, and when team boss Ron Dennis was looking for a partner for Prost, the Frenchman counselled against Piquet, thinking he would be disruptive, but gave his blessing to Senna. The irony in that stance will escape no-one, for nothing could have been more disruptive to the intra-team harmony at McLaren than the force of nature that was Senna. Two huge talents, both intensely competitive, highly intelligent and politically astute. It was always going to be trouble. Senna went to McLaren with the aim of crushing Prost and while he was unquestionably the better driver in their two years at McLaren, so too there were times when Prost beat him fair and square. Jo Ramirez, the team co-ordinator at McLaren at the time, sums up the rivalry by saying that Senna was faster in a less-than-perfect car, which is what F1 cars most often are.

But on the occasional days when Prost managed to get his set-up just to his liking, not even Senna could touch him. The relationship between the two men, always cool, was tolerable for much of 1988, but it took a turn for the worse after Senna barged Prost within inches of the pit wall while the Frenchman was passing him for the lead in Portugal. Senna went on to win the title, taking some of the tension out of the pairing, but it broke down completely at Imola in early 1989, when Senna ignored a pre-race agreement not to fight into the first corner. Mid-season, Prost announced his intention to leave - and he took with him to Ferrari the world title. He won because of poorer reliability on Senna's car, and after the Brazilian was disqualified in dubious circumstances following a collision between the two men in Japan. The rivalry - with intensity undimmed and Senna fuming at the injustice - continued into 1990. They fought another close title battle, which was settled for the second year running in a crash at Suzuka- this one, unlike that in 1989, undoubtedly Senna's fault.

But in 1991 Ferrari went off the boil, failing to win a race and, in one of their less intelligent decisions, Prost was sacked before the end of the year after likening the car to a "truck" in an interview. With no drives available, he took a forced sabbatical in 1992, but returned with Williams in 1993. Now 38, and driving only as fast as he needed to, he still dominated the season, winning seven races and taking 13 pole positions. Prost had a two-year contract, but when Senna signed for 1994 Prost decided he did not want to go through all that again and announced his retirement. His five-year tenure as a team boss best forgotten, Prost leaves behind memories of a man who drove like an angel, won more races than anyone in history bar Schumacher, and who pushed arguably the greatest racing driver of all time beyond his limits. That's a legacy that deserves the utmost respect.

Alain Prost | Formula One Art & Genius Formula One Art & Genius Search for: Alain Prost Frenchman Alain Prost was a four-time F1 world champion — three times in the turbocharged McLaren-Honda of the mid-1980s — but his legacy may forever remain in the shadow of teammates Niki Lauda and Ayrton Senna. Williams-Renault FW15C 1993 The diminutive, curly-haired Frenchman drove like poetry and, had fate taken a different turn, could easily have reached the magic seven long before Michael Schumacher later did. Alain Prost, nicknamed “The Professor,” won four F1 World Championships, missed another by a margin of just 1/2 point (to Niki Lauda in 1984) and, until finally bested by Schumacher in the 2002 season, posted the most race wins of any Formula One driver in history. Prost’s scientific, methodical approach to racing set him apart from many of his contemporaries, and led to a series of magnificent duels with his teammate and arch-rival Aryton Senna .

Alain progressed through motor sport’s junior ranks, winning the French and European Formula 3 championships, before joining the McLaren F1 team in 1980 at the age of 25. He finished in the points on his Formula One debut and took his 1st GP victory at his home race in France a year later (by a mere 2.3s over John Watson), while with Renault’s factory team. Prost may not have had the intensity of Senna or the outright domination of Schumacher. He wasn’t a prodigy like Lewis Hamilton or a grand old man like Juan Manuel Fangio . But there is no doubt in the minds of those who study and follow the sport’s rich history that this pilot was one of the most phenomenal drivers to have graced a Formula One race track. In 1988, his first season as a teammate to Aryton Senna with McLaren, Prost won seven GPs and outscored Senna by 11 points, despite Senna winning one more race than Prost. However, only the 11 best results from the season counted toward the World Championship total, giving Senna the title by three points.

Prost went on to be a proponent of essentially the 90’s scoring system — all race results counting for the season standings and with a GP winner scoring 10, not 9, points. Aside from the now-infamous contretemps with Senna at Suzuka that decided the 1989 and 1990 World Championships. perhaps Prost’s single most memorable moment was in 1991 — after moving to Ferrari — when he publicly described the Scuderia’s ’91 car as a “truck,” was rather unceremoniously sacked and thence took a year-long “sabbatical” from racing. The action photo below is from the Canadian GP in Prost’s final Formula One season (a race the F1A&G webmaster attended with his ex-wife and then two-year old son) when Alain came out of retirement to take over Nigel Mansell’s seat at Williams and drove the brilliant FW15C, the last of the “active I always work the same way, starting from the beginning of the weekend, so I know at the beginning of the race, from all that I have analysed during the practice, whether I will win the race or not.

— Alain Prost — suspension” F1 cars, to a dominating championship. His victory was overshadowed to a large extent, however, by the extraordinary performance of Senna in a less-competitive McLaren, including dazzling wins in several wet races that confirmed Senna’s status as the “rain master.” Prost retired from F1 after the 1993 season, made a brief reconciliation with Senna just prior to the Brazilian’s untimely 1994 death, and returned to Grand Prix racing in the 1997 season by purchasing the famed French Team Ligier, renamed Prost GP. The Prosts never proved particularly competitive, owing in part to the massive development costs and technical challenge of modern F1 specifications, but in that regard Prost for several years shared the back of the F1 grid with Jaguar Racing (formerly Stewart Grand Prix), the offspring of another famed Formula One World Champion, Jackie Stewart . Prost GP failed after the 1992 season, being unable to raise enough sponsorship to keep the team afloat — with Prost himself describing it as as a disaster for France. Alain currently resides in Nyon, Switzerland.

Alain Prost’s Career Profile Seasons Alain Prost - Biography - IMDb Alain Prost Jump to: Overview (4) | Mini Bio (1) | Spouse (1) | Trivia (5) | Personal Quotes (25) Overview (4) 5' 5" (1.65 m) Mini Bio (1) Alain Prost was born on February 24, 1955 in Lorette, nr. Saint-Chamond, Loire, France as Alain Marie Pascal Prost. He is married to Anne-Marie Prost. They have two children. Spouse (1) (19?? - present) (2 children) Trivia (5) 4 times World Champion of Formula One (1985, 1986, 1989 and 1993), he was also 4 times at the second place (1983, 1984, 1988 and 1990) and won 51 Grand Prix. Has his look-alike puppet in the French show Les guignols de l'info (1988).

His driving style was so perfect that he was often regarded as being dull to watch! His son, Nicolas Prost, is also a racing driver. Has supported Nicolas Sarkozy's 2007 presidential campaign. Personal Quotes (25) Does it scare me, driving into nothing at 300kph? - Of course it does - I'm not an idiot... I'm brave to say that I won't take this sort of risk. That is an important part of my success. Another big part of my success is that I hated not to finish a race. One of my biggest problems this season was with the clutch at the start of the race. I hate to risk the car. I was looking at the history of the sport and I couldn't understand why there have been so many good South American drivers, especially Brazilians. When I look fast, I'm not smooth and I am going slowly. And when I look slow, I am smooth and going fast. It's not too good to have this attitude in F1. It could be a disadvantage. The people who criticize you will not be the ones taking care of your legs when you are in your wheelchair.

People who never drove a car in these conditions, they just don't know. Maybe I am not French, maybe I am from nowhere. I have had some problems because the French don't like people to have success, they don't like the number one. I think maybe the English don't want to try something and look stupid, because they are a bit reserved. Without going to what I think is my limit. I always say that my ideal is to get pole with the minimum effort, and to win the race at the slowest speed possible. When I test I never go right to the limit. Only because when you are below the limit you can go at the same speed all day, and that's the only way you can be absolutely sure about what you are testing. You want to have fun but you also want to work well. Sometimes I was quite happy at Ferrari, because we would have fun, but then they could not stop having fun and go back to the real work. You can't always have the best team. It's always a compromise. People don't understand that it was maybe my biggest pleasure to drive an F1 car when it's wet. Do you know, why I really love my helmet that much?

Because it makes me 15 centimeters taller! It's always better to speak the language of the team. Not only for the direct contact with everyone - sometimes it also helps you to understand the mentality of the people in the team a bit better. I have no problem with the people who work hard to get success. But I think people are very jealous about success. I work very hard and they don't appreciate that. I don't like to go over curbs, because I don't want to be hard on the car. When you win a race like this the feeling is very, very good. Sometimes I think I could have got some better results if I had a different mentality; if I could have pushed hard and attacked. But then I would have had a good chance of making a mistake. In 1980 I finished three or four times in seventh place. I always work the same way, starting from the beginning of the weekend, so I know at the beginning of the race, from all that I have analyzed during the practice, whether I will win the race or not. When you win a race like this the feeling is very, very good.

There have been times when I have been flat-out to finish sixth, but you can't see that from the outside. In 1980 I finished three or four times in seventh place. I pushed like mad, yet everyone was gathered around the winner and they were thinking that I was just trundling around. But that's motor racing. So in fact the only thing you can judge in this sport is the long term. You can judge a career or a season, but not one race. See also The Italian Grand Prix - did you know? The Italian Grand Prix - did you know? Share Did you know that the victor at Monza has gone on to win the FIA Formula One World Championship in three of the last four years? Or that Sebastian Vettel could potentially win with his third different team this weekend - a feat only one other man in history has achieved at Monza? We take a look at the most fascinating stats and trivia ahead of this weekend's Formula 1 Gran Premio d'Italia 2015...

Monza's old banking is one of the venue's most iconic features, but it was only used in four world championship races - 1955, 1956, 1960, 1961 No circuit has played host to Formula One racing more than Monza. The Italian circuit was on the inaugural 1950 calendar and has been a mainstay ever since, only dropping off for one year (in 1980, when Imola filled in). As a result, Monza will host an unparalleled 65th Grand Prix this weekend. During that time, the circuit layout and length has changed several times, most notably in the mid-50s and early 60s when the famous banking was utilised as part of a 10km layout. The current 5.793-km version has been in use since 2000. As well as being the most used venue, Monza is also the fastest circuit on the F1 calendar. Michael Schumacher completed the fastest ever race in 2003, averaging a staggering 247km/h (153mph).

The fastest lap meanwhile was set by Rubens Barrichello in 2004 - a 1m 21.046s, which equates to a breath-taking 257km/h (159mph) average. The Brazilian was able to claim the second of three wins at Monza that weekend, which puts him an equal-third in the all-time win lists (alongside Juan Manuel Fangio, Stirling Moss, Ronnie Peterson, Alain Prost and Sebastian Vettel). Michael Schumacher leads the way with five victories, while Nelson Piquet claimed four. Fernando Alonso's victory for Ferrari in 2010 sparked wild post-race celebrations Vettel could make history this weekend though: having won previously with Toro Rosso (2008) and Red Bull (2011, 2013), he could prevail with a third different team. Only one other man in history has achieved that at Monza - Stirling Moss, who triumphed in 1956 (Maserati), 1957 (Vanwall) and 1959 (Rob Walker Racing).

Of the other drivers on the grid this year, only two have tasted victory at Monza - Fernando Alonso, who stood atop the podium in 2007 and 2010, and Lewis Hamilton, who did likewise in 2012 and 2014. Kimi Raikkonen meanwhile is a notable absentee on the victors list. The Finn has started on pole at the Italian venue (in 2006), has led 26 laps in total, and has also set the fastest lap on a record-equalling three occasions (2005, 2006 and 2008), but victory continues to elude him. History suggests that a Hamilton victory this weekend is unlikely - the last time a driver took back-to-back wins at Monza was 1993/94, when Damon Hill and Williams proved too strong. The Briton is in rarefied company - only six other drivers have won in consecutive years in Italy, with Nelson Piquet (1986/87) the only other driver to have done so in the last three decades.

A look through the record books also suggests Saturday has an exaggerated importance at Monza, with the polesitter going on to triumph in eight of the last ten races. Since 1950, in contrast, the polesitter has won in just 21 of the 64 races. Ludovico Scarfiotti, here fending off Jim Clark, remains the last Italian to win his home Grand Prix back in 1966 Monza can also lay claim to producing the closest finish in F1 history: the slipstreaming classic of 1971. Peter Gethin was the man who prevailed, at the head of a six-car train covered by just 0.61s at the chequered flag (see main image). Ronnie Peterson in second was classified as being just 0.01s behind Gethin as the pair crossed the line. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Ferrari have claimed more victories (18) than any other team at their home race. McLaren (10), Williams (6) and Lotus (5) are next up. Of that trio, McLaren were the most recent winners through Hamilton in 2012.

Williams' last win was in 2001 via Juan Pablo Montoya, while Lotus last triumphed in 1977, with Mario Andretti at the wheel. In total, 83 Italians have started a Grand Prix - and from that group three have triumphed on home soil. Alberto Ascari managed the feat twice in 1951 and '52; Nino Farina once, in 1950; while Ludovico Scarfiotti was the last home winner all the way back in 1966. The last Italian-born driver to win at Monza was Mario Andretti in 1977, but he of course competed for the USA. Back to the present day, both Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton can edge closer to making history this weekend. Mercedes are chasing their 23rd consecutive pole position, which would leave them just one shy of Williams' all-time mark of 24, set over the 1992/93 campaigns. Hamilton meanwhile could book a 19th straight front row start.

Only one driver sits above him - Ayrton Senna, who racked up an amazing 24 front-row starts between 1988 and '89. Recommended The Monaco Grand Prix - did you know? The Monaco Grand Prix - did you know? Share Did you know that Monaco's hairpin is the slowest, tightest corner on the calendar? Or that Rubens Barrichello has recorded the most podiums in the Principality without a win? We bring you all the need-to-know stats, facts and trivia ahead of the Formula 1 Grand Prix de Monaco 2015 … Graham Hill earned the nickname 'Mr Monaco' thanks to his five victories in the Principality Monaco hosted the second round of the inaugural Formula One World Championship in 1950, the race being won by Juan Manuel Fangio in an Alfa Romeo. However, there was then a four-year gap before Formula One racing returned to Monte Carlo in 1955. The Monaco Grand Prix has remained on the calendar ever since, with only Monza having played host to more races.

Although the basic layout of the circuit has remained the same since the inaugural world championship race in 1950, several revisions have been made over the years, most notably in 1973 when the building of a swimming pool on the harbour front necessitated the use of a new section. The current final corners, La Rascasse and Anthony Noghes, were introduced in the same year in place of the Gasworks hairpin. The circuit will be revised again for the 2015 race - very slightly. Minor realignment of Turns 12-14 (Tabac to the Swimming Pool) means this year’s lap will be 3m shorter than in 2014. As a result, Michael Schumacher’s lap record, which has stood since 2004, will change hands on Sunday. Ayrton Senna secured his fifth Monaco win by the smallest margin in history - 0.215s An extraordinary amount of equipment is required to turn Monaco’s ordinary roads into a fully-fledged race circuit.

Included in that list is 33 kilometres of safety rails, 20,000 square metres of wire catch fencing, 3,600 tyres for tyre barriers and 1,100 tonnes of grandstand seating for spectators. Some 650 marshals are also stationed around the track on a race weekend. Graham Hill was nicknamed ‘Mr Monaco’ for his five victories in the Principality, but it’s Ayrton Senna who holds the record for the most wins in Monte Carlo - six, including five consecutive victories from 1989 to 1993. Of course, were it not for an uncharacteristic crash at Portier 12 laps from the end of the 1988 race the great Brazilian would have seven victories to his name. Having finished second in 1984 and third in 1986, Senna also holds the record for most Monaco podiums with eight. Nico Rosberg is going for his third successive Monaco win in this year’s race. The only other drivers to have won three or more in a row are Senna, Alain Prost and Graham Hill.

Fernando Alonso is the only other multiple Monaco winner on the current grid, having won in 2006 and 2007. Kimi Raikkonen, Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button and Sebastian Vettel have all won once. In terms of manufacturers, no one has been as dominant in Monaco as McLaren, who have triumphed at the street track on 15 occasions. By contrast Ferrari have taken eight wins, but considerably more overall podium finishes (48 to McLaren’s 26). Victory this year would make Nico Rosberg only the fourth man in history to win at Monaco three or more times in a row Alonso’s 2007 win was achieved at an average speed of 155.551km/h (96.654 mph) - the fastest winning speed in Monaco history. The slowest winning speed - 98.700 km/h (61.329 mph) - came at the first race in 1950, though in the same event Juan Manuel Fangio recorded the joint biggest winning margin in Monaco history - one whole lap.

Graham Hill and Denny Hulme also won by a lap, in 1964 and 1967 respectively. The smallest winning margin came in 1992 when Ayrton Senna beat Nigel Mansell by just 0.215s. Rubens Barrichello holds the record for the most Monaco podiums without a win - five. Double world champion Jim Clark holds the record for most Monaco pole positions without winning the race - four. And Nigel Mansell holds the record for the most laps led in Monaco without ever winning - 104. Michael Schumacher - a five-time Monaco winner - holds the record for the most laps led in the Principality - 435. As overtaking is so difficult at Monaco, it’s perhaps unsurprising that nine of the past ten races have been won from pole position (the only outlier being Lewis Hamilton’s win from third on the grid in 2008). However, pole hasn’t always been so important at the venue - in fact, the pole sitter has only emerged victorious 28 times in 61 races.

Olivier Beretta is one of just two Monegasque drivers to have raced in F1 Olivier Panis holds the record for winning from the lowest grid slot, having triumphed from 14th on the grid in 1996. The same race featured the lowest number of cars running at the flag - just four. Panis incidentally is one of three drivers whose only career wins came at Monaco. The other two are Jean-Pierre Beltoise (1972) and Jarno Trulli (2004). Two drivers have represented Monaco in Formula One history - Olivier Beretta and Louis Chiron. Chiron took his one and only F1 podium finish on home soil in 1950, finishing third behind Fangio and Alberto Ascari. Aged 50, he remains the second oldest F1 podium finisher. At 3.34 km, Monaco is not only the shortest circuit on the calendar, it can also boast the sport’s slowest, tightest corner. Turn 6 - the hairpin - is taken at around 50 km/h (31 mph) and requires the drivers to apply maximum steering lock in order to make it around.

Not surprisingly given the nature of the circuit, the safety car tends to make frequent appearances in Monaco. In fact, ten of the last 15 races have featured one or more safety-car periods. Last year there were two, both the result of collisions: the first when Sergio Perez spin and collided with Adrian Sutil and Romain Grosjean, and the second when Sutil lost control coming out of the tunnel and crashed at the chicane. Recommended Interview > Alain Prost > F1 Features - Grandprix.com Grandprix.com MARCH 1, 1997 BY JOE SAWARD Alain Prost is the most successful Grand Prix driver of all time. He won 51 of the 199 Grands Prix which he contested. He has scored more World Championship points than any driver in Formula 1 history, his total of 798.5 points being more than 180 points ahead of his nearest challenger, the late Ayrton Senna .

He won four World Championship - one less than Juan-Manuel Fangio - but he finished runner-up by a small margin on three occasions: by two points in 1983; by a half a point in 1984 and in 1988 he actually managed to score nine points more than Ayrton Senna but the Brazilian won the World Championship because Alain had to drop points because of the F1 scoring system at the time. His F1 career came to a close at the end of 1993 when he was dropped by Williams, which wanted to take Senna instead. Now, at 42, Alain Prost has bought the Ligier team - renamed it Prost Grand Prix - and is planning a new career as a team owner. In fact it is 10 years since Alain first said that he would one day like to run his own racing team. He looked at seriously late in 1989 when he left McLaren and had serious discussions with his friend and mentor Hugues de Chaunac and with John Barnard , the chief designer at from McLaren for much of the six years when Prost was with the team.

After he left Ferrari at the end of 1991 he had talks about buying Ligier and indeed a deal was agreed on condition that Renault would agree to a five-year engine supply deal with Alain. Renault refused. At the end of 1993 Alain retired from F1 - forced out by Williams which had decided to sign a deal with Ayrton Senna instead. For a year or so Prost seemed to be struggling for motivation. He tested for the McLaren-Peugeot team but decided not to race. He signed up to be a commentator with French television and as a special ambassador for Renault . He didn't seem to know where he was going in the long-term. "I have always done a lot of things outside F1," he explains. "I cannot just stay at home and just play sport or go cycling. I have to work. I have done a lot of things outside F1 - in business. Some are working very well but I did not have the same interest and passion. I don't really care about them.

When you are 40 - which is still very young - and you are looking for something to do I decided it was best to do something in the environment I knew best, which was F1. It was a challenge but it is my passion." And so Alain tried once again to get Renault to agree to an engine deal. Once again Renault bosses said "Non". The French government had just changed but Renault was preparing for privatization. Frustrated, Alain terminated his agreement with Renault and went to work as a consultant for the McLaren Mercedes team. At the same time he continued to work to try to convince Peugeot to join his planned team. This time he was successful and on February 13 this year he signed a deal to buy Ligier and the following day announced a three-year deal with Peugeot. Prost has been working hard in recent months to put the deal together and he reckons that he is very different man to the one who retired from F1 at the end of 1993. "If I had been in the same situation three or four years ago as I was a few weeks ago, I don't think I would have been able to do the deal," he admits. "I am a different person now.

Before I was too much of a racing driver in my head. The mentality of a driver is very different to that of a team owner and it takes a long time to change. "The big difference is that as a driver you always have the choice to change. You have a lot of freedom. If the car you are driving is no good you can always change the next year. If you are the team owner you have to think about the long-term future. A driver has to be competitive all the time. Now I am not a driver and I know that I am going to have to work hard to be successful as a team owner." McLaren boss Ron Dennis and Renault boss Patrick Faure both used to say that they never thought Alain would ever be a team owner because there was far too much involved in the job. When reminded of that, Alain smiles. "I don't know about Ron," he says, "but maybe the others who said that were a little bit scared by me. They know me and they know that if I am motivated I will work very hard. Maybe they said that because they were afraid because I work harder than they do! "Really I do not care what people say. I have my reputation as a racing driver.

I could stay at home and not risk my reputation, but that is not the way I look at life. If I am not a good team owner how is that going to change my life? I always knew that it would be very very difficult. You always have more problems than you thought. Every day you get bad news and good news is not normal. That is the way it is. That is part of the challenge. The team is small, the facilities are small, the budget is small compared to the others, but the package we have is working well. The package is right. To be comparable with Williams, Benetton or McLaren is going to take a lot of time. The most important thing is that we know that it is important not to think that all you need to do to be like Williams and McLaren is to add 100 more people. This is not the right thing to do. I know what I want to do but I do not know if I m going to be able to do it the way I want because of money and timing. That is part of the challenge and that is what I like. My mission is to put together a strong team. That could take one year, two years or three years.

I want it to happen as soon as possible. Right now we have a good relationship with the people from Honda and from Bridgestone; our aerodynamic department is working well; the weight distribution of the car was done considering the tyres we would be using, all these small things add up. We are not miles off the pace. The package is working well." Pre-season testing was very impressive and the team went to Australia with the world expecting great things from Olivier Panis . He finished fifth, the first Bridgestone runner, a minute behind the winner after nearly 60 laps. One second a lap behind. It did not live up to the expectations but the impressive thing for those in the know was that Bridgestone had had to design tyres without any data about the levels of grip at the Melbourne circuit. It will be a similar story in Brazil and Argentina but when the F1 circus returns to Europe we can expect to see the Bridgestone tyres becoming more competitive. "A lot of people in the world may say Prost should now be a winning team and if we do not win they will be disappointed," says Alain, "but I prefer this risk than people having no expectations at all!

The other danger is that the team is very competitive as it is and now I am saying I want to change it to be a winning team. It is difficult to tell people that you have to change. I don't want to change the team, but I want to improve some weak points and make the whole thing better." The way Grand Prix racing is these days, changes have to be made a long time in advance before one sees the results of the work. Is Alain planning some fast decisions? "I think it is going to be a step by step process. I know some things that I am going to do but I cannot tell you at the moment." There is a lot of talk about the team being moved from Magny-Cours. Does Alain think it is possible to run a competitive racing team these days from a small town in the middle of nowhere? "That is the key question at the moment. I cannot tell you 100%. I would be tempted to say no but on the other hand there are some advantages. Formula 1 is always like that. I want to see a little bit more before I decide. If I want to change, however, we will have to do it as quickly as possible before the team grows too much.

Whatever happens I will definitely keep it in France." Back in 1989 when Prost first talked seriously about running a team he aimed to go into partnership with John Barnard . Will he be involved? "It is my job to consider everything that will improve the team and, for sure, I am talking to John. There is no question about that. But I am talking to other people. At the same time I do not want to upset what I already have. There may be different solutions to the kind of thing he was doing at Benetton and at Ferrari. Whatever I have always been close to John and we never had any problems and I have always felt that he was motivated to work with me again. "He understands F1 very well. I have read some not very good articles about him and Ferrari recently and I do not think they are very fair." The intention, therefore, is not to have a French national racing team? "It is impossible to have a French national team or a 100% French team. It would be too political. I kept reading things about this in the press when I was negotiating to take over the team. It was very difficult for me because I had to be discreet.

It is my team and my aim is to have a winning French team, based in France, but not a 100% French team. I want it to be international and some of the sponsors are not going to be French." But there ahs still been a lot of help from the French government? "It is a helped to have the French government motivated being by Grand Prix racing. They know how important sport is in France. I don't know if it is the same in other countries. They did some opinion polls this year asking what people thought were the important things and the result was unbelievable - they said sporting results! People like to win and, sure, there are a lot of problems in France at the moment, but there is no reason why we should not have a strong F1 team. If you have the country and the government behind you that is important. F1 is good to show the world about French high technology and French car companies. It is important. But I do not like to ask for things. I like to be very independent.

I know if I need to ask I can do it but I also know I will be able to do it if the government changes." Alain's recent experience as an advisor to McLaren and his six years with the team - during which he won three World titles - would suggest that he is likely to base Prost Grand Prix on the way McLaren works. Did he learn a lot working there in 1996? "Sure. Really a lot. Even if the car was not the best last year the team is still an example for everyone. When I talk to the guys in my team I often talk about McLaren and show them that Ron's team has something." Now, however, Alain is out to beat his former employers Dennis, Frank Williams and Ferrari. "The objective is to beat the best team - whoever that is. The aim is to progress quickly to become a winning team which is competitive every year. You never know whether you will be World Champion or not because sometimes you don't have exactly what you need but you are at least competitive. That means that every year you need the right budget and the right technical things." It all sounds very logical.

But are there not times when Alain feels that he would like to get back into an F1 car and drive it - if only to help the team develop, as he did with McLaren. "I've thought about it," he smiles, "but I have no time. And if you have no time, you do not have the right attitude to do it properly and if you do not do it properly it is bad. If you want to be competitive you need to do a lot of mileage." So, it seems, we have seen the last of Alain Prost the racing driver. But that does not mean we've seen the last of Alain Prost in F1...

Question: Which Grand Prix did Alain Prost win 5 times in the 80’s
Answer: Brazilian