Alain Prost Net Worth | Celebrity Net Worth Alain Prost Net Worth Alain Prost net worth: $50 Million Alain Prost Net Worth: Alain Prost is a French race car driver who has a net worth of $50 million. Alain Pascal prost was born in Lorette, Loire, France in February 1955. Prost is a four time Formula One Driver's Champion. His 51 held the record for most Grand Prix victories from 1987 to 2001. Alain was awarded the World Sports Awards of the Century for the motor sport category in 1999. At 14 Alain discovered karting. He competed in junior ranks and won the French and European Formula Three championships. In 1980 at 24 he joined the McLaren Formula One racing team. A year later he won his first race at the Grand Prix in France for the Renault team. He was known for a fierce rivalry with driver Ayrton Senna which included controversial clashes. Prost was fired from Ferrari after criticizing his team in public. He took 1992 off but joined the Williams team in 1993.

He won the 1993 championship and then retired from Formula One. He took over the French Liger team in 1997 and ran it as Prost Grand Prix until 2002 when it went bankrupt. He now competes in the Andros Trophy, and ice racing championship. He completed the Absa Cape Epic race in 2012 and 2013. Alain is married to Anne-Marie and the couple has two songs together. He was awarded the Legion d'Honneur by President Francois Mitterrand. Alain Prost | The F1 History Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia Final Grand Prix 1993 Australian Grand Prix Alain Marie Pascal Prost, (born 24 February 1955 in Lorette, Loire) is a retired French racing driver. A four-time Formula One Drivers' Champion, Prost has won more titles than any driver except for Juan Manuel Fangio (five championships), Michael Schumacher (seven championships) and Sebastian Vettel (equal with four championships). From 1987 until 2001 Prost held the record for most Grand Prix victories.

In 1997, Prost took over the French Ligier team, running it as Prost Grand Prix until it went bankrupt in 2002. Prost employed a smooth, relaxed style behind the wheel, deliberately modeling himself on personal heroes like Jackie Stewart and Jim Clark . He was nicknamed "The Professor" for his intellectual approach to competition. Contents Edit Born near the town of Saint-Chamond, Prost originally considered entering numerous sports, including professional football and gym instruction, but discovered karting at the age of 14. He won several karting championships in his teens, before he left school in 1974 to become a full-time racer. he supported himself by tuning engines and becoming a kart distributor. His prize for winning the 1975 French senior karting championship was a season in French Formula Renault , a category in which he won the title and all but one race in 1976. Prost then went on to win the 1977 Formula Renault European championship before moving up to Formula Three in 1978. In 1979 he won both the French and European F3 championships, by which time he was wanted by several Formula One teams.

After carefully considering his options, he chose to sign with McLaren for 1980 . He surprised the British team by declining their offer of a race seat in a third car at the final race of the 1979 season at Watkins Glen — reasoning that it would benefit neither him or the team. Prost competing in Formula Three during 1979. Edit Prost began his career with McLaren (being run by Teddy Mayer ) in 1980 alongside Ulsterman John Watson . On his debut in Buenos Aires he finished in sixth place earning one point, something achieved by only a handful of drivers. Prost added four more points to his tally during the season, scoring points at Interlagos , Brands Hatch and Zandvoort . Prost finished the year 15th in the drivers' championship, equalling points with former world champion Emerson Fittipaldi . Despite the encouraging debut season, Prost had several accidents, breaking his wrist during practice at Kyalami and suffering a concussion during practice at Watkins Glen . At the end of the season, despite having two years remaining on his contract, he left McLaren and signed with Renault .

Prost has said that he left because of the large number of breakages on the car and because he felt the team blamed him for some of the accidents. Prost at the 1980 Dutch GP Edit Prost was partnered with fellow Frenchman René Arnoux for 1981 . Motor sports author Nigel Roebuck reports that there were problems between Prost and Arnoux from the start of the season, Prost being immediately quicker than his more experienced teammate. He did not finish the first two Grands Prix, due to collisions with Andrea de Cesaris in Long Beach and Siegfried Stohr in Jacarepaguá , but scored his first podium finish in Argentina . He retired in the next four races before winning his first Formula One race at his home Grand Prix in France , finishing two seconds ahead of his old teammate John Watson. For Prost, his debut victory was memorable mostly for the change it made in his mindset. "Before, you thought you could do it," he said. "Now you know you can." Prost won two more races during the season, took his first pole position in Germany and finished on the podium every time he completed a race distance.

He finished fifth in the drivers' championship, seven points behind champion Nelson Piquet . Prost at the 1981 French GP, his first victory Edit Prost won the first two Grands Prix of the 1982 season in South Africa , where Prost recovered from losing a wheel, and Brazil . He finished in the points on four other occasions, but did not win again. Despite retiring from seven races, Prost improved on his drivers' championship position, finishing in fourth, but with nine fewer points than the previous year. His relationship with Arnoux deteriorated further after the French Grand Prix . Prost believes that Arnoux, who won the race, went back on a pre-race agreement to support Prost during the race. His relationship with the French media was also poor. He has since commented that "When I went to Renault the journalists wrote good things about me, but by 1982 I had become the bad guy. I think, to be honest, I had made the mistake of winning!

The French don't really like winners." Despite a puncture Prost won the 1982 South African GP Edit Arnoux left Renault in 1983 , and American Eddie Cheever replaced him as Prost's partner. Prost earned a further four victories for Renault during the season and finished second in the drivers' championship, two points behind Nelson Piquet. Piquet and the Brabham team overhauled Prost and Renault in the last few races of the season. Prost, who felt the team had been too conservative in developing the car, found himself increasingly at odds with Renault's management, who made him the scapegoat for failing to win a championship. In addition to that, the French fans recalled the bitter fight that had caused their favourite, Arnoux, to leave the team. Renault fired Prost only two days after the last race of the season . He re-signed for McLaren for the 1984 season within days and moved his family home to Switzerland.

Prost at the 1983 Austrian GP, Equipe Renault's last victory Edit The Frenchman joined double world champion Niki Lauda at McLaren (now being run by Ron Dennis ) in 1984 , driving the McLaren MP4/2 using TAG-Porsche engines. He lost the world championship to Lauda in the final race by half a point, despite winning seven races to Lauda's five. The half point came from the Monaco Grand Prix , where Prost had been leading, albeit with Ayrton Senna and Stefan Bellof closing on him rapidly, when officials stopped the race at half distance due to heavy rain, which was controversial as the red flag was produced as Senna overtook Prost. Under Formula One regulations, Prost received only half of the nine points normally awarded for a victory. Prost at the 1984 Dutch GP Edit Niki Lauda retired for good at the end of 1985, and was replaced at McLaren by 1982 Champion Keke Rosberg for 1986 .

Prost successfully defended his title, despite his car struggling against the Honda -powered Williams cars driven by Nelson Piquet and Nigel Mansell , possibly due to the in-fighting at Williams. Until the latter stages of the final race of the 1986 season, the Australian Grand Prix , Prost appeared set to finish second in the Championship, behind Mansell. Prost had the same amount of wins as Piquet, but he had four second places to Piquet's three, thus placing him second before the final race. While running third behind Piquet and Prost (all he needed to win the title), Mansell suffered a tyre failure at high speed, and crashed out. The Williams team called his teammate Piquet in to change tyres as a safety precaution, handing the race victory — and Championship — to Prost, who had already pitted . Another memorable race that year for Prost was at the San Marino Grand Prix . He was cruising to victory when his car began to run out of fuel three corners from the chequered flag.

Frantically weaving the car back and forth to slosh the last drops of fuel into the pickup, he managed to keep it running just long enough to creep over the line and win the race. It happened again at the German Grand Prix : while running in fourth position, Prost's car ran out of fuel on the finishing straight of the last lap. Instead of retiring, Prost got out of his car and tried to push it to the finish, to great applause from the crowd. The finish line was too far, though, and he never reached it. He was classified sixth in the race, as the seventh-placed car was a lap behind. Prost runs out of fuel at the 1986 German GP Edit Prost continued with McLaren for 1987 with new teammate Stefan Johansson and the new Steve Nichols designed MP4/3 . The TAG Porsche engines however were no longer as dominanted as they had been, now outclassed by the Honda engines used by the Williams team. Prost still challenged Nelson Piquet and Nigel Mansell almost until the end, winning three races and breaking Jackie Stewart 's record for race victories by winning for the 28th time at the Portuguese Grand Prix .

Prost considers the Brazilian Grand Prix as his best and most rewarding race ever. The Williams-Hondas had been dominant during qualifying, and Prost started fifth on the grid. He had worked on his race set-up, and with everyone else going for a high-downforce set-up, the Frenchman went the other way. The set-up meant less tyre wear, thanks to slower speeds in the corners while going fast down the straights. Only one stop was necessary, and Prost won the race by 40 seconds. Prost finished the 1987 season in fourth place, 30 points behind champion Nelson Piquet. Prost celebrates his 28th win at the 1987 Portuguese GP Edit Despite Nelson Piquet winning the Drivers' Championship and Williams winning the Constructors' Championship, Honda decided not to supply the team with their engines due to their refusal to hire a Japanese driver, and instead supplied the McLaren team for 1988 . Prost had convinced Ron Dennis to sign Senna to a three-year contract, which played a role in luring Honda. However, this began the rivalry that pushed two of the sport's greatest drivers to unprecedented heights of success and controversy.

McLaren-Honda dominated the season, winning 15 out of 16 races. Prost finished first or second in every race other than his two retirements at Silverstone and Monza . He won seven and outscored his new teammate Ayrton Senna by 11 points, despite Senna winning one more race than Prost. However, only the 11 best results from the season counted toward the championship total, and this gave Senna the title by three points. Prost went on to be a proponent of essentially the 90's scoring system – all results counting to the final results with the winner scoring 10, not 9, points. Prost wins the 1988 French GP Senna overtakes Prost at the 1988 Portuguese GP Edit McLaren's domination continued throughout 1989 , and the Prost-Senna struggle for supremacy put them on a collision course. Mutual admiration turned to all-out hatred, with the Frenchman accusing his Brazilian teammate of "dangerous driving" and of receiving more than a fair share of attention from both McLaren and Honda.

Prost was accused of being in the pocket of FISA's French president Jean-Marie Balestre . Their embittered season ended as many pundits had feared. In the Japanese Grand Prix at the end of lap 46, Senna made his move at the chicane . Prost turned into his teammate's path. The two interlocked McLarens slid up the chicane escape road. Prost, thinking the World Championship was over, climbed out of his car. To separate the cars, the marshals pushed Senna's McLaren backwards onto the track. This left it in a dangerous position, so they pushed it forwards again. As they did so, Senna bump-started the engine. He drove through the chicane and rejoined. The nose of his car was damaged and he had to pit, but he rejoined only five seconds behind Alessandro Nannini . On lap 50, Ayrton sliced past Nannini at the chicane to take the lead and won the race. But it was Nannini who appeared on the top step of the podium. Race officials had excluded Senna for missing the chicane.

McLaren appealed the decision, but the FIA Court of Appeal not only upheld the decision but fined Senna US$100,000 and gave him a suspended six-month ban. Thus Prost clinched his third driving title in controversial circumstances. However, Prost had the firm belief that Honda and Ron Dennis viewed Senna as the future of the team. Prost recalled that by Monza he had one car with maybe four or five mechanics, while his teammate had two cars and 20 people around him. As a result, Prost announced in July 1989 that he would depart from McLaren and the Frenchman quickly joined his new employers: Ferrari . Prost exits his car after colliding with Senna at the 1989 Japanese GP Edit The Frenchman replaced Gerhard Berger at Ferrari and was partnered with Britain's Nigel Mansell for 1990 . As reigning world champion, Prost took over as the team's lead driver and was said to have played on Mansell's inferiority complex.

Mansell recalls one incident where at the 1990 British Grand Prix , the car he drove didn't handle the same as in the previous race where he had taken pole position, and later found out from team mechanics that Prost saw Mansell as having a superior car and had them swapped without Mansell knowing. Prost won five races for Ferrari that year, in Brazil , Mexico , France , Britain and Spain . Notable among these was the Mexican Grand Prix, where he won after starting in 13th position. In both the Mexican and Spanish races, he led Mansell to Ferrari 1–2 finishes. The championship once again came to the penultimate round of the season in Japan with Prost trailing his McLaren adversary, Ayrton Senna, by nine points. As in 1989, a controversial collision between the two settled the race. At the first corner Senna, as he later admitted, intentionally drove his race car into Prost's, taking them both out of the race and sealing the title in his favour. "What he did was disgusting," Prost said. "He is a man without value." Prost finished the season seven points behind Senna, and his Ferrari team were runners-up to McLaren.

Senna crashes into the back of Prost at the 1990 Japanese GP Edit In 1991 , Mansell left Ferrari, due to his unstable relationship with Prost, and joined his previous employers, Williams. Mansell's replacement was Frenchman Jean Alesi , who had been impressive during the previous two years at Tyrrell . Ferrari had entered a downturn, partially as their famous V12 engine was no longer competitive against the smaller, lighter and more fuel efficient V10s of their competitors. The Ferrari chassis , despite a major revision by the French Grand Prix was also not up to the level of the McLaren and the Williams models. Prost won no races, for the first time since his debut in 1980, and got onto the podium only five times. He publicly criticised the team, at the 1991 Japanese Grand Prix he famously described his car's handling worse than "a truck", and was fired prior to the end of the season, right before the Australian Grand Prix . Prost was replaced by Italian driver Gianni Morbidelli for the final race of the 1991 season. He ended the season in 5th place with 34 points.

Prost at the 1991 French GP Edit Prost returned from his sabbatical in 1993 to race for the Williams team, replacing the outgoing champion Nigel Mansell who was going to the CART series. His team mate was test driver Damon Hill . The Frenchman had a clause in his contract which prevented rival Ayrton Senna from joining the team that year. The Williams FW15C would prove to be the best car of the season, allowing Prost and Hill to dominate, although they would be challenged by Senna and the young Benetton driver Michael Schumacher . Prost won on his debut for the team in South Africa , followed by wins in three of the next five Grands Prix. Prost and Hill scored a 1–2 in France , with Prost winning the next two Grand Prix at Silverstone and Hockenheim . Shortly before the Portuguese Grand Prix in October 1993, Prost announced that he would not defend his world title, as the clause in the Frenchman's contract preventing Senna from joining did not extend to 1994 , allowing him to join Williams for the upcoming season.

Prost instead decided to retire as the driver with the record for most Grand Prix victories, which stood for almost a decade. He finished second in the race, which was enough to secure his fourth World Drivers’ Championship. On the podium in Adelaide , the final race of the season and Prost's last race, he and Senna embraced, and it was as if now they were no longer rivals, they saw no reason for any more hostility. Prost leads Damon Hill at the 1993 Spanish GP Prost at the 1993 Australian GP, his last race Edit During 1994 and 1995, Prost once again worked as TV pundit for the French TV channel TF1. He also worked for Renault as a PR man. In 1994 prost was a pallbearer at the funeral of Ayrton Senna who had died at the year's San Marino Grand Prix . When Senna died, Prost stated that "a part of himself had died also", because their careers had been so bound together. Prost alos rejoined his former Mclaren team as a technical advisor. He tested several times for the team between 1994 and 1996.

On 13 February 1997, Prost bought the Ligier team from Flavio Briatore and renamed it " Prost Grand Prix ". The day after he bought the team, Prost signed a three-year deal with French car manufacturer Peugeot , who would supply the team with engines from 1998 until 2000 . Prost Grand Prix finished sixth in the constructors' championship in its first season, with 21 points. Prost became the president of Prost Grand Prix at the start of 1998, with the team scoring a single point during the season, courtesy of Jarno Trulli finishing sixth in Belgium . 2000 proved to be yet another disastrous season, with the AP03 proving to be unreliable and ill handling. Newly hired technical director Alan Jenkins was fired midway through the year. Prost restructured the team, hiring Joan Villadelprat as the managing director and replacing Jenkins with Henri Durand .

2001 saw some much needed optimism for the team as Ferrari agreed to be the team's engine supplier for the season, however the money ran out at the start of the 2002 season and Prost was out of business, leaving debts of around $30 million. Prost as a pallbearer durign Senna's funeral Prost testing for McLaren during 1995 Prost on the pit wall during 1999 Edit Prost used a helmet design based on the three colours of the French flag, blue, white and red. It also featured his name along the side. During his early career Prost used a basic design of a blue helmet with a white 180° flipped Y and red lines in the lower branch of the flipped Y and in the upper branch, surrounding the top. During Prost's time at Renault , he added more blue details, most notably around the rear of his helmet.

Prost's helmet changed in 1985 , his helmet now had the blue detail around the front, surrounding the visor (with also a blue stripe on the side region, making the white area become a P) and a white ring with red lines surrounding the top (forming a white circle with a blue half in the rear of the top). Prost kept a similar design while at Ferrari and Williams . 1985-1993 design Alain Prost | The Formula 1 Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia 1997 – 2001 Alain Marie Pascal Prost (born 24 February 1955 in Lorette, Loire, France) is one of the most successful drivers in the history of Formula One, winning four championships ( 1985 , 1986 , 1989 and 1993 ), being runner-up in another four ( 1983 , 1984 , 1988 and 1990 ), and for taking 51 wins in the time of Ayrton Senna , Nigel Mansell , Nelson Piquet and Niki Lauda 's return.

He is the only French world champion. After retiring in Formula One in 1993 , he returned back to the sport as a test driver for McLaren in 1996 . Before he returned, he was testing the McLaren MP4/9 and the McLaren MP4/10 in a private test. Contents Edit Alain Prost had been on the radar of the Formula One teams since 1977 after his impressive performances in Formula Renault and Formula Three. He had cautiously refused several drives from minor teams, confidently waiting until he could prove himself in the minor categories before moving into Formula One with a top team. In 1979, following his dominace in Formula Three, the top teams finally began to take notice. He held talks with team principals Bernie Ecclestone and Teddy Mayer for drives at Brabham and McLaren respectively. Ever cautious in his negotiations, Prost turned down an offer from Teddy Mayer to race for McLaren in a third car at the 1979 United States Grand Prix West. Prost, not knowing the car or the track was unwilling to race and possibly hamper his credibility.

Following his rejection of the drive at the US Grand Prix, Teddy Mayer had switched his attention to American star, Kevin Cogan for the 1980 drive. However team sponsor, Marlboro still preferred Prost for the drive. On 29th November 1979, Mayer staged a shootout at the Le Castellet circuit between the two drivers for the seat. Prost dominated Cogan in his first drive in an F1 car. McLaren's lead driver John Watson commenting on Prost, "You didn't have to be a rocket scientist to see how good he was. The difference between him and Cogan was night and day". The car that Prost and Watson would be driving in 1980, the McLaren M29 had been debuted mid-way through 1979. The car whilst capable of scoring in the points, often had significant aero issues and was not of the championship winning material, McLaren had developed in the past. Prost had joined the team amidst the political turmoil that invoked the team during its transition period under the old management of Teddy Mayer to its new ownership under Ron Dennis . Nonetheless, the team was still capable of allowing Prost to make a strong first impression.

Ahead of his first race in Buenos Aires, his old Formula Three boss Hugues de Chaunac had telegrammed him, asking him to "bring him a point" in his first race. The weekend started well when he qualified twelfth, five places ahead of teammate Watson. Whilst Watson retired, he ran a quiet race, nursing his McLaren that had a badly damaged skirt to a sixth place finish. The demanding Argentine circuit was a notorious car breaker but Prost was able to successfully keep his car running to score a points finish on his first attempt. Upon finishing the race, a delighted De Chanac telegrammed him, saying "Bring me two!" for the next event in Interlagos, Brazil. Prost continued to impress in Brazil, teammate Watson had continued to struggle, the more experienced man was unable to get the car to work like Prost had. Prost was thirteenth on the grid whilst Watson was twenty third. Prost then led another calm and collected race, as cars ahead of him dropped out he had worked his way up to seventh behind the two Arrows cars of Riccardo Patrese and Jochen Mass . He disposed of Mass easily, before engaging a terrific battle with Patrese for fifth place.

Three laps from the end, Prost secured fifth place from Patrese, scoring his second points finish in a row. His double points finishes in his first two F1 races was garnering him some serious attention in the press. After only two races, Prost had established himself as the leading driver within the McLaren team. For the South African race, he instead of Watson was entrusted with the new McLaren M29C chassis. During pre-race testing, the updated car proved to be much more unstable. Prost had a minor crash early on in the week but then late in testing a second accident in the car saw him break his ankle. The injury meant he would be out of motor racing for another six weeks. This injury meant he would sit out the South African race and then the US GP East. Although Prost was seen at the event to support his team. His replacement Stephen South failed to qualify whilst Watson finally got his act together, scoring a fourth place finish in Prost's absence. The two drivers were now level on points in the championship. Prost returned for the Belgian race at Zolder, however the McLaren's were uncompetitive and were only eighteenth and nineteenth on the grid.

Both he and Watson would go on to retire with mechanical troubles. The new McLaren M29C was proving troublesome for both Watson and Prost. Nonetheless, Watson appeared to be strugglng a lot more. In Monaco, he was humiliatingly labelled 'John Whatswrong?' by his mechanics. He had failed to qualify for the race whilst Prost had qualified a career high of tenth on the grid. Prost's speed and capability had well and truly swung the McLaren team in his favour. The race would be a frustrating disappointment when he retired on the opening lap when he was caught in a four car pile-up at the first corner. Now leading the development of the McLaren M29, Prost improved his qualifying performance to go seventh at his home race at Paul Ricard in France. Watson is still slower and down in thirteenth. It looked set for a strong home performance, Prost overtook Jean-Pierre Jabouille and Carlos Reutemann in the opening laps, but the car's poor reliability let him down when he retired with transmission failure four laps in. Ahead of the British Grand Prix, the merger between McLaren and Project Four is complete.

This new partnership hoping to return McLaren to success, whether Prost would remain with the team was still an open question. He was now being eyed by the current front runners, his debut year success drawing him much attention. Renault and Ferrari have struck up a particular interest in the young Prost. For the race at Brands Hatch, Prost managed another seventh place qualifying position, once again dominating Watson. In the race he drove quietly but efficiently to manage his McLaren to take another sixth place finish. The McLaren's were less competitive on the long sweeping straights of Hockenheim for the German Grand Prix. Prost was fourteenth whilst Watson was twentieth. It was a race to forget for the team, Watson retired whilst Prost finished only a lap down in eleventh place. The next race in Austria would yield similar results. The McLaren M29 not suited to the faster circuits on the calendar. In practice, Prost along with teammate Watson, Jan Lammers and Gilles Villeneuve are involved in the rescue of Jochen Mass who had a tremendous accident which left him trapped in his car at Texaco Curve. After qualifying twelfth, Prost led another quiet race to finish in seventh place.

For the Dutch race, Prost debuted McLaren's new car, the McLaren M30 . The successor to the M29 embodied all of Prost's development work he had conducted for the team over the past season. Teammate Watson had to be content with the old M29 model. The new car got off to a disastrous start, Prost could only manage eighteenth on the grid whilst Watson in the old car was ninth. The new car was not competitive, however Prost was able to manage his car well to bring it home to a sixth place finish. The attrition rate for the Zandvoort race had been high with many of the front runners including teammate Watson dropping out with mechanical failure. The fortunes of the M30 did not improve for the Italian Grand Prix at Imola. Prost was still unable to get to grips with the car and only barely managed to qualify putting his car on the last slot of the grid. Watson managed fourteenth in the old car, the M29's successor performing well below standard. The car whilst uncompetitive at least proved to be reliable in the hands of Prost, he once again avoided mechanical failure to bring his car home in seventh, just outside of the points.

Prost was growing increasingly frustrated with McLaren and despite his three year contract with the team, he was seriously considering leaving for a more competitive seat for 1981. For the penultimate race in Montreal, Canada, new team leader Ron Dennis had sacked chief designer Gordon Coppuck and replaced him with up and coming designer, John Barnard . Barnard conducting his own modification on the M30, if successful, Dennis hoped to convince Prost to stay with the new reformed team for 1981. At this time, Prost had began entering serious negotiations with Gérard Larrousse , the Renault team principal. The Barnard modifications to the car had improved the M30's performance, however Prost was still a lowly twelfth whilst Watson was seventh in the old car. The Barnard improvements saw both Prost and Watson race more competitively than they had done all season. Despite a mid-race collision with Riccardo Patrese which damaged the front of his car, Prost was running extremely competitively and was running faster than drivers such as Carlos Reutemann and Jacques Laffite who were running in front running Williams 's and Ligier 's.

Having disposed of these drivers, Prost was up to fourth behind teammate Watson. Prost was hungry for his first podium, however Watson who had largely been dominated by his teammate all season was not letting Prost past. The battle was ended on lap 41, following his accident with Patrese, Prost's car had a front end failure and speared into the tyre barriers. Following a similar accident earlier in the race that saw Jean-Pierre Jabouille break both his legs, there was much relief when Prost clambered from his car, angered but unhurt. Watson finished the race fourth whilst Prost walked away with nothing. The final race of the season at Watkins Glen would be the final chance for McLaren to prove they were worthy of Prost's services for 1981. However unfortunately it would all be in vain. During Friday practice, Prost suffered yet another mechanical failure which caused another violent accident. He was pitched into the barriers at high speed and during the accident a wheel had detached and had hit Prost in the head. Prost was badly concussed, but luckily had not been more seriously hurt.

After a season of driving dangerous and more often than not uncompetitive cars as well as the team having a highly disturbed political environment, Prost vowed to quit McLaren then and there. In the medical centre, he confessed to teammate John Watson, "you will be number one at McLaren next year". Prost did not participate in the final race and shortly there after announced his resignation from the McLaren team. 1981-1983: Renault Edit Following his departure from McLaren, Prost quickly signed up for the Renault team ahead of the 1981 season. Unlike McLaren who had been having consistent problems over the past few years, Renault had been on the rise in and looked to be a serious championship contender for 1981. Since entering Formula One in 1977, Renault had been unique on the grid in being the only challenger with a turbo charged engine. In 1981 however, manufacturer rival Ferrari had developed their own turbo charger in retaliation to the ever improving Renault cars. Prost would be joined in the team by fellow Frenchman, René Arnoux . Arnoux would be competing in his third season with the team and like Prost was considered a star on the rise.

A serious rivalry was expected over which Frenchman would be the fastest in France's premier grand prix team. The team would be on the back foot at the start of the championship, they would have to start the season with their 1980 chassis, the Renault RE20 for the opening races before their new car would be ready to make its track debut. It was an underwhelming start to the season for the duo at the Long Beach Grand Prix. In qualifying, the two drivers struggled with grip as their Michelin tyres failed to match with the slippery street circuit. Prost came out on top in qualifying, fourteenth fastest in comparison to Arnoux's twentieth fastest time. His race lasted only a few hundred metres, caught in a midfield melee at the hairpin, Prost was rammed by his replacement at the McLaren team, Andrea de Cesaris and was out of the race on the first lap. Arnoux would complete the race, albeit several laps down on the leading cars. It was a troubling start to the season for the Renault team. After their disaster in the United States, Renault showed signs of improvement in Brazil.

Prost was fifth on the grid with Arnoux down in eighth, nonetheless they remained slower than the leading cars at Williams and Brabham. The wet conditions on Sunday provided a chance for the Renault's to close the gap but it would prove another difficult day for the team. At the first corner Prost was hit by Gilles Villeneuve's Ferrari dropping him to eighth. The same incident saw the cause for Arnoux to retire on the first lap. For much of the early stages, Prost was stuck behind the much slower Fittipaldi car of Keke Rosberg . After dispatching the Finn, Prost's race would end on the 20th lap when Didier Pironi lost control of his Ferrari and collided with the side of Prost's car. The first two races had yielded not a single point for the Renault team. Already their championship chances were questioned with Williams dominating the opening rounds. Despite the team's opening drama, the third round in Argentina looked more promising. The team suddenly looked capable for a win. Prost had been threatening for pole position throughout the qualifying sessions, however he had to settle for second on the grid behind Nelson Piquet 's Brabham.

Nonetheless, Prost had managed to put his car ahead of the dominating Williams duo of Alan Jones and Carlos Reutemann . Arnoux meanwhile was in fifth position. At the start, Prost was to suffer from the infamous 'turbo lag'. In comparison to the atmospheric engines of the Ford-Cosworth's that the majority of the field was using, the turbos were more powerful however slower off the line. As a consequence, Prost dropped from second to fifth at the start. Ahead of him ran Piquet, Jones, Reutemann and Arnoux. A battle between Arnoux and Prost was denied when Arnoux hit a bird forcing him to drop behind Prost. Prost gained another position when Jones began to drop back with engine trouble. Prost was quick, however the leading cars of Piquet's Brabham and Reutemann's Williams were vastly superior in pace. Prost would thereafter drive a quiet race to secure his first podium at the same venue that had yielded him his first points on his grand prix debut a year before. Arnoux went on to finish in fifth position, an overall good performance for Renault which saw them secure some much needed points in the championship.

Three weeks later, the grand prix circus returned to Europe for the San Marino Grand Prix. Heading into the race, the paddock was surrounded in controversy about the use of flexible skirts used to enhance the ground effect concept. Notably, only Renault and the new Toleman team were found to be legal ahead of Friday practice. Until the illegal devices were removed, the Renault's and Toleman's were the only cars found on track in the morning practice session. The extra track time yielded a good qualifying, the two Renault's were third and fourth. Arnoux, for the first time outqualifying Prost as his teammate. Villeneuve's Ferrari took pole whilst Reutemann's Williams was in second. The race proved another disappointment, on the warm-up lap it was evident that Prost had gearbox issues. This meant at the start he quickly dropped right down into the mid-field. After only three laps, Prost had retired from the race when the problem became terminal. Arnoux, would finish the race outside the points due to his own reliability issues. The team's championship chances were in dire trouble, of the four races so far, the team had scored in only one of them.

For the Belgian Grand Prix at Zolder, the team finally were able to release their new car, the Renault RE30 . With their slow start to the season, the team were in need of some strong results if they were to stay in reach of the championship. The RE30's debut did not go well, Arnoux failed to qualify due to a mechanical failure in qualifying whilst Prost struggled with handling problems and went only twelfth fastest. His race would last only two laps, Prost's clutch failing him shortly after the start. Renault's frustrating season continued. After the disastrous debut of the RE30 in Belgium, Prost and Arnoux performed extensive testing of the new car in order to ensure its competitiveness ahead of the next round in Monaco. Heading into the race, the chassis had been much revised to improve both performance and reliability of the car. Nonetheless, the new Renault's were still struggling with handling issues, Prost was ninth whilst Arnoux was only thirteenth. Arnoux had damaged his RE30 in the warm-up and had to take the spare RE20 for the race.

It was evident that the RE20 still had a performance advantage over the RE30, Arnoux had passed Prost in the early stages and was challenging for points before he crashed his car. Prost meanwhile was quietly driving in the lower half of the top ten before slowly ascending the field as more cars dropped out. He had climbed to sixth before on lap 42 his engine failed and he was forced to retire. Following Monaco, the two Renault's went to Dijon for testing, Prost had a huge accident that saw him suffer a neck injury. His involvement in Spain was brought into question, however he arrived at the circuit ready to race albeit with a very sore neck. Despite the accident, the testing had payed off and Prost managed to put his RE30 fifth on the grid. Arnoux was still struggling and was only seventeenth. At the start, Prost maintained his fifth position. The early laps saw him dice with Mario Andretti 's Alfa Romeo before disposing with the American and moving into fourth. He was then rewarded with third position when Alan Jones spun out.

Towards the middle stages of the race, Prost was the fastest car on track and was quickly catching the leaders of Reutemann and Villeneuve ahead of him. Prost was seemingly having a chance for his first win when suddenly on lap 28 he veered off the circuit and into the barriers. It was a frustrating day, whilst pushing hard to catch the leaders, Prost had lost control of his car and was out of the race. With Arnoux finishing outside the points, Renault would once again leave with no points. After seven races the team had only managed to score once. The mid-point of the season came at Prost, Arnoux and Renault's home grand prix, the French Grand Prix. It had been a disappointing season, despite regularly proving competitive, the Renault's had only scored in one grand prix this season. Testing had been extensive prior to the race in Dijon, it was critical for the team to perform well in front of their home crowd. The team knew the track better than anyone, Renault having performed countless testing miles on the circuit in the past. It was no surprise then to see the Renault's performing at their best during qualifying.

Prost was a clear contender for pole position, however it was his French rival and teammate, Arnoux, who took the pole. Prost was then bumped down to third when his old teammate, John Watson, in the McLaren moved into second on the grid. It was an average start to the race for Renault, Arnoux dropped into the midfield whilst Piquet and De Cesaris stormed past Prost. Despite an average start, Prost's Renault remained competitive and he quickly disposed of the two McLaren's of De Cesaris and Watson ahead of him. Prost was now second to Piquet's Brabham who had already opened up an extensive lead. Whilst Prost was one of the quickest cars on track, Piquet remained untouchable. Behind him, Watson was all over his former teammates rear and was looking likely to pass. However on lap 59 the race was stopped, a heavy deluge of rain afflicted the circuit bringing out the red flag. The race was stopped and the cars lined back up on the grid waiting for the rain to dissipate. Prost had a chance of winning the race, however the Brabham of Piquet ahead of him had a significant pace advantage.

With the recommendation of the head of Michelin, Pierre Dupasquier , Prost made a gamble to put on the ultra soft qualifying tyres in a move that would hopefully place him ahead of Piquet on the restart. Piquet who ran Goodyear tyres could not be assured of the durability of their tyres to replicate this move. On the restart, Prost got off the line perfectly and took the lead of the race. He was challenged in the opening laps by Watson behind him, however the McLaren threat would be removed when Watson slid wide into the gravel and lost position. Thereafter Prost remained unchallenged and took a dominant first win at his home grand prix. He finished a total of 31 seconds ahead of Watson in second position. Renault finally got success in 1981, a win at their home grand prix providing a perfect comeback. Arnoux, finished the race in fourth position pushing the team up to fourth in the constructors championship. Despite the home win, Renault remained distanced for the fight for the lead of the constructor's championship.

The team still had a strong chance for second in the championship, Ferrari and Brabham being the team's main competitors, however championship leaders, Williams were a further 33 points ahead of Renault in the championship. Prost's championship chances were also slim, his 13 points were significantly behind championship leader, Carlos Reutemann's 37. Nonetheless his chances were significantly better than Arnoux's whose chances were non existent with his meager 5 points. Nonetheless, the team had remained optimistic and they were expected to shine at Silverstone, the long fast straights would mean turbo teams like Renault and Ferrari were at a significant advantage. Renault had a strong chance of claiming a second victory in a row and had introduced a new rear wing for both Prost and Arnoux to better their chances. In qualifying the Renault's were untouchable, Arnoux often the faster qualfier took the pole position whilst Prost was alongside him in second place. Piquet was third whilst Ferrari seemed off the pace, Pironi only fourth whilst Villeneuve was in seventh: Prost got the best start of the two Renault's and immediately took the lead of the race.

Arnoux dropped behind Pironi and Villeneuve, the two Ferrari's getting a strong start to the race. Prost immediately began opening up a lead whilst Arnoux was back in second. Pironi had dropped back, whilst Villeneuve had crashed out, taking Alan Jones out of the race with him. Within a few laps, two of the main championship contenders were out whilst Prost and Renault looked on course for a second successive victory. However after only 17 laps, Prost had retired. His engine whilst powerful remained unreliable and he suffered a serious loss in power before pulling into the pits to retire. Arnoux would lead the race, however he would be denied his first win of the season when he too would retire late in the race. The result was a serious blow for Renault's championship chances, in a race the team should have easily claimed a 1-2 finish, they would instead walk away with nothing. Prost dropped down to seventh in the championship standings whilst Renault had dropped down to sixth in the constructors standings. Renault had wasted their victory chances at Silverstone, however the similar characteristics of the Hockenheim circuit for the German Grand Prix would give Renault another chance for victory.

Renault had established in Britain that they were the fastest cars on the power circuits, their well-developed turbo engine providing a clear pace advantage, however as always it had proved unreliable. The Renault's once again dominated qualifying, however this time it was Prost on pole, not Arnoux. In the race, Arnoux dropped out immediately with a puncture, leaving Prost alone at the front. However his car did not prove as dominant as expected, the fast and nimble Williams cars of Reutemann and Jones were quickly closing in on his rear end. An exciting battle between Prost and Jones for the lead began to develop, Jones attacked hard but Prost proved equally resistant. Prost appeared to keep the Williams driver at bay, however on lap 21, Prost lost the lead to Jones when ironically he was blocked by his teammate, Arnoux whilst trying to lap him. Arnoux who had dropped well out of contention after his start line problems had inadvertently cost his team the race. Following being overtaken by Jones, Prost put his engine into low power mode, the team desperate to conserve the engine following its recent race problems.

This decision would mean, Prost would be overtaken by Piquet's Brabham but it would allow him to finish the race and claim some much needed points for the team. Late in the race, Prost would be promoted back to second when Jones began to encounter mechanical problems. Prost would go on to finish the race in second place, behind Piquet. The team didn't win as expected but at least they had scored 6 points which allowed them to move back up into fifth in the championship. Germany had proved to be the first conflict between Prost and Arnoux, Arnoux had potentially cost Prost a race win when he failed to let Prost past whilst he was being lapped. The move however was not deliberate and Prost had simply misjudged Arnoux's move to let him past, which subsequently allowed Jones to take the lead. Arnoux however was left frustrated at this stage of the season, he had rarely been able to shine, mechanical failure troubling him when he looked set to challenge Prost and he was sitting still on only 5 points compared to Prost's 19.

The next round at the Osterreichring in Austria was another power circuit, Renault yet again would be able to exploit their power advantage. Arnoux took pole whilst Prost was right alongside him on the grid. Prost once again got the best start of the two Renault drivers, however Villeneuve's Ferrari took the lead when he stormed from third place. However it was not long before both Prost and Arnoux had moved past Villeneuve putting Renault back into a 1-2 position. Throughout the early stages of the race, Prost and Arnoux battled fiercly for the lead with Jacques Laffite's Ligier quickly coming up from third. A third opportunity in a row for a win was lost for Prost when he suffered a suspension failure on the 26th lap pitching him straight on at the first corner. Prost was out of the race whilst Arnoux failed to claim the win when Laffite moved past him, nonetheless Arnoux was finally able to get some points when he finished in second place. Arnoux's effort had meant the team had moved back into fourth place in the championship, only Williams, Brabham and Ligier remaining in front.

It had been a hard season for Prost, however only in his second season, he had finally began to feel content at Renault with their late season up-take in performance. The team was now regularly fighting for victories, even if their poor reliability had cost them a chance at the championship title. Prost was now heavily coverted driver in Formula One, many teams had been vying for his interest, including championship leading team, Williams. However Prost decided to remain faithful to Renault and believed their recent upswing of performance would mean they would be well positioned for the title in 1982, both Prost and Arnoux opted to re-sign for the team for the next season. The news also coincided with the birth of Prost's first son, Nicolas. The Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort would prove to be another power circuit, typically this meant that Renault would be the fastest cars. Prost took pole on Saturday Qualifying after Arnoux had been fastest all day on Friday. In the race, Prost took an immediate lead whilst Arnoux quickly dropped down the field after making a wrong tyre call. Like in Germany, the Williams cars seemed set to challenge Renault and Alan Jones was quickly closing on the rear of Prost.

As also in Germany, the two drivers were set for another big battle for the lead. Throughout the race, Jones attacked hard, however Prost remained calm and collected and kept the lead. After nearly a whole race of fighting Prost, Jones eventually could not keep up the charge and had began to destroy his tyres in his charge against Prost. Suffering from severe tyre degradation, Jones dropped way back and fell to third behind Piquet. This allowed Prost to take an easy second victory, the victory being the first time Renault were able to provide a result to their cars dominant potential. Arnoux suffered another retirement, however Prost's victory kept him in with a slim chance for the Drivers' Championship with three races to go. Reutemann lead the championship with 45 points whilst behind him sat Laffite on 34, Jones on 31 and Prost on 28. Prost remained among the final five drivers with a chance of the world crown. Whilst Prost's championship chances remained slim, Renault remained committed to providing him with the best possible chance for taking the crown. For Monza, the team had provided upgrades to the RE30 aimed at improving air flow into the rear wing.

Typically, both Prost and Arnoux were fastest during Friday qualifying. Arnoux would go on to take his fourth pole position of the season, however Prost was denied the chance to challenge his fastest time following a collision with Andrea de Cesaris during Saturday qualification. The delay in repairing his car had allowed Carlos Reutemann to snatch second position on the grid from him, meaning Prost would be forced to start from third. In the race, Prost made a terrific start to take the lead heading into the first corner. Arnoux would follow but would retire following an accident on the twelfth lap. This left Prost alone at the front, being left in a position to dominate the race. Prost seemed untouchable throughout the race and despite a late race charge by Alan Jones, Prost went on to take victory nine seconds ahead of his Williams championship rivals, Jones and Reutemann. The fourth championship challenger, Nelson Piquet finished in the last points place in sixth position. Prost had came out of Italy, the best of the five championship contenders, however his championship chances remained quite slim.

He had overtaken Laffite in the standings and drawn level with Jones on 37 points, however ahead of him sat Piquet on 46 and Reutemann on 49. The recent races, being situated on power circuits had well suited the powerful turbo engine of Renault, this had allowed Prost the opportunity to capitulise on the car's performance and bring him back in with a chance of winning the world title. However, the final two circuits at Montreal and Las Vegas were notably street circuits more suited to the more aero focussed, Williams, Ligier and Brabham cars. It would be much more of a challenge for Renault to be competitive on these circuits. Ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix at Montreal, Renault urgently brought further upgrades in an effort to match their rivals aerodynamic capability. In qualifying, Renault appeared to be performing at their best on a non-power circuit and Prost put his car fourth on the grid behind Piquet, Reutemann and Jones. Prost was able to pass Reutemann at the start and soon found he was challenging Piquet and Jones for the lead. The two leaders dropped back leaving Prost in the lead of the race.

It looked good for yet another win for Prost, however he began to suffer from cold brakes, his car failing to get up to temperature in the cold Montreal conditions. Prost began to lose performance and with it a chance for victory. On lap 13, Laffite's Ligier took the lead whilst two laps later Prost collided with Villeneuve when the Ferrari driver moved to overtake. He would then further drop behind Watson's McLaren. Prost's race appeared to be in tatters, being unable to cope with his car in these conditions. He further dropped to fifth when the second Ferrari of Pironi overtook him. His race would come to an end on lap 45, when he collided with the back of the backmarker Lotus of Nigel Mansell. Both Prost and Mansell were out of the race, his failure to score in the penultimate round had meant that Prost's hopes of being World Champion in 1981 would come to an end. For the final race in Las Vegas, Prost qualified his Renault in fifth place. This was markedly better than Arnoux who could only manage 13th on the grid.

The start saw Prost move up to third where he sat behind Jones and Villeneuve. He battled hard with Villeneuve's Ferrari in the initial laps, before moving into second position on lap 3. Prost was competitive and began to quickly pull away from the rest of the field, he however could not catch Jones who appeared uncatchable in his final race before retirement. Prost however would begin to suffer from severe tyre degradation in the middle stages of the race, the hot conditions destroying his tyres. Forced to make a pit stop for a tyre change, Prost emerged from the pits in fifth position. His new tyres provided him with an extraordinary pace advantage and he soon disposed of Mansell, Piquet and Laffite ahead of him to move back into second position. Whilst Prost had fought to regain his second position, Jones had opened out a virtually uncatchable lead, forcing Prost to consolidate his second position. Prost went on to finish the final race of the season in second position, he had not managed to claim the title but Renault's late season return to form had set him up to be a formidable competitor in 1982.

1982 Ayrton Senna Alain Prost - Ayrton Senna Net Worth Ayrton Senna Alain Prost Read more... Ayrton Senna Ayrton Senna Net Worth is $8 Million. Ayrton Senna was a Grand Prix race car driver with a net worth of $8 million. Ayrton Senna accumulated his net worth through his racing talent. He was born in Sao Paulo, Brazil and was killed in an accident while. Ayrton Senna da Silva (prono... Ayrton Senna Net Worth is $8 Million. Ayrton Senna Net Worth is $8 Million. Ayrton Senna was a Grand Prix race car driver with a net worth of $8 million. Ayrton Senna accumulated his net worth through his racing talent. He was born in Sao Paulo, Brazil and was killed in an accident while Ayrton Senna da Silva ; 21 March 1960 - 1 May 1994) was a Brazilian racing driver. Senna was a three-time Formula One world champion and is widely regarded as one of the greatest F1 drivers of all time.

He died in a crash at Tamburello corner while leading the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix and is the most recent driver to die at the wheel of a Formula One car. Senna began his motorsport career in karting, moving up to open-wheel racing in 1981, and winning the British Formula 3 championship in 1983. He made his Formula One debut with Toleman-Hart in 1984 before moving to Lotus-Renault the following year and winning six Grands Prix over the next three seasons. In 1988, he joined Frenchman Alain Prost at McLaren-Honda. Between them, they won all but one of the 16 Grands Prix that year and Senna his first World Championship. Prost claimed the championship in 1989, and Senna his second and third championships in 1990 and 1991. In 1992, the Will...

Alain Prost - Racing Profile | Motor Sport Magazine Database Alain Prost Alain Marie Pascal Prost, OBE Born: 24th February 1955 (Age 61) Lorette, Rhone-Alpes 1993 Australian Grand Prix Bio France’s first Formula 1 World Champion was the super smooth and canny Alain Prost. With four titles and 51 Grand Prix victories to his name, “The Professor” was the most successful driver during an era that included the likes of Nelson Piquet, Nigel Mansell and his greatest rival Ayrton Senna. The intense and often controversial competition between Prost and Senna was immortalised in the documentary “Senna” and remains one of motor racing’s fiercest rivalries. Fast track through the junior categories The Frenchman’s speed, racing brain and championship winning potential was evident from childhood. Victory in karting’s Junior World Cup in 1973 was followed by graduation to cars two years later as winner of the Pilot Elf Paul Ricard. That success continued in Formula Renault 2.0 with Prost winning both the 1976 French and 1977 European titles with a works Martini.

He was part of the Hugues de Chaunac-run Martini-Renault squad for the 1978 Formula 3 season although that year’s MK21B was somewhat disappointing. That said, Prost beat the European regulars at Járama in September and he shared that year’s national title with Chevron’s Jean-Louis Schlesser. He remained in the category in 1979 and his Elf-sponsored Martini MK27-Renault dominated both the French and European Championships. Unbeaten on home soil, Prost won the prestigious Monaco support race and another seven victories secured the European title as well. Formula 1 – early success with McLaren and Renault Now among European racing’s most coveted talents, Prost joined McLaren for the 1980 F1 World Championship although the team was on the wane at the time. Despite that, the young rookie outperformed established team-mate John Watson at the start of the season – finishing his first two races in the points (including fifth in Brazil) before breaking his arm in South Africa. He missed that and the subsequent Long Beach Grand Prix as a consequence before returning to score further sixth place finishes at Brands Hatch and Zandvoort.

That year’s most impressive newcomer, Prost switched to Renault for his sophomore F1 campaign in 1981 and confirmed that talent. The 1500cc turbocharged Renault engine may have been temperamental but he delivered when the car held together. When he finished it was in a podium position and Prost followed a maiden victory in France (on just his 19th F1 start) with back-to-back wins at Zandvoort and Monza. However, mechanical failures and contact with others restricted him to fifth in the final standings. Prost began 1982 with victories in the South African and Brazilian GPs – inheriting the latter after Nelson Piquet and Keke Rosberg had been disqualified. However, it was mid-season before he scored another point as technical gremlins and a couple of incidents thwarted his challenge. He finished second at Paul Ricard (after René Arnoux disobeyed team orders) and Dijon-Prenois but fourth overall was a disappointing return from a season that had begun with such promise. Renault finally added reliability to their engine’s undoubted power in 1983 and Prost seemed on course for a maiden championship success.

He won the French, Belgian, British and Austrian GPs to establish a 14 point lead in the standings. With the title seemingly his, Prost made an uncharacteristic error while disputing the lead of the Dutch GP – crashing into Piquet’s Brabham-BMW with both rivals eliminated. A first mechanical failure of the season at Monza further blunted his challenge as Piquet won that race and the next to close to within two points of Prost before the South African finale. When Prost’s turbo expired after 35 laps of Kyalami, Piquet was able to complete a conservative race to snatch a narrow World Championship victory with Prost a deflated runner-up. It was a bitter defeat but there was shock when he was promptly fired by Renault a week later. Renault’s loss is McLaren’s gain With McLaren restructured under the leadership of Ron Dennis and powered by turbocharged TAG Porsche V6 engines, Prost returned to the team with which he had made his F1 debut four seasons ago.

It proved a wise decision for the MP4/2 was the class of the field in 1984 and he fought out a season-long battle for the title with team-mate Niki Lauda. Prost scored more wins (seven) than the Austrian veteran but was Lauda’s experience that eventually prevailed. Just half a point separated the McLaren drivers (half points had been awarded for the curtailed wet Monaco GP) at the end of the season with Prost finishing as runner-up for a second successive season. Having come so close in recent seasons, Prost finally became the France’s first World Champion in 1985. He won the opening race in Brazil but lost the San Marino GP when his car was found to be underweight after the race. Podium finishes at nine of the next 10 races included further victories in Monaco, Britain, Austria and Italy and Prost clinched the title at Brands Hatch with two races to spare. The Williams-Honda team was increasingly competitive during 1985 and they began the following season as championship favourites. However, Mansell and new team-mate Piquet traded wins while Prost remained in the championship fight throughout the season thanks to three victories and consistent podium finishes.

The three rivals all maintained a mathematical chance of the title when the circus assembled in Adelaide for the final round. When Mansell suffered a spectacular tyre failure on the Dequetteville Straight and Piquet pitted as a precaution, Prost swept through to victory and the World Championship once more. In doing so, the Frenchman became the first driver to retain the title since Jack Brabham in 1960. 1987 was the final year of TAG Porsche’s partnership with McLaren but Prost’s challenge for a third title in a row suffered through a lack of engine development. Prost still won the Brazilian, Belgian and Portuguese GPs to establish a new record for GP victories, eclipsing Jackie Stewart’s long-held 27 wins as he slipped to fourth in the championship. Prost versus Senna – the stuff of legend McLaren switched to Honda engines for the last season of the turbocharged era in 1988 and added Ayrton Senna to its driver line-up. It was evident from the first practice session that the McLaren MP4/4-Honda was the class of the field and the team won 15 of the 16 World Championship GPs that year.

They went head-to-head for the world title and Prost outscored his team-mate over the season. However, with each driver counting his best 11 results, it was Senna’s better win rate (eight to seven) that delivered the title with a round to spare. Inevitably, having two of the best F1 drivers of all time in a dominant car led to a fierce rivalry and that boiled over in 1989. With McLaren-Honda once more the team to beat in this first season of 3500cc normally aspirated engines, the frosty relationship between Prost and Senna escalated to outright hostility at Imola. They lapped the field with Senna leading all the way but Prost was seething after the race – the Brazilian seemingly having disobeyed a pre-race team agreement. It was a successful if toxic final season for Prost at McLaren although his third World Championship was only sealed in the most controversial of circumstances. Senna entered the penultimate race of the year needing to win the Japanese GP to maintain any chance of retaining the title. With five laps to go, Senna attempted to pass his team-mate entering the chicane only for Prost to turn into his car.

Prost was out but Senna re-joined and won the race, only to be disqualified after the event. That confirmed a third world title for the Frenchman but it was an inglorious conclusion to the year. The Ferrari years>/strong> Rather than endure another fractious season as Senna’s team-mate, Prost moved to Ferrari in 1990 and his arrival helped the resurgent team to challenge once more. Spurred on by his desire to beat Senna and McLaren-Honda, Prost compensated for Ferrari’s power deficit to win five times, including three mid-season races in a row. In contrast to the previous Japanese GP, it was Prost who needed victory to keep hopes of the title alive. Furious that the FIA decided that his pole position should be on the “dirty” side of the track and harbouring a clear sense of injustice from the previous year’s race, Senna drove his rival off the road at the start in a high speed and dangerous manoeuvre that clinched the title. Prost’s second season with Ferrari was a disaster and the Frenchman failed to win a race for the first time since his debut season in 1980.

The team began 1991 with an upgraded car which proved no match for the latest McLaren-Honda. Prost made an embarrassing exit at Imola – pilloried in the Italian press after spinning into the barriers on the way to the grid – and finished no higher than second in the United States, French and Spanish GPs. With the team in disarray, Prost was fired before the final race of the season after openly criticising the organisation once too often. A successful return with Williams With no competitive drive available, Prost did not race in 1992 but returned a year later with World Champions Williams-Renault. The FW15C was the most technologically advanced car of 1993 but Prost faced competition from a familiar foe again that year. Senna’s Ford-powered McLaren lacked Renault’s horsepower but the Brazilian won three early races to lead the championship. However, Prost eventually won seven times to ease to the World Championship for a fourth time. That proved to be Prost’s final season as a Grand Prix driver for he retired at the end of the year rather than accept Senna as his team-mate for 1994.

There were tests for McLaren in 1994 and 1995 but it was as a team owner that Prost returned to the sport. He acquired the Ligier team in 1997 and Olivier Panis finished that year’s Spanish GP for the renamed Prost Grand Prix. Jarno Trulli repeated that result in the 1999 European GP at the Nürburgring but the debt-ridden team eventually closed its doors at the end of 2001. Prost, who has been awarded the Légion d’honneur and OBE, remains a legend of French motor racing and most recently has been a partner in the Renault e.DAMS Formula E team. Championship seasons Alain Prost « OldRacingCars.com Teams: Prost (1997-2001) Four times World Champion who took on the running of the Ligier team, renaming it Prost and initially started very well. But Panis' injury in 1997 led to a downfall in fortunes and Prost announced bankruptcy in 2002.

After a well-deserved rest, he's back and indeed racing and winning, in the annual ice racing tournaments (Champion in 2007 and 2008, no less) and in French GT racing. Also works as a motorsport advisor and helps his son, Nicolas, who is now racing and is now involved in the new Formula E series, in which Nicolas races for his father's team. In 2016, Prost was also announced as Renault F1's ambassador and as a pundit for Britain's Channel 4 TV coverage. Biography last updated 14 Mar 2016 driver 1000+ images about Race Driver on Pinterest | Grand prix, Jim o'rourke and Racing Forward French GP, 1968: John Surtees drives his Honda to a second-place finish behind Jacky Ickx in a Ferrari. Surtees refused to drive a new Honda RA302 chassis, which he deemed unsafe. Jo Schlesser, chosen to drive the new Honda, died on the second lap of the race, when he lost control and overturned. The car burned fiercely due to its magnesium content. See More

Question: What nationality is racing driver Alain Prost?
Answer: French