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About Alain Prost - |
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Alain Prost (nicknamed 'The Professor' for his cerebral approach to racing) was born on February 24, 1955, near Saint Chamond in France. Alain Prost began racing seriously at the age of fourteen winning several karting championships which included the 1975 French senior karting championship. Subscribe to our free RSS Feed and get all the latest Formula 1 information. |
Formula Renault SeatThis victory gave him his seat in Formula Renault which he went on to win twice before moving onto Formula three. Here he won both the French and European championships in 1978 and 1979. These wins gained him the attention of numerous F1 teams, but the incentive offered by McLaren could not be declined. Alain Prost joined them in 1980. Alain Prost's McLaren Gap YearDue to mechanical problems Alain Prost's first year was very difficult as he only finished in the points on four occasions. As a result of his poor year and his bad feelings on how McLaren was being run, Prost cut short his contract to join Renault in 1981. Alian Prost's Winning FeelingNow with Renault, Alain Prost's first F1 victory came at his home Grand Prix at Dijoin. After this it did not take him long before he became familiar with winning. "Before, you thought you could do it," he said. "Now you know you can." During his three seasons with Renault he won nine races, however, he was unable to win the Championship. With this Alain Prost rejoined McLaren in 1984. McLaren F1 Opportunity - Part DeuxIn his six seasons with McLaren, Alain Prost won thirty races, helping him to three World Drivers Championship, which could have been more as he was twice a runner-up. With this success he broke numerous records thus cementing is place in history as one of the all time greats of the sport. For example, in 1986 he became the first back-to-back champion since Jack Brabham ten years earlier. In 1987, his 28th Grand Prix victory beat Jackie Stewart's 14-year-old record. In 1988, Alain Prost contributed seven of the fifteen victories that were won by McLaren. 1988 also began the sensational rivalry (Alain Prost vs. Ayrton Senna), that conspired to push two of the sport's greatest drivers to unprecedented heights of success and controversy. Unlike Ayrton Senna's flat out raw speed, Alain Prost managed to hold his own by perfecting an economical style: starting a race conservatively, taking it easy on the brakes and tyres and then making a late race challenge. Prost vs SennaDuring 1989 McLarens dominance continued. This success helped to fuel the Prost-Senna struggle for supremacy, which would put them on an inevitable collision course that was to end at the last race of the season in Suzuka. On lap one Alain Prost deliberately shut the door on Senna to narrowly clinch his third Drivers Title. Prost at Ferrrai1990 saw Prost join Ferrari where he won five races to create another season finale in Japan with his McLaren adversary being the only driver capable of winning the championship. Senna did just that, taking his second driving title by deliberately driving into the Ferrari at Suzuka. "What he did was disgusting," Prost said. "He is a man without value." 1991 Alain Prost failed to win a race due a lack of performance and reliability by the Ferrari. 1992 saw Prost work as a TV commentator, before returning in 1993 with Williams-Renault to win seven more races - bringinghis total to a then record 51 - and take his fourth Drivers World Title. Faced with the prospect of having the hated Senna becoming his Williams team mate in 1994 Prost announced his retirement, saying: "The sport has given me a lot but I decided the game wasn't worth it any more." Life After Formula 1Although Prost did not return behind the wheel again he went on to buy the Ligier team in 1997 which he renamed "Prost" Grand Prix. However, unlike his driving career he received little success with his team before he closed up shop at the end of 2001. Despite this recent failure, Prost has provided the sport with an invaluable contribution that can be more appreciated now with hindsight. |
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