Alain Prost

"Prost" redirects here. For other uses, see Prost (disambiguation).

Alain Prost
Prost in 2008
Born
Alain Marie Pascal Prost

(1955-02-24) 24 February 1955 (age 69)
Lorette, Loire, France
Formula One World Championship career
NationalityFrance French
Active years1980–1991, 1993
TeamsMcLaren, Renault, Ferrari, Williams
EnginesFord, Renault, TAG, Honda, Ferrari
Entries202 (199 starts)
Championships4 (1985, 1986, 1989, 1993)
Wins51
Podiums106
Career points768.5 (798.5)[a]
Pole positions33
Fastest laps41
First entry1980 Argentine Grand Prix
First win1981 French Grand Prix
Last win1993 German Grand Prix
Last entry1993 Australian Grand Prix
Signature

Alain Marie Pascal Prost (French: [alɛ̃ pʁɔst]; born 24 February 1955) is a French retired racing driver and Formula One team owner. A four-time Formula One World Drivers' Champion, he held the record for most Grand Prix victories (51) from 1987 until 2001, when Michael Schumacher won the 2001 Belgian Grand Prix.

Prost discovered karting at the age of 14 during a family holiday. He progressed through motor sport's junior ranks, winning the French and European Formula Three championships, before joining the McLaren Formula One team in 1980 at the age of 24. He finished in the points on his Formula One debut – at the San Martín Autodrome in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he took his first podium a year later – and took his first race victory a year later at his home Grand Prix in France, driving for the factory Renault team.

During the 1980s and early 1990s Prost formed a series of fierce sporting rivalries, most notably with Ayrton Senna (rivalry) but also with Nelson Piquet and Nigel Mansell. In 1986, he beat Mansell and Piquet to the title in the last race of the season. From 1988 to 1989, Prost and Senna raced together at McLaren, winning one championship each. Their rivalry escalated into a series of controversial clashes at Suzuka in 1989 and 1990 (the latter after Prost joined Ferrari), where in both cases, the driver leading the points table ahead of the race clinched the title by crashing into his closest competitor. Prost won the title in 1989 and Senna in 1990. After spending 1991 in an uncompetitive car and 1992 on sabbatical, Prost joined reigning Constructors' Champion Williams for the 1993 season, prompting Mansell (who had just won the Drivers' Championship) to leave Williams for CART. Prost retired from Formula One driving in 1993 after winning that season's championship.[1] He returned to Formula One as a team owner (Prost Grand Prix) from 1997 to 2002 and competed in France's ice racing championship from 2003 to 2012, winning three titles.

Prost won four F1 titles and scored four second-place finishes, missing out on an eight-title career by just 12.5 points. His 1984 title race with Niki Lauda – Lauda won by just 0.5 points – is the closest Formula One title race of all time.[2] Prost employed a smooth, relaxed style behind the wheel, deliberately modelling himself on personal heroes like Jackie Stewart and Jim Clark.[3] He was nicknamed "The Professor" for his intellectual approach to competition. Though it was not a name he particularly cared for, he later admitted that the term appropriately characterized his driving style. Skilled at setting up his car for race conditions, Prost would often conserve his brakes and tyres early in a race, leaving them fresher for a challenge at the end.[4]


Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).

  1. ^ Glick, Shav (25 September 1993). "Prost, 38, Announces Retirement". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
  2. ^ "The Professor nearly an eight times F1 world champion". GRANDPRIX247.com. 15 August 2015. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
  3. ^ Roebuck, Nigel (1986) Grand Prix Greats p. 131 Book Club Associates ISBN 0-85059-792-7
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference :2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).