Category | Formula One | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Constructor | Prost | ||||||||||
Designer(s) | Bernard Dudot (Technical Director) Loïc Bigois (Chief Engineer) Ben Wood (Head of Aerodynamics) John Barnard (Technical Consultant) | ||||||||||
Predecessor | AP01 | ||||||||||
Successor | AP03 | ||||||||||
Technical specifications | |||||||||||
Chassis | Moulded carbon fibre composite structure | ||||||||||
Suspension (front) | Double wishbones, pushrod | ||||||||||
Suspension (rear) | Double wishbones, pushrod | ||||||||||
Engine | Peugeot A18, 3.0-litre 72-degree V10 | ||||||||||
Transmission | Prost six-speed longitudinal sequential semi-automatic | ||||||||||
Power | 785 hp @ 15,700 rpm[1] | ||||||||||
Fuel | Total | ||||||||||
Tyres | Bridgestone | ||||||||||
Competition history | |||||||||||
Notable entrants | Gauloises Prost Peugeot | ||||||||||
Notable drivers | 18. Olivier Panis 19. Jarno Trulli | ||||||||||
Debut | 1999 Australian Grand Prix | ||||||||||
Last event | 1999 Japanese Grand Prix | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
Constructors' Championships | 0 | ||||||||||
Drivers' Championships | 0 |
The Prost AP02 was the car with which the Prost Formula One team competed in the 1999 Formula One season. It was driven by Olivier Panis, in his sixth season with the team (including Ligier), and Jarno Trulli, in his second full season with the team.
After the team's dramatic slump in 1998, the 1999 season marked a small improvement in form. John Barnard, who had designed Prost's championship winning McLarens of the mid 1980s was brought in to help develop the car. The car showed flashes of promise, especially when Trulli scored his first podium finish at the wet 1999 European Grand Prix.[2] The Italian moved to Jordan to replace the retiring Damon Hill for 2000, whilst Panis endured another frustrating year, often let down by reliability and left the team at the end of the season to join McLaren as a test driver.[3]
The team finished 7th in the Constructors' Championship, with nine points.
The AP02 later became notable for being the first F1 car driven by future World Champion Jenson Button in an official test session, in December 1999.[4]