Alain Prost

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

Alain Prost
Driver Information
Born	24 February 1955 (1955-02-24) Lorette, Loire, France
Nationality	FRA
Formula One World ChampionshipCareer Statistics
Status	Retired
World Titles	4
Races	202 (198 starts)
Poles	33
Wins	51
Podiums	106
Fastest Laps	41
Points	798.5
First Race	1980 Argentine Grand Prix
Last Race	1993 Australian Grand Prix
First Win	1981 French Grand Prix
Last Win	1993 German Grand Prix

Alain Prost
Full name	Alain Marie Pascal Prost
Date of birth	24 February 1955 (1955-02-24)
Occupation	Team Principal
Employer	Prost Grand Prix
Years active	1981 – 1993

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.

Career

1980: McLaren

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 at Watkins Glen. 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 29 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.

Non-Racing Formula One Career

Following his retirement, Prost had begun to reconsider whether he truely wanted to remain outside of the sport in 1994. Ron Dennis was in desperate need of a top driver to replace Senna at McLaren for 1994, and his first point of call was to attempt to placate Prost into reconsidering his retirement.

It had been clear that Prost was seriously considering a return to motorsport, when in January 1994 he released a statement noting "since rumours have been circulating about my possible return to competition, I have been wondering what people were thinking. Whatever final decision I take, for which no deadline has been fixed, I know it will not be easy."

His former boss, Frank Williams was quick to downplay any rumours of Prost's return for 1994, stating "He is not contractually free to race with any other team in 1994. He retired which is his privilege." Prost was cautious to respond, however he remained the favourite for the McLaren drive in 1994. Williams, however noted there had been no attempt from either Prost or McLaren to buy him out of his Williams contract.

In the beginning of March 1994, Prost admitted he continued to have a "great passion" for Formula One and agreed to participate in a test with McLaren before the beginning of the season. At Estoril, Prost completed six laps in the MP4/9, however found he was four seconds off Damon Hill's best time in the Williams. The result of the test provided confirmation for Prost, "I wanted to test myself, to see if I really wanted to start again. The answer is no. I'm not ready to take the risks anymore."

After confirming his retirement from racing, Prost was signed by Renault to participate in a consultancy and promotional role for their sporting activities. He had also signed as a commentator for TF1, the French television coverage of Formula One.

His first race in a non-racing capacity was at the fateful 1994 San Marino Grand Prix. Ahead of the race, his great rival Ayrton Senna recorded a message for his great rival during the warm-up session "a special message to my friend Alain, we all miss you Alain." Prost was both very surprised and touched by the message. At the time Senna was killed at Tamburello corner, Prost was watching the race from the Williams pit garage, standing alonside Frank Williams.

Formula One Statistical Overview

F1 Career History

Year	Entrant	Team	Pts	WDC Pos.	Report
1980	Marlboro Team McLaren	McLaren-Ford Cosworth	5	16th	Report
1981	Equipe Renault Elf	Renault	43	5th	Report
1982	Equipe Renault Elf	Renault	34	4th	Report
1983	Equipe Renault Elf	Renault	57	2nd	Report
1984	Marlboro McLaren International	McLaren-TAG	71.5	2nd	Report
1985	Marlboro McLaren International	McLaren-TAG	73 (76)	1st	Report
1986	Marlboro McLaren International	McLaren-TAG	72 (74)	1st	Report
1987	Marlboro McLaren International	McLaren-TAG	46	4th	Report
1988	Honda Marlboro McLaren	McLaren-Honda	87 (105)	2nd	Report
1989	Honda Marlboro McLaren	McLaren-Honda	76 (81)	1st	Report
1990	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari	71 (73)	2nd	Report
1991	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari	34	5th	Report
1992	Ligier Gitanes Blondes	Ligier-Renault	Test Driver
1993	Canon Williams Renault	Williams-Renault	99	1st	Report
1996	Marlboro McLaren Mercedes	McLaren-Mercedes	Test Driver

Scores in brackets are gross scores; only best results where counted:

Between 1981 and 1990, only the best eleven scores where counted

Non-Racing Formula One Career

Year	Role	Employer
1994	Pundit	TF1
1995	Pundit	TF1
1996	Technical Advisor	McLaren-Mercedes
1997	Team Principal	Prost-Mugen Honda
1998	Team Principal	Prost-Peugeot
1999	Team Principal	Prost-Peugeot
2000	Team Principal	Prost-Peugeot
2001	Team Principal	Prost-Acer
2010	Race Steward	FIA

Statistics

Entries	202
Starts	199
Pole positions	33
Front row starts	86
Victories	51
Podia	106
Fastest laps	41
Points	768.5 (798.5)
Laps raced	10540
kms raced	48973.423
Races led	84
Laps led	2684
kms led	12480.712
Doubles	18
Hat-tricks	8

Wins

No.	Race	No.	Race.
1	1981 French Grand Prix	27	1987 Belgian Grand Prix
2	1981 Dutch Grand Prix	28	1987 Portuguese Grand Prix
3	1981 Italian Grand Prix	29	1988 Brazilian Grand Prix
4	1982 South African Grand Prix	30	1988 Monaco Grand Prix
5	1982 Brazilian Grand Prix	31	1988 Mexican Grand Prix
6	1983 French Grand Prix	32	1988 French Grand Prix
7	1983 Belgian Grand Prix	33	1988 Portuguese Grand Prix
8	1983 British Grand Prix	34	1988 Spanish Grand Prix
9	1983 Austrian Grand Prix	35	1988 Australian Grand Prix
10	1984 Brazilian Grand Prix	36	1989 United States Grand Prix
11	1984 San Marino Grand Prix	37	1989 French Grand Prix
12	1984 Monaco Grand Prix	38	1989 British Grand Prix
13	1984 German Grand Prix	39	1989 Italian Grand Prix
14	1984 Dutch Grand Prix	40	1990 Brazilian Grand Prix
15	1984 European Grand Prix	41	1990 Mexican Grand Prix
16	1984 Portuguese Grand Prix	42	1990 French Grand Prix
17	1985 Brazilian Grand Prix	43	1990 British Grand Prix
18	1985 Monaco Grand Prix	44	1990 Spanish Grand Prix
19	1985 British Grand Prix	45	1993 South African Grand Prix
20	1985 Austrian Grand Prix	46	1993 San Marino Grand Prix
21	1985 Italian Grand Prix	47	1993 Spanish Grand Prix
22	1986 San Marino Grand Prix	48	1993 Canadian Grand Prix
23	1986 Monaco Grand Prix	49	1993 French Grand Prix
24	1986 Austrian Grand Prix	50	1993 British Grand Prix
25	1986 Australian Grand Prix	51	1993 German Grand Prix
26	1987 Brazilian Grand Prix

Career Results

Complete Formula One Results
Year	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	Pts	Pos
1980																	5	16th
	6th	5th	DNS	INJ	Ret	Ret	Ret	6th	11th	7th	6th	7th	Ret	DNS
1981																	34	5th
	Ret	Ret	3rd	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	1st	Ret	2nd	Ret	1st	1st	Ret	2nd
1982																	34	4th
	1st	1st	Ret	Ret	Ret	7th	NC	Ret	Ret	6th	2nd	Ret	8th	2nd	Ret	4th
1983																	57	2nd
	7th	11th	1st	2nd	3rd	1st	8th	5th	1st	4th	1st	Ret	Ret	2nd	Ret
1984																	71.5	2nd
	1st	2nd	Ret	1st	7th	1st	3rd	4th	Ret	Ret	1st	Ret	1st	Ret	1st	1st
1985																	73 (76)	1st
	1st	Ret	DSQ	1st	3rd	Ret	3rd	1st	2nd	1st	2nd	1st	3rd	4th	3rd	Ret
1986																	72 (74)	1st
	Ret	3rd	1st	1st	6th	2nd	3rd	2nd	3rd	6th	Ret	1st	DSQ	2nd	2nd	1st
1987																	46	4th
	1st	Ret	1st	9th	3rd	3rd	Ret	7th	3rd	6th	15th	1st	2nd	Ret	7th	Ret
1988																	87 (105)	2nd
	1st	2nd	1st	1st	2nd	2nd	1st	Ret	2nd	2nd	2nd	Ret	1st	1st	2nd	1st
1989																	76 (81)	1st
	2nd	2nd	2nd	5th	1st	Ret	1st	1st	2nd	4th	2nd	1st	2nd	3rd	Ret	Ret
1990																	71 (73)	2nd
	Ret	1st	4th	Ret	5th	1st	1st	1st	4th	Ret	2nd	2nd	3rd	1st	Ret	3rd
1991																	34	5th
	2nd	4th	DNS	5th	Ret	Ret	2nd	3rd	Ret	Ret	Ret	3rd	Ret	2nd	4th
1992	Sabbatical
1993																	99	1st
	1st	Ret	3rd	1st	1st	4th	1st	1st	1st	1st	12th	3rd	12th	2nd	2nd	2nd

Key
Symbol	Meaning		Symbol	Meaning
1st	Winner		Ret	Retired
2nd	Podium finish		DSQ	Disqualified
3rd			DNQ	Did not qualify
5th	Points finish		DNPQ	Did not pre-qualify
14th	Non-points finish		TD	Test driver
Italics	Fastest Lap		DNS	Did not start
18th†	Classified finish (retired with >90% race distance)		NC	Non-classified finish (<90% race distance)
4thP	Qualified for pole position		[+] More Symbols

Quotes

"Prost is not a great qualifier, but he has an incredible record of fastest race laps and actually winning races. He has the most staggering ability to win races." - David Hobbs. ESPN. 1990 Brazilian Grand Prix.

"This is where Prost is so good, he knows how to win races. It seems to me that this is a secret that is just alluding Senna."- David Hobbs. ESPN. 1990 Brazilian Grand Prix.

"World Champion, Alain Prost has already taken the number one Ferrari to victory in Brazil. Prost, after all those years at McLaren has settled easily into the Ferrari team." - Andrew Marriott. Eurosport. 1990 San Marino Grand Prix Build-Up.

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