26 replies to this topic

[man]

I suppose people will select 1 from his 51 victories, but for me his best ever race was the Japanese GP of 1987. His had a puncture very early on and had to crawl around to the pits at walking pace so as not to damage the car. Once out on fresh boots he put in an amazing driving to finsish in 7th I think. I also recall Michele Alboreto driving through the field that day after a poor get away from the start line. I think 1987 was the year when Prost was at his peak even though he only won 3 GP's (poor by his standards). The McLaren of '87 was really let down by the under powered Tag engine but I think it was quite a well balanced car.

Am I right in believing that McLaren were going to run in 1988 with a slightly modified verion of the '87 chassis with the Honda engine before very late in the winter, they decided to introduce the new low-line MP4/4? I wish McLaren did use the '87 chassis because Ferrari may of had a better chance! Also, did Ayyrton Senna test the '87 chassis during the winter period? If so how did his times compare to Prost's?

[Louis Mr. F1]

I've seen pictures of Prost testing the Honda engine in a 87 car, (with a big Honda logo on the nose),not sure about Senna, but I think Senna wouldn't allow a test to happen without his partication.

Back to the topic, Prost best race could be 86 Belgian GP, similar circumstance to Japan 87. At the start, there's a collision between Berger and Senna, which caused Prost to "bent his nose" cone and dropped to last when every car went by. Got going slowly and into the pit to change the nose. Lost alot of time. Came out and putting a brilliant performance ot finish 6th for 1 point. that 1 point turned out to be crucial for the
championship. More siginificantly, John Barnard said a engine part was actually bent like a banana shape and he had no idea how Prost could put up such performance.
I also agree 87 Japan was very good.
other candidate: Mexico 90, France 88 and Hungary 88 (even though he didnt win)

I think 86 was his peak year

[mikedeering]

I too have seen pictures of the 87 MP4/3 with Honda logos. Prost was driving, but as Louis said I expect Senna had runs too.

His best races must include Spa 86 and Suzuka 87, but also South Africa 82. He led easily, was forced to pit, dropped down to 5th I think and then blasted back past everyone in about 15 laps and won.

[Rediscoveryx]

I totally agree on Spa 1986. Jerez 1990 was a great drive as well and he had some overlooked races in 1993 as well...

[stavelot]

Mexico 1990: 13th on the grid, then overtaking to the win.

Spain or Portugal 1987: he overtook the fighting duo Alboreto/Berger in the same lap!

[Haddock]

I seem to remember that Senna' s testing times in the MP4/3 were very slow.
Rosberg reckoned that the MP4s up to that time understeered a lot, and that only Prost could really go quickly in that
sort of car. Of course, Rosberg may simply have been explaining away how he was comprehensively beaten by Prost when they were team mates at McLaren together....but it may be that had McLaren not introduced a radically different car in 1988, Prost would have walked off with the title.

[King Nigel]

I am not a fan of this driver, even if I am French, but I remember a race nobody ever mention : the '93 canadian GP. I've never been impressed by Prost but that week-end, he outshined everybody and seemed to be driving in another world. It's just my point of you, the rest's not impressed.

[karlth]

Tiny quiz:

There was a special kind of overtaking Prost seemed to be especially good at. Anyone remember what kind?

[Louis Mr. F1]

you mean he conserved his tires better than anyone else and he'd overtake when others were in the pit to change their tires?
Canada93, that's a unique choice! but like many of his victories, his drives were mostly unspectacular but not neccessarily unimpressive.

[karlth]

Originally posted by Louis Mr. F1
you mean he conserved his tires better than anyone else and he'd overtake when others were in the pit to change their tires?

No, something else.

[karlth]

Answer: Overtaking two cars at the same time.

[911]

Suzuka - 1987
Mexico - 1990
French - 1988

911

[SennasCat]

The Kyalami GP of (I think 81 maybe 82) when Prost got a flat tyre, which also knocked off some of the winglet aero aids near the back tyre. Put new tyres on and absolutely went for it. Ended up winning - I was impressed.

Not a huge fan of Prost, but must give credit where credit was due.

His drive in a car pretty much bent in half after a first corner silly - finishing in the points from memory - was pretty impressive

[Haddock]

I was always more a fan of Senna than Prost, though they were both sublime talents....
Senna just happened to be more exciting to watch a lot of the time.

Anyway, for anyone who hasn't read it before, I recommend an article on Denis David's site

Appreciating the professor

A great description of the nature of his talent, and why he deserves to be considered one of the greats

[Rediscoveryx]

Thanks Haddock, that was a great article!

[andrea]

Prost's best race:South African GP 1982.The left rear tyre had deflated on lap 41,so he had too back in the pits to changed it.When he came back on the track he was a lap down to a leader
(Arnoux).He drove extremely fast so on lap 68 he was leader again and won the race.

Forza Andrea,

[ghinzani]

SPa 86 - drove entire race with a bent car at this mostly quick cornered track, and maintained same speed as the leaders despite being a lap down.

[giacomo]

Prost delivered dozens of great races, but Kyalami 82 always springs to my mind in that connection.

[chrisj]

Mexico 1990. I still think that's (one of) the best GP I've ever seen. It was a fantastic drive by Prost.

[Lee Towers]

He was a bit quicker than the same pace as the leaders at Spa in '86 -

His fastest lap was a 1:59.282, next best was Senna, 1:59.867, 0.585 slower!

Edited by Lee Towers, 22 January 2010 - 23:11.

[FenderJaguar]

I was always more a fan of Senna than Prost, though they were both sublime talents....
Senna just happened to be more exciting to watch a lot of the time.
Anyway, for anyone who hasn't read it before, I recommend an article on Denis David's site
Appreciating the professor
A great description of the nature of his talent, and why he deserves to be considered one of the greats

Thank you very much. I haven't visited that site for some time. Excellent reading.

Edited by FenderJaguar, 23 January 2010 - 00:42.

[CSquared]

Mexico and Spain 1990 were both amazing to watch. It was a shame Senna didn't finish either one, although he was already beaten in both when he retired. I think 1990 was an incredible season from Prost. There's so much talk about how much it meant that Schumacher was the first to win a title for Ferrari in so long, but Prost came soooo close that year.

[COUGAR508]

Mexico 1990. I still think that's (one of) the best GP I've ever seen. It was a fantastic drive by Prost.

I think I would agree. He started thirteenth on the grid, and just bided his time while others ahead of him encountered tyre problems.

[Victor_RO]

I think I would agree. He started thirteenth on the grid, and just bided his time while others ahead of him encountered tyre problems.

Same kind of strategic gamble in Brazil in 1987. Went in a different set-up direction to everyone else, needed less tire stops as a consequence, and beat Piquet in the almighty Williams-Honda FW11 by 40-odd seconds.

[jcbc3]

Portugal 1987 sticks in my mind. When chasing Berger, even on television you could see he was absolutely nailing every single lap.

[COUGAR508]

Portugal 1987 sticks in my mind. When chasing Berger, even on television you could see he was absolutely nailing every single lap.

There was a certain air of inevitability when Berger made a mistake and had a spin.

Another Prost victory which springs to mind is France 1990, where had had the patience to await developments ahead of him, and then picked off Capelli's Leyton House.

[alfaronny]

IMOLA 91