Happy Birthday Alain Prost: The Legend who defeated Ayrton Senna in his prime

Everyone knows Ayrton Senna is one of the greatest racing drivers in Motorsport history. He is known for his versatile talent in wet conditions with unique braking and cornering techniques that changed the entire Formula 1 world to adopt his style. But one legendary driver defeated Senna during his prime, not once but four times.

Alain Prost is the Legendary F1 driver who became the greatest rival of Ayrton Senna till his retirement in the 1993 season. Today he turns 69 years old and let us remember the four-time Formula 1 world champion’s outstanding achievements and his legacy.

Happy Birthday Alain Prost

Alain Prost came into Formula 1 post-Niki Lauda era, alongside drivers like Nigel Mansell, Nelson Piquet, and Ayrton Senna. The 1980s were the glory days in Formula 1 as many new technologies and regulations were introduced in F1 and Alain Prost was one of those drivers trying that new generation of cars. But he is too intelligent, as he adapted to this latest generation of cars more quickly than other drivers. In his first-ever race, Prost scored points by finishing sixth and earning one point.

Most Toughest Teammate

Many people say Prost is not the best teammate to have in your team. But the reality is that the French driver always likes to dominate the grid. So he often indulges in fights with his teammates during races. The intra-team battles didn't happen that much in Formula 1. But after Prost's arrival, it happened everywhere he joined as a driver. Because of his fighting nature drivers like Ayrton Senna, Niki Lauda, and Nigel Mansell didn't have a good relationship with him as teammates. Even now many Formula 1 teams fear having two top drivers as they feel it destroys the team harmony. Alain was the one who started this new fear within the teams.

Senna's Greatest rival

It's been 30 years since Senna passed away, but we still can't match any driver rivalries as equal and tougher compared with Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna. It is like the 'Clash of the Titans' and it was a complete treat for the fans to watch the two drivers race each other. But, it was a complete disaster for McLaren as it needed to repair the damaged parts after the end of each race. 

Beating Senna in his prime

The two drivers had the same kind of skills and mindset and that was the biggest reason for their rivalry to get ignited. From the start, both drivers wanted to dominate each other leading to many crashes and collisions. In the 1988 season, Senna won one race more than Prost but still, Prost was leading in points as he was more consistent than Senna.

But at the end of the season, he lost the title to Senna by 3 points after a collision and a dramatic decision based on the new scoring system. Prost even felt Honda was favouring Senna over him and accused them. He then dramatically won the 1989 season title. He then moved to Ferrari for two years by breaking the deal with McLaren. He didn't have reliability there and in these years Senna won the F1 titles in the 1990 and 1991 seasons. 

Fourth F1 title

Alain Prost was desperate to win the F1 world championship against Senna but didn't have a competitive machine like McLaren Honda. So he decided to move to Williams Racing in 1993. His last year in Formula 1 was a championship-winning year as the Renault-powered Williams was the fastest car on the grid and Prost was unstoppable. Despite many efforts from Senna, Prost won the 1993 championship and the Brazilian finished second. After winning his fourth title Prost felt enough of racing and retired from F1. 

One of the all-time greats

With 7 World Championships & 92 GP victories between them, F1 legends Ayrton Senna & Alain Prost stood on an F1 podium for the last time.
Senna (McLaren) claiming his 41st & last win. Prost (Williams) 2nd in his 199th & last GP.

Australian GP, Adelaide, 7 November 1993.

© FOM pic.twitter.com/lIpWhCDnmp

— F1 Nostalgia 🏁 (@_F1_Retro) November 7, 2023

Prost is often called a ‘Professor’ because he is intelligent with his race strategy and decision-making which gave him an edge against legendary drivers like Senna, Piquet and Mansell. Despite having many issues with Senna, Prost had mutual respect for the Brazilian driver. They both worked together to improve the safety of F1 drivers and also voiced out for various issues in the world during that period. Senna even wanted Prost to head the Formula One Drivers Association as he felt Prost had the leadership skills to handle the association. Today we remember the French man for his driving abilities and great contributions to the sport. 

Also Read: Happy Birthday Niki Lauda: The Legend who conquered Fire and Fear