SPORTING LEGENDS: ALAIN PROST

SPORT: FORMULA 1

COMPETITIVE ERA: 1980 - 1993

Alain Marie Pascal Prost, (born February 24, 1955 in Saint-Chamond, Loire, France), simply known as Alain Prost, is a French racing driver.

He is best known for his Formula One career, in which he won the World Drivers Championships four times.

He is one of the most successful Formula One drivers of all time. During his Formula One career, which lasted from 1980 to 1993, he won 51 Grands Prix (a record until Michael Schumacher overtook this total in 2001) and won four World Drivers Championships (only Michael Schumacher and Juan Manuel Fangio have won more). Prost sports a rather crooked nose, due to it having been broken on several occasions. The rivalry between Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna is widely considered one of the most exciting ones between two sportsmen, and both were drivers clearly a class ahead of any other. Both during and after his racing career Prost received many honours, including: Legion d'Honneur (France, 1985), the Champion of Champions award (Grand Prix Former Drivers' Club, 1988), an OBE (Britain, 1993), and induction into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame (1999).

SPORTING LEGENDS: ALAIN PROST

Alain Prost enjoyed racing for the honour of the Tifosi. Throughout his career Prost also earned a set of nicknames; "The Professor" and "The Calculator" (owing to his smooth driving style - which strongly contrasted with more dramatic drivers such as Senna, and his carefully considered approach to race tactics), "The King of Rio" (Prost won six times in Brazil; five in Rio de Janeiro) and "Fast Son of a Bitch" (Coined by Niki Lauda). Outside of racing cars, Prost is a road cycling enthusiast, and has helped design bicycle frames for the French framebuilder Cyfac.

Prost was the F1 World Champion in 1985, 1986, 1989, and 1993, and runner-up in 1983, 1984, 1988 and 1990. He competed in 199 Grand Prix, 51 of which he won, and accumulated through his career 798.5 championship points. Prost also completed 41 fastest laps, and a record six home Grand Prix wins. In 1997 he bought the Ligier F1 team and renamed it Prost Grand Prix, but the team went into liquidation in early 2002.

SPORTING LEGENDS: ALAIN PROST Scott Burton’s Final Thought

Alain Prost was a truly great F1 driving champion. Along with his 4 World Championships, his legacy is made r icher via his legendary rivalry with Ayrton Senna. Their duels made for great racing spectacles, which are sti ll remembered by many F1 fans to this day. Prost was a very stylish driver, and only took risks during a race when he knew would pay off. Most of his decisions often did pay off, and his career stats reflect an amazing level of consitency. Since his retirement in 1993, France have yet to find a successor who may go on to match Prost’s achievements. Whoever it’s going to be, they’ll have a hell of a challenge!

Alain Prost is France’s greatest-ever champion in motor sport.

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