Alain Prost
Alain Prost
Alain Marie Pascal Prost, OBE, Chevalier de la Légion d'honneuris a French former racing driver. A four-time Formula One Drivers' Champion, only Sebastian Vettel, Juan Manuel Fangio, and Michael Schumacherhave equalled or surpassed his number of titles. From 1987 until 2001 Prost held the record for most Grand Prix victories. Schumacher surpassed Prost's total of 51 victories at the 2001 Belgian Grand Prix. In 1999, Prost received the World Sports Awards of the Century in the motor sport category...
NationalityFrench
ProfessionRace Car Driver
Date of Birth24 February 1955
CityLorette, France
CountryFrance
When you win a race like this the feeling is very, very good. There have been times when I have been flat-out to finish sixth, but you can't see that from the outside. In 1980 I finished three or four times in seventh place. I pushed like mad, yet everyone was gathered around the winner and they were thinking that I was just trundling around. But that's motor racing. So in fact the only thing you can judge in this sport is the long term. You can judge a career or a season, but not one race.
Without going to what I think is my limit. I always say that my ideal is to get pole with the minimum effort, and to win the race at the slowest speed possible.
Sometimes I think I could have got some better results if I had a different mentality; if I could have pushed hard and attacked. But then I would have had a good chance of making a mistake.
That is an important part of my success. Another big part of my success is that I hated not to finish a race.
So in fact the only thing you can judge in this sport its the longterm. You can judge a career or a season, but not one race.
A German team could be quite good. But maybe they are a little bit too convinced that they are the best.
I was looking at the history of the sport and I couldn't understand why there have been so many good South American drivers, especially Brazilians.
I like the mentality of the Americans. It's like when you talk about money.
People don't understand that it was maybe my biggest pleasure to drive an F1 car when it's wet.
One of my biggest problems this season was with the clutch at the start of the race. I hate to risk the car.
In 1980 I finished three or four times in seventh place.
It's always better to speak the language of the team. Not only for the direct contact with everyone - sometimes it also helps you to understand the mentality of the people in the team a bit better.
I have had some problems because the French don't like people to have success, they don't like the number one.
When I drove for British teams... they called me The Tadpole because I was too small to be a frog.