Prost “knew everything” about what Senna was going through at Williams

The career ofAyrton Senna remains forever inseparable fromAlain Prost, and even if the Frenchman sometimes regrets that his is limited to this rivalry, he is aware of its historical and, probably, eternal magnitude. Since the disappearance of the Brazilian at Imola, 30 years ago on May 1, he has regularly testified and evoked the personality of the man who was his teammate at McLaren in 1988 and 1989, with great tensions as a result.

We also know the story of this late reconciliation, the gesture of Ayrton Senna on the last podium of the Teacheror even these words, “I miss you Alain”sent via an on-board radio a few hours before heading off to a broken destiny.

Alain Prost was five years older than Ayrton Senna, and that’s roughly the same gap that separated their F1 debuts. But if the talent of the native of São Paulo exploded very early in the premier category, the French driver admits to having only really taken the measure of it when they rubbed shoulders under the same colors. “It wasn’t until 1988 when I saw him in the same car [que moi]that I knew how good he was”he confides in an interview with Motorsport Magazine. “Then, during our first test together at Imola, I realized how difficult it would be.”

“Where he impressed me, I have to say it was sometimes in qualifying, I don’t remember exactly when”he adds. “Never in race conditions. Never. In race conditions and in warm-up, I was the fastest most of the time.”

The heightened rivalry at McLaren is often perceived today by the public as a golden period, regularly recalled with great nostalgia. The bitterness of this fratricidal struggle is, however, not the best memory of Alain Prost in Formula 1, in a period where the antagonism was such that we were dealing with two irreconcilable camps at all levels. “Ayrton represented more of the panache”he agrees. “I was the professor, more clinical. He was mystical and people liked that.” A test, even in France.

“When Ayrton arrived [chez McLaren]we have reached a certain level of performance and, obviously, we enjoy the race a little less. When I was fighting with Keke [Rosberg] or Niki [Lauda], or anyone else, there were fans. But with Ayrton, the fans were… even if it was 50-50, they either love you or they hate you. The difference was enormous. I tell you, I suffered a lot, so you can’t appreciate things in the same way.”

“And one of the countries where I suffered the most was France. It always comes from your own country. I can’t say I enjoyed the fight, and I lost [l’occasion] some great performances because of that. I’m the type of person who needs to feel free and happy. I need to have fun and relax. It was more difficult.”

I knew everything about the Williams, everything about his position in the car, everything about what he was asking for, everything about how he wasn’t happy in the team.

What Alain Prost was not aware of at that time, however, was the obsession that he actually represented for his opponent. “We talked about it several times afterwards, and I didn’t realize how much he focused on me until I came to F1”he emphasizes. “His motivation was to be World Champion, but his biggest motivation was to beat me.”

The shortest period of the Prost-Senna tandem will thus remain that which followed the end of the Frenchman’s career, after his fourth world title in 1993. He gave way to his greatest rival in the seat of Williams and, until the fatal Sunday at Imola, he was perfectly aware of the start of the season far from being dreamed of by the Brazilian.

“There have been three Ayrtons for me”he concludes. “The one before F1, when he watched me race, he watched everything I did, the way I did it. Of course the one I was with, in the same team or outside. And finally the one when I retired. We spoke very often, every week, twice a week. I knew everything about the Williams, everything about his position in the car, everything about what he was asking, everything about the fact that. “He wasn’t happy in the team, everything about his personal life. It was unbelievable.”