Alain Prost - F1 racer from France, who became a legend during his lifetime. Winner of 51 Grand Prix, four-time world champion. He is one of the best race car drivers of the twentieth century. This article will describe his brief biography.
Childhood
Alain Prost was born in the city of Lorett (France) in 1955. At school, the boy played football very well and planned to become a professional athlete. But everything changed one case. At the age of 14, Prost went with his family on a vacation to Saint-Etienne. There, Alain learned what karting is, and fell in love with him at first sight. The boy quickly forgot about football. Prost began to save money on buying a card. And when he bought his first car, he decided to devote his own life to racing.
Carier start
The first steps in this direction Prost Allen began to take in 1973. An eighteen-year-old Frenchman joined the Winfield team. Then Alain became a pilot of Formula Renault. The talented driver in the first season won 12 stages out of 13, becoming the champion of France.
"Formula 1"
In 1978, Alain Prost moved to Formula 3. In the first season, he failed to prove himself. But the second ended in triumph for the pilot - Alain became the champion of Europe and France. These successes have opened Simple way to the top of motorsport - to the strongest and most unique Formula 1. But there was one problem. Only pilots with sponsors were allowed to participate in the best races in the world. And Prost had none. The young man was helped by Fred Opert (a former employer), who assisted in signing Alain’s contract with the McLaren team.
The hero of this article from the first races showed excellent results. Here are just the cars that Allen operated, were not reliable. At one of the races, due to another car breakdown, Prost had an accident. The injuries did not allow the young man to continue the struggle for the title. Also, the situation arose significantly influenced the further career of the rider. Alain began to drive very carefully in order to avoid an accident. Unreliable and low-quality fireballs failed quite a few times. Prost, but he suffered. All this continued until qualification at Watkins Glen. Once again, Alena’s car took off from the track due to a flying off suspension. The pilot himself received a concussion. But the saddest thing in this story was that the McLaren put all the blame on Prost, demanding to take part in the Grand Prix. The young man refused and broke the contract with the team.
New contract
In 1981, Alain Prost signed an employment contract with Renault. Fans idolized a talented racer. It was only in the new team that things started to happen, because of which Alain left the old one - the safety of the fireballs left much to be desired. Nevertheless, in the first season, Prost won in three stages. Alain finished the following year with a fourth result.
In 1983, the Frenchman became almost the main contender for the championship in Formula 1. He led the entire season, but he was let down again by the car. This fact very upset the management of Renault, which terminated the contract with Alain. Racing enthusiasts also ceased to sympathize with the hero of this article. In connection with these events, the young man was simply forced to move from France to Switzerland.
Maclaren
Soon, Alain Prost, whose biography and statistics was periodically published in thematic magazines, returned to the old team. At the first Grand Prix, the Frenchman won a landslide victory. Although he ended the season unsuccessfully, losing with a record lag of 0.5 points (this achievement has not yet been beaten). 1985 - this is the year when Prost Alain made a breakthrough in his career. The race driver was able to win the “Formula 1". At that time, the pragmatic and stable Frenchman became unattainable for rivals. For his academic and intellectual driving, Alain received the nickname "Professor."
In 1986, the hero of this article defended his league title. After Jack Brabham, Prost became the first pilot to succeed. The following season, Alain set another record - 28 victories at the Grand Prix. Especially noteworthy is his win in Brazil, because the driver was able to get around Ayrton Senna himself. This was possible due to the fact that Prost tried to reduce tire wear and made one pit stop less.
Competition and care
In 1988, Senna came to McLaren. After that, Ayrton and Allen set a new record in Formula 1. Together, the riders won 15 victories in the season (the achievement was defeated by Barichello and Schumacher in 2002). In 1988, the hero of this article lost the league title to Senna. But in the next season he was able to win his third victory in the “Formula 1".
Soon, two talented pilots became very crowded in the team. And since Ayrton was a favorite of the McLaren leadership, Alain had to leave. To do this quietly failed. Alain Prost, offended by the McLaren bosses, joined the Ferrari with a scandal. In those days, the Italian team was not a favorite and had a lot of problems. But the arrival of the Frenchman changed everything.
Prost did a great test for the Italians. The leader of the championship was the McLaren with the powerful Honda engine. And Senna became the main rival of Alena. Since the start of the season, Ayrton has dominated everyone. But the hero of this article also did not sit idly by. In the first season, Prost won three Grand Prix and seized leadership several times during the championship. The Frenchman’s victory in Mexico was especially striking. Alain showed the thirteenth time on the warm-up lap and in the qualification. But during the race, he was able to get ahead of Mansell, Pique, Butsen, Patrese, Berger, Alesi, Donelli, Warwick, Martini, De Cesaris and Nannini. And nine laps before the finish, Prost also beat Ayrton Senna.
1991 was a failure for the Frenchman. All the fault lay with the Ferrari team, which did not have time to prepare a new car. During the season, Prost did not win a single victory. After that, the pilot decided to end his career.
Return
Alain Prost, whose biography is presented above, could not stand it without auto racing for more than a year. In 1993, he signed a contract with Williams. The return of the pilot was triumphant. Prost for the fourth time in his career took the title in Formula 1. Alain secured a victory in advance, bypassing Senna and Schumacher. After the triumph, he decided to finally end the race.
In 1997, the Frenchman returned to Formula 1 again, but not as a driver, but as the head of the Prost Grand Prix team. She worked for four years, but then ceased to exist due to financial difficulties.