The Great Rivalry- Prost versus Senna

“A special Hello to my dear friend Alain. We all miss you.”

With these words said via car to pit radio during the weekend of the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, it was clear the feud was over. The long, bitter quarrel that had raged over many years against the backdrop of the most competitive motorsport arena had finally come to resolution.

The two great rivals Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost had spoken. Following Alain Prost’s retirement as the 1993 champion, Senna’s attitude towards Prost changed remarkably. Ayrton treated Alain differently, as a colleague rather than a competitor. Sadly later that weekend in San Marino while negotiating Tamburello early in the race, Senna’s Williams Renault bottomed out over the same bump as previous laps- but this time Senna didn’t, couldn’t hold it. There was a fault in the steering column that rendered his steering numb and useless. Senna was a passenger as his Williams slammed straight into the concrete wall at around 150mph. It was a horrendous crash, though it is believed that Senna would have survived except for the unfortunate, cruel blow to the head from a suspension part that pierced his helmet. Tragically Ayrton Senna da Silva succumbed to his great wounds later that day. It was part of a black weekend where fellow driver Roland Ratzenberger lost his life and close friend Rubens Barrichello ended up in hospital after shocking accidents. Brazil declared three days of mourning and people openly wept in the streets. Alain Prost was quoted as saying “I have lost my greatest rival. The only driver that I ever respected…”

Formula 1 and motorsport in general had lost one of its heroes. The charismatic Brazilian, the terror in the yellow helmet. His memory lives on with those who were fortunate enough to see this fierce competitor behind the wheel. Alain Prost felt as though part of him died that day too, so tightly these two competitors, now friends were connected.

Ayrton Senna was one of the most gifted drivers of the modern era. As far as raw talent, his abilities in the car were astounding. Throughout his illustrious career he earned a reputation for rising to a higher level in qualifying – at the time of his death holding the record for the most pole positions with 65. In the race sometimes it was no different; he had the capability to do a fantastic first lap and simply disappear from the field. Though often rash and prone to the occasional silly mistakes that cost him good finishes, Senna scored 41 Grand Prix victories. A key attribute was his aggression, allowing him to slice through the lapped cars with ease. In wet conditions he was even more superior, leaving everyone else in his wake. He became World Champion three times- in 1988, 1990 and 1991.

While Senna relied on a ruthless driving nature that endeared him to his millions of fans, Prost was more mature and drove more tactical races. He preferred to focus on race setup and driving the race to his preconceived plan rather than the fastest qualifying lap. Prost was not usually as quick as Senna in qualifying; such was Senna’s blistering pace and ability to focus so intently on a single lap. But don’t be mistaken for thinking that because of this Prost was not quick – he was, blindingly so. You could see this over the course of a race distance. He never appeared ragged or under pressure but his lap times were deceptively rapid. He was much more a complete driver than Senna – perhaps the most complete race driver of all time.

In qualifying his rationale was that one did not always have to start first to win, if the car qualified in the top four then that it was easy enough to be victorious. Prost won 51 Grands Prix, the most in Formula One history until Michael Schumacher came along and rewrote the record books years later. Often during the race Prost would settle for second or third place, rather than risking his car and a good finish to catch the leader. He was also very easy on the car, protecting his machinery from too much wear and tear in case he needed the engine, tyres, etc in good shape later in the race. It was this tactical approach and incredible smoothness in his driving that earned him the nickname ‘The Professor’. He became World Champion four times and finished second or better in eight of his thirteen career seasons, retiring on a high note after becoming World Champion in his final season.

Dream Beginnings and Teamwork

Let us turn the clock back a few years to the close of the 1987 Formula 1 season. Nelson Piquet had won his third Championship from Williams-Honda team mate Nigel Mansell. The new shining star Ayrton Senna was third in the similarly engined Lotus while fourth was Prost in the ageing McLaren-TAG. The following year two significant additions would join Prost at McLaren to form the modern F1 Dream Team. Fans relished the chance of seeing Alain Prost with his new team mate Ayrton Senna battling it out in their newly Honda motivated McLarens…the 1988 season couldn’t come soon enough.

At first the two new team mates discussed the set-up of the cars and shared testing. While completely different people, their talents created a tremendously productive partnership. However Senna was a young star full of potential with sights set on becoming the number one driver in the sport and beating his illustrious team mate, already a twice World Champion by 1988. Soon, Prost noticed Senna was quite introverted and was less friendly with him than his previous team mate Stefan Johansson.

Putting this aside for a moment, history shows the McLaren MP4/4 of 1988 as class of the field; between them the dream team took 15 of a possible 16 wins. The season wasn’t without its share of incidents between the two and psychologically things were simmering behind closed doors towards the end of the season.

These mind games almost boiled over at Round 13, in Portugal. At the start of the race Prost, who had for a change qualified fastest, slipped back to second after being out dragged by Senna on the cleaner side of the grid. Prost made an attempt to protect his position, slightly squeezing Senna towards the grass on the side of the track but Senna held on and led the first lap. This weekend, however, Prost was in no mood to hang about. Full of confidence and looking to gain an edge over Senna he pulled alongside to pass as they came down the front straight to start the second lap. Senna then made a very aggressive chop, swerving straight at Prost. Alain used aggression against aggression, kept his foot down and passed Senna; it was very dangerous and could have resulted in a monumental high-speed crash. Later, after winning the race, Prost was not amused and words were exchanged between the two.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zznJjSncGCE

Senna went on to win the 1988 championship taking eight wins to Prost’s seven. The season came to a sporting end with Alain Prost gallant in defeat. “Senna was too good this year,” admitted Prost, already looking forward to next season.

The Sporting Rivalry becomes bitter

Formula 1 fans waited impatiently for the 1989 season to start, eager to witness Prost’s advance on Senna’s title. However unlike the previous year, this season was not to have an amicable outcome. Throughout the year, the battle grew somewhat ugly with the sporting rivalry turning hostile. The McLaren-Honda team was pushed to the limit just in keeping up with its drivers.

Round 2 in San Marino proved the tipping point. The McLaren was again the class of the field, the car’s superiority attributed as much to the designers and engineers as the drivers, who themselves refined the McLaren-Honda combination after exhaustive test sessions. The net result was that both Senna and Prost were lapping 2-3 seconds proud of anyone else.

After over a year of enjoying their superiority on the track, the two drivers had developed a gentlemen’s agreement. Since they were so superior it made no sense to attack each other at the start so whoever led away would be allowed to proceed unchallenged into the first corner. It relied on both the honesty and integrity of each other’s word.

Senna got the drop on Prost at the start and both McLarens were drawing away until Gerhard Berger’s Ferrari hit the wall on the outside of the fast Tamburello curve. Within seconds the whole car was engulfed in flames. Fortunately Gerhard was fine apart from some burns to parts of his body.

As the race was red flagged it necessitated a restart. This time it was Prost who led away from the grid, not defending his line through Tamburello or the first corner Tosa as per the standing gentlemen’s agreement. Imagine his shock then, to see Senna slithering up the inside into the first corner and driving off into the distance. Prost was demoralised; his word had always been his bond and his fears about Senna had been justified. Senna duly won the race with Prost finishing a distant second. Afterwards Prost was asked if he had a problem during the race; his answer was a polite “no comment” as he stormed off to talk to McLaren team manager Ron Dennis in the motor home. Senna’s version of events was that the agreement stood for the race start, but it did not stand for the race restart. With his blatant disregard for their agreement, Senna’s integrity was shot to bits as as far as Prost was concerned: “Senna plays by his own rules and it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks or says about it,” Prost was later quoted as saying.

From that day forward the already strained relations between the two champion drivers quickly deteriorated. In his sixth consecutive year at McLaren, Prost felt as though it was his team, his family. With the arrival of Senna and Honda the previous year it was supposed to add to that family, however soon after the San Marino weekend Prost felt himself becoming distant from Honda and some members of the McLaren team. Prost complained that his car and equipment was not to the standard of Senna’s and Senna spoke out that Prost just could not keep up his pace. Indeed, while Senna was usually quicker in qualifying there was an occasion at the Italian Grand Prix where the gap was over 1.7 seconds! In this instance Prost felt his engine was well down on power. Honda insisted they were exactly the same, but it seemed to Prost a little too coincidental that his car seemed inferior just as he had made an announcement that he was joining Ferrari for the 1990 season.

Prost won the Italian Grand Prix due to a combination of luck and an engine problem for Senna. On the victory rostrum, Prost enjoyed the cheers from the Italian fans and he dropped his winning trophy down to them, a gesture of defiance to McLaren and his perceived unfair treatment. Ron Dennis was not amused and dumped his winning constructor’s trophy at Prost’s feet before storming off. It seemed the perfect marriage between Prost, McLaren and Senna was shattered for good. Although Prost was ahead by 20 points in the championship standings with four races left, the obvious performance deficit to his team mate was worrying him. Despite this, Prost seemed to put it behind him and came out to perform well in the next two races, finishing second and third respectively. With two races remaining he was sixteen points ahead. The championship could be decided at Round 15 in Japan.

In simple terms Prost could win the title if Senna didn’t win the race. During an interview prior to the race Prost stated that many times over the past two seasons he had given in to avoid a crash with his team mate’s aggressive driving, but today it would be different. The door would not be open for Senna simply to walk though and he feared the two might collide on the track at some point if neither driver gave way.

It all boils over

The scene was set then – A race between the two champions for the Formula 1 crown. As the race started Senna had a bad start, allowing Prost to build a comfortable lead of five seconds. Over the next 40 laps the gap between the two drivers was never greater than five seconds, never less than two. The tension around the circuit could have been cut through with a knife. Senna dug deep and in the closing laps he had caught Prost. The crowd was on its feet!

On lap 46 of 53, Senna made a desperate lunge up the inside of Prost into the final chicane. He was a long way back, too far back as many would agree. As he stated before the race, Prost would not give in to an aggressive move and duly closed the door. The two cars collided.

Prost retired instantly, but Senna received a push start and eventually won the race. He was disqualified afterwards for the assisted restart as it was rightly deemed illegal by the stewards, and thus Prost was crowned Champion-elect.

Senna was gutted. McLaren launched an appeal on Senna’s behalf. The two drivers met in the McLaren garage and Prost congratulated Senna on a fine race, but Senna just ignored him. Later when asked about the incident Senna said he never caused the accident in Japan, it was not his “responsibilit”. Even after he was shown the race footage from the overhead helicopter view Senna is reported as saying “The video is wrong!” Incidentally, Senna did not win the last race of the season in Australia and Prost was officially crowned 1989 World Champion. It was not one of his happiest victories, and he left McLaren seeking happier times away from Senna with Ferrari.

The feud had reached epic proportions and it continued into the 1990 season. The two champions pushed their teams very hard during the championship but the pair maintained a bitter silence and kept their distance away from the track. Not so on track; the pair were almost inseparable. Once again the championship decider came down to the second last race in Japan though this time the roles were reversed…Senna would win the championship if Prost didn’t finish the race.

As usual Senna qualified first and Prost second in the Ferrari. Race day was going to be one hot ticket. Fears were high of another race incident similar to that of 12 months earlier, though most hoped to see a genuine fight for the title.

To say it was bitterly disappointing for race fans may be a little kind. After being refused his request to move pole position to the clean side of the track, Senna was furious and vowed to give his McLaren full power into the first corner- If anyone decided to turn in first there would be an accident and so be it.

Prost got a better start and was a car length ahead of Senna approaching the first turn. True to his personal vow, Senna rammed straight into the back of the Ferrari, sending them both spinning off the track, instantly out of the race. The body language said it all afterwards. Both drivers got out of their cars and walked in opposite directions. Senna had won his second championship in very controversial circumstances. To many this was Senna’s lowest point, where he showed his true colours. A ruthless racer who would do anything it takes to win. He faced a ban from Formula 1 and almost retired at the end of the season.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6qdIRzbukM

The coming of the 1991 season saw an uncompetitive Ferrari for Prost. Senna’s McLaren was simply too superior and the two did not get a chance to fight for the championship that year. That did not stop occasional on-track spats- a near-miss in Germany where Prost was run off the track as he went to pass Senna kept the feud in the press, Prost vowing to ‘push him out’ the next time they met.

Senna ended up with his third championship while Prost publicly criticized his team’s lack of performance and was promptly fired late in the season. The Senna fan camp now felt this was one of Prost’s low points on top of blaming him for the crash in the 1989 Japanese Grand Prix.

In 1992 Prost took a sabbatical year from Formula 1. The psychological toll of the past four seasons was great and time was needed to refresh his hunger for Formula 1 racing. Ayrton Senna did not win the championship in 1992 with his increasingly uncompetitive McLaren coming up against the mighty Nigel Mansell in the Williams-Renault.

The 1993 season dawned with Prost returning to Formula 1 at the wheel of the Williams-Renault. Senna was still racing for McLaren but was using Ford customer engines instead of the factory Honda after the Japanese manufacturer pulled out after 1992. In competitive machinery again, Prost and Senna resumed their on track battles. Senna was valiant in the slightly inferior McLaren but Prost won seven races to Senna’s five on his way to a fourth and last World Driver’s Championship.
After finishing second to Senna at the final race in Australia, Alain Prost officially retired. He spoke to Senna about perhaps shaking hands on the podium in front of the TV cameras and putting on a good show for the fans. Senna didn’t say a word, but invited Prost onto the top step of the podium after the presentations. The two great rivals standing side by side on the top step was a striking sight.

For five years the Prost vs Senna rivalry captivated the majority of F1 fans and community, polarising them into two groups. You were either a Senna fan and Prost was the enemy, or you were a Prost fan and couldn’t stand the sight of Senna leading a race. Their rivalry, their feud…their war was so fierce it shocked some but in essence it was truly wonderful. It pushed the two men far above anyone else, to heights never thought attainable. When Prost finally retired as champion at the end of the 1993 season, the two great rivals finally put aside their quarrels and started patching up their personal relationship together.

It is my belief that there will not be a rivalry as fierce and exciting as Prost vs Senna for a very long time, perhaps never again. Something that special with two enormously talented drivers such as Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost does not come along that often.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKKgrMROP7s

Summary of results
88-93 (excluding 92)
Total races – 80
Total Senna and Prost wins combined – 56
Percentage win rate Prost 23/80 = 29%
Percentage win rate Senna 33/80 = 41%
Percentage Win rate combined – 56/80 = 70%

Total points 88-93 (except 92)
Senna – 90, 60, 78, 96, 73 = 397
Prost – 87, 76, 71, 34, 99 = 367

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