Alain Marie Pascal Prost, OBE, Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur (born 24 February 1955 in Lorette, Loire) is a French racing driver. A four-time Formula One Drivers' Champion, only Sebastian Vettel (four championships), Juan Manuel Fangio (five championships), and Michael Schumacher (seven championships) have 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.Prost discovered karting at the age of 14 during a family holiday. He progressed through motor sport's junior ranks, winning the French and European Formula Three championships, before joining the McLaren Formula One team in 1980 at the age of 24. He finished in the points on his Formula One début in Argentina and took his first race victory at his home Grand Prix in France a year later, while he was driving for the factory Renault team.During the 1980s and early 1990s, Prost formed a fierce rivalry mainly with Ayrton Senna, but also Nelson Piquet and Nigel Mansell. In 1986, at the last race of the season, he managed to pip Mansell and Piquet of Williams to the title after Mansell retired late on in the race, and Piquet was pulled in for a late precautionary pit stop. Senna joined Prost at McLaren in 1988 and the two had a series of controversial clashes, including a collision at the 1989 Japanese Grand Prix that gave Prost his third Drivers' Championship. A year later at the same venue they collided again, but this time Prost, driving for Ferrari, lost out. Before the end of a winless 1991 season Prost was fired by Ferrari for his public criticism of the team. After a sabbatical in 1992, Prost joined the Williams team, prompting reigning drivers' champion Mansell to leave for CART. With a competitive car, Prost won the 1993 championship and retired from Formula One driving at the end of the year.In 1997, Prost took over the French Ligier team, running it as Prost Grand Prix until it went bankrupt in 2002. He currently competes in the Andros Trophy, which is an ice racing championship.Prost employed a smooth, relaxed style behind the wheel, deliberately modeling himself on personal heroes like Jackie Stewart and Jim Clark. He was nicknamed "The Professor" for his intellectual approach to competition, though it was a name he did not particularly care for. Skilled at setting up his car for race conditions, Prost would often conserve his brakes and tyres early on in a race, leaving them fresher for a challenge at the end.Prost is also a two time Absa Cape Epic finisher. He first completed the race in 2012 and then again in 2013, but did not manage to complete the marathon stage race in 2014.
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.
2
I always work the same way, starting from the beginning of the weekend, so I know at the beginning of the race, from all that I have analyzed during the practice, whether I will win the race or not.
3
In 1980 I finished three or four times in seventh place.
4
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.
5
When you win a race like this the feeling is very, very good.
6
I don't like to go over curbs, because I don't want to be hard on the car.
7
I have no problem with the people who work hard to get success. But I think people are very jealous about success. I work very hard and they don't appreciate that.
8
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.
9
Do you know, why I really love my helmet that much? Because it makes me 15 centimeters taller!
10
People don't understand that it was maybe my biggest pleasure to drive an F1 car when it's wet.
11
You can't always have the best team. It's always a compromise.
12
You want to have fun but you also want to work well. Sometimes I was quite happy at Ferrari, because we would have fun, but then they could not stop having fun and go back to the real work.
13
When I test I never go right to the limit. Only because when you are below the limit you can go at the same speed all day, and that's the only way you can be absolutely sure about what you are testing.
14
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.
15
I think maybe the English don't want to try something and look stupid, because they are a bit reserved.
16
I have had some problems because the French don't like people to have success, they don't like the number one.
17
Maybe I am not French, maybe I am from nowhere.
18
The people who criticize you will not be the ones taking care of your legs when you are in your wheelchair. People who never drove a car in these conditions, they just don't know.
19
It's not too good to have this attitude in F1. It could be a disadvantage.
20
When I look fast, I'm not smooth and I am going slowly. And when I look slow, I am smooth and going fast.
21
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.
22
One of my biggest problems this season was with the clutch at the start of the race. I hate to risk the car.
23
That is an important part of my success. Another big part of my success is that I hated not to finish a race.
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I'm brave to say that I won't take this sort of risk.
25
Does it scare me, driving into nothing at 300kph? - Of course it does - I'm not an idiot...
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Fact
1
Has supported Nicolas Sarkozy's 2007 presidential campaign.
2
His son, Nicolas Prost, is also a racing driver.
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His driving style was so perfect that he was often regarded as being dull to watch!
4 times World Champion of Formula One (1985, 1986, 1989 and 1993), he was also 4 times at the second place (1983, 1984, 1988 and 1990) and won 51 Grand Prix.
Thanks
Title
Year
Status
Character
Volando voy
2006
thanks
Self
Title
Year
Status
Character
Formula 1: Ten Sport
2016
TV Series
Himself
Formula 1: BBC Sport
2010-2015
TV Series
Himself - F1 World Champion 1985, 1986, 1989 & 1993 / Himself - F1 World Champion 1985, 1986, 1989 & 1993 (segment: F1 Forum) / Himself - World Champion 1993 / ...
$50 Million
