Prost talks about Senna and says he was underestimated: ‘In races, I was faster’ – 02/14/2024 – Sport

Alain Prost, 68, often reflects on how he will be remembered by future generations of motorsport fans. Four-time F1 world champion, fifth driver with the most victories in the history of the category, with 51 triumphs, or “just” Ayrton Senna’s great rival are the most remembered brands in relation to the Frenchman, although, in comparisons with the Brazilian, he says he is generally feel underestimated.

“It sounds like a joke, but I’m completely underestimated. I know it. I can see it. I don’t know why, but it’s my brand in a way,” he said in an interview with Motor Sport magazine.

“It looks like it will stay like this forever, it’s part of history,” added the Frenchman. “Look at my other teammates: [John] Watson, [René] Arnoux, [Eddie] Cheever, Niki [Lauda]Keke [Rosberg]Stefan [Johansson]Nigel [Mansell]Jean [Alesi] and Damon [Hill]. Nobody talks about them. I had five world champions as teammates, so it’s a shame.”

Prost, however, recognizes that Senna was the teammate who challenged him the most. So much so that, he says, after the Brazilian’s arrival at the McLaren team in 1988, the Frenchman already predicted that he would “have a difficult year”, with no room for error or time to “enjoy the races”.

“When Senna arrived, we reached a high level of performance and obviously you enjoy it a little less. I really suffered a lot, so you can’t enjoy it in the same way.”

The two were teammates for two seasons, in 1988 and 1989, a period in which they built an intense rivalry. In his first year, the Brazilian won the F1 title, the first of his three. In the second year, the Frenchman took the trophy after the controversial outcome of that championship, when he crashed into Senna’s car in the last race.

In 1990, when Prost started racing for Ferrari, Senna got back in practically the same way and won his second trophy after an accident with the Frenchman on the same Suzuka circuit, in Japan.

“Today you have social media and everyone is going back to videos of our fights. Sometimes I don’t understand. My career didn’t just last two or three years,” said Prost.

Episodes like those that occurred in Japan, however, helped to connect the stories of the two pilots in such a way that it is almost impossible to narrate the trajectory of one without mentioning the name of the other. Hence the inevitable comparisons, made even by Prost himself.

“Ayrton represented more brio. I was the ‘teacher’, clinician. He was ‘mystic’ and people liked that,” he told Motor Sport.

When asked if at any point Senna’s talent had impressed him, Prost made a point of defending his abilities.

“When did he impress me? I must say that sometimes it was in qualifying, I don’t remember exactly when. Never in race conditions. Never. In race conditions, in the warm-up, most of the time I was faster”, he assured.