Alain Prost with Gilles s

Another great driver featured here on in2motorsports.com. Celebrating his birthday this past week, the legendary Alain Prost “The Professor” is a four time Formula One Drivers’ Champion, only Lewis Hamilton, ( seven championships), 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 as well. He also received the prestigious World Sports Awards of the Century in the motor sport category in 1999.

Alain Marie Pascal Prost, OBE, was born February 24th 1955 in Lorette, Loire, France. Motorsport came relatively late to him as he discovered karting at the age of 14 during a family holiday. He was hooked.

Once he started 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 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.

It didn’t take long for him to return, this time with his own race team as he took over the French Ligier team, running it as Prost Grand Prix until it went bankrupt in 2002.

Prost employed a smooth, relaxed style behind the wheel, deliberately modelling 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, he would often conserve his brakes and tyres early on in a race, leaving them fresher for a challenge at the end.

He is still around race cars and Formula one and can often be found in the paddocks during race weekends. He also competes in the Andros Trophy, which is an ice racing championship.

A selection of books on Prost here.

Tribute video here.

Another video showing his skills as a driver here.

Click images to enlarge,