On This Day: Alain Prost’s Last Gasp Victory as Fuel Tank Hit Empty

F1 races have often turned out to be more entertaining than Hollywood thrillers. One of the major reasons for that was the poor reliability of the cars, and the multiple variables such as tire wear and fuel shortage that often came into play. Especially, back in the 1980s, the retirement rate in F1 was quite high. Out of the 26 cars that started the Grand Prix, only 10-12 finished on most occasions.

The San Marino GP in Imola on April 27th, 1986, was one such race when fewer than 10 drivers took the chequered flag. Five of them ran out of fuel, while most suffered retirements due to various issues, including with the turbo, engine, brakes, transmission, electrical systems, and whatnot.

However, the fuel shortage issue was the major talking point of the weekend as teams had struggled to calculate how much fuel they needed to complete the race around Imola. Piercarlo Ghinzani was the first driver to run out of fuel as the race entered its final 10 laps. Following him, Marc Surer, Thierry Boutsen, Keke Rosberg, and Riccardo Patrese also ran out of fuel on the final lap.

Apparently, Alain Prost, who had lapped all these drivers, was also frantically struggling to drag his car to the finish.

But the Frenchman somehow got his McLaren over the line to win the race before coming to a halt right after the finish line. Some would say he was lucky, but Prost was a master of tire and fuel conservation back in the day, which enabled him to rack up victories.

Back in the ’80s, drivers and teams knew that the races would have high attrition. Prost, though, was quite smart in using these retirements to play the percentage game and maximize his result in the championship.

39 years ago, the Professor — as he was fondly called in the paddock — did the same thing in Imola while his title rivals Nigel Mansell and Ayrton Senna retired early on in the Grand Prix due to an engine and wheel bearing issue, respectively. Mansell’s teammate, Nelson Piquet, kept his car on track to finish second behind Prost as Gerhard Berger finished third to take Benetton’s first F1 podium.

On this day in ’86 Alain Prost won for McLaren at #Imola. Ayrton Senna took pole but DNF’d (wheel bearing). #F1 pic.twitter.com/dTLT0ecDea

— McLaren (@McLarenF1) April 27, 2014

Still, the Frenchman’s win was crucial to get him into title contention. That entire 1986 title battle went down in history as one of the most enthralling F1 seasons. While Prost was constantly outgunned on pace by both the Williams of Mansell and Piquet, he overcame that threat by the season finale in Australia.

Prost beat Mansell and Piquet in an agonizing manner, particularly for Mansell, who had a tire failure at a crucial stage in the final stint of the Grand Prix in Adelaide. Eventually, the McLaren man secured his second consecutive world title by just two points over the British driver, while Piquet finished third, just one more point behind.