“Perhaps the most beautiful legacy of an exciting story” – Ayrton Senna was extremely eager to ensure Alain Prost stays on in Formula 1 after the 1993 season.
The 1993 Australian Grand Prix was Alain Prost’s last race in F1, but it could so easily have been otherwise. Otherwise, had his arch-rival Ayrton Senna successfully convinced him to not retire from the sport.
Why you ask?
Because for Senna, the biggest motivation was to beat Prost, reveals the latter. Such was the intensity of the rivalry between the two enormous legends and world champions.
“Ayrton focused on our challenge by putting 110% into it.
“His greatest motivation was almost exclusively to beat me, even if I wasn’t so focused on him. For this reason, after I retired in ’93, Senna was never the same again. His armour which he had built up in our rivalry, was gone and he looked fragile.
“For 1994 I had received an offer from McLaren, which had switched to Peugeot as engine supplier. Two days after the last GP of the 1993 season, Senna called me begging me to accept: ‘Alain, you have to stay in F1. Nobody motivates me among the other drivers like you do’. It was really sensational.”
Action from the 1988 French Grand Prix at Paul Ricard.
McLaren-Honda teammates Ayrton Senna & Alain Prost battle for the lead. Prost would go on to achieve a home victory.
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— 1980s F1 🏁 (@F1_1980_1989) December 22, 2021
Prost went from villain to friend in Senna’s home Brazil
The two greats were team-mates at McLaren for the 1988 and 1989 seasons, helping McLaren win the title both times (of course). While Senna took the Drivers’ crown in 1988, Prost beat the Brazilian to the gong the following season.
They were bitter teammates, and as such, Prost, a Frenchman, faced hostile crowds everytime he was in Brazil. But this changed before Senna’s tragic death in San Marino, 1994.
Two of the greatest of the sport became friends, and now Prost is adored in the Latin American country, also keeping in touch with Senna’s kin.
My life is linked to Ayrton.
“Today Brazil is like my second home, I have a lot of followers from that country on social media. I’m also still in touch with Senna’s sister, Viviane.
“It’s as if the division that existed during our rivalry has disappeared and the human side has taken over. Perhaps the most beautiful legacy of an exciting story.”
