SportSport.ba

The legend of Ayrton Senna is hard to resist. A phenomenal master of the flying lap, a fearless and uncompromising racer, able on his day to do things with a car others couldn’t, spectacular in the wet, worshipped almost as a god in his native Brazil, and died tragically when in the lead of a Grand Prix. Probably the single most charismatic racing driver of them all, and many consider him the greatest full stop.

I get all that. I’m a fan. When I need reminding why I love Formula One, I go back to Senna’s landmark moments, races like Japan 1988, Portugal 1985, Brazil 1991, Donington 1993 etc.

So naturally he was better than Prost, then?

Hmmmm… it’s not quite that simple.

Alain Prost’s reputation suffers from being cast as the villain in the Ayrton Senna legend. He was the political schemer who ‘stole’ the 1989 title; the schmuck who got beaten by 1.5 seconds in qualifying by a guy in the same car; the coward who vetoed Senna joining him at Williams in 1993; who then got lapped by Senna at Donington despite having a far better car, and retired rather than have Senna join him at Williams in 1994.

Senna’s headline performances are easy to recall. Bit harder with Prost. He was just always there.

This was because Prost was the “Professor”, the ultimate professional. Studious. Meticulous. Considered. Consistent. Not the most romantic or sexy qualities, one might say. But those qualities meant he was present at the sharp end, time and time again.

In short, Prost wasn’t only the “villain” of the piece, he was “boring” too.

It’s not hard to see why this pervasive myth has developed. It’s irresistible.

Senna was better over one lap, and he was by far the more spectacular racer out of the two of them, certainly the most charismatic. In terms of the moments people remember, it’s Senna every time.

But pesky statistics tell another story. Prost was quietly brilliant. He was finished either first or second in the championship every year between 1983 and 1990, excepting 1987 when his equipment simply wasn’t good enough. Of the years he finished second, twice he lost the championship only at the last race, of the others he was beaten only by a quirk of the scoring system (1988) and by Senna deliberately taking him out (1990). After 1984, Prost had a world champion as teammate six times (Lauda, Rosberg, Senna twice, Mansell and Hill) and outscored them all.

It’s very easy to see why “Prost Denial Syndrome” has taken such a firm hold over Ayrton Senna’s fans. As I said, I’m one of them. But Prost’s actual record suggests he was every bit as great a driver when considering the complete package. Possibly, because of his consistency and lack of mistakes… whisper it… maybe even slightly better.

Just not as sexy.