The Prost Grand Prix team which have been in Formula I racing since taking over from Ligier in 1997 has yet to make its mark on the Championship. Indeed given team boss Alain Prost's reputation as one of the greatest drivers of all time, you could say a big dent has been created in the team's ... Read review
Advantages: Famous team boss;rebadged engines Disadvantages: Uncompetitive car
The Prost Grand Prix team which have been in Formula I racing since taking over from Ligier in 1997 has yet to make its mark on the Championship. Indeed given team boss Alain Prost's reputation as one of the greatest drivers of all time, you could say a big dent has been created in the team's image. Many people have been hugely disappointed at the team's inability to make any significant impact.The French-based team is desparate to try to remedy ... ...will necessitate the Prost AP04 car being a bit more competitive and for the two drivers between them to accumulate some championship points.Even Alain himself realistically does not expect to win GPs in the current season but a podium finish and some 5th and 6 th places would come in very handy.
The Prost AP04 is said to be a better car than its predessessors and the team has a rebadged Ferrari engine. Another important change concerns ... more
The Prost Grand Prix team which have been in Formula I racing since taking over from Ligier in 1997 has yet to make its mark on the Championship. Indeed given team boss Alain Prost's reputation as one of the greatest drivers of all time, you could say a big dent has been created in the team's image. Many people have been hugely disappointed at the team's inability to make any significant impact.The French-based team is desparate to try to remedy its past failings and give a boost to Prost. This will necessitate the Prost AP04 car being a bit more competitive and for the two drivers between them to accumulate some championship points.Even Alain himself realistically does not expect to win GPs in the current season but a podium finish and some 5th and 6 th places would come in very handy.
The Prost AP04 is said to be a better car than its predessessors and the team has a rebadged Ferrari engine. Another important change concerns tyres-Prost is shed with Michelin this season along with Williams,Benetton, Jaguar and Minardi.It is too early to judge whether that was a good decision or not but to neutrals it is good to see two tyre companies, Bridgestone and Michelin,battling it out on the tracks for supremacy. The entry of Michelin does bring some much needed competition.
As far as Prost's driver parings are concerned the team has opted for a blend of experience and youthful promise. No I driver is the enigmatic but vastly experienced Jean Alesi who for a short period in the recent Malaysian Grand Prix showed he still has some fire in his belly.But even the most experienced driver in Formua I will not be able to do much if he is driving a uncompetitve car-unfortunately the early signs are the Prost AP04 is not that competitive.Poor Jean has spent a number of years searching for a home in a tean that could make full use of his undoubted ability and experiince . He will be supported by the young Argentine driver Gaston Mazzacarne who brings carting, Formula 3 and limited FormulaI experience with him.In his debut season last year Mazzacarne's had some great scraps at the back of the field and these were impressive for a newcomer. He is tipped for great things but whether he will achieve greatness with the Prost team must remain open to doubt.
After two races Prost is still without any points and frankly other mid order teams such as BAR, Jordan, Sauber and certainly Williams BMW, look to considerably superior to the French team. It looks as though Prost will have most of their battles at the back of the field with the likes of Minardi.
Advantages: Nothing anymore... Disadvantages: Jean Alesi leaving, the Peugeot engines, losing Nick Heidfeld, the lack of money!
...made in heaven when Alain Prost moved into Ligier and named it after himself. The Ligier team is very historic and has great credentials. But a barren spell - excluding their lucky win at the hands of Olivier Panis at Monaco in 1996 - of poor luck and improving competition meant Ligier needed new management. It wasn't long until Mr Alain Prost was on his way to the defunct French team hoping to raise a decent team from the ashes. It seems ironnic ... ...1997, THE YEAR PROST ACTUALLY WERE GOOD!
The new partnership started of with flying colours. Olivier Panis was back for another year and Prost had aquired the services of unknown Japanese Shinji Nakano. Equipped with the quick and reliable, if ageing, Honda Mugen engine, Panis used the improved car to its full capabilities and put his Prost firmly where the Williams and Ferraris were hanging out - although his team mate remained stuck in the mid ...
Solex 20.12.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Prost
Advantages: Have provided rides for two promising drivers: Nick Heidfeld and Jarno Trulli. Disadvantages: Incompetent management, wrong choice of engine, useless design team.
If Alain Prost thought that his four world driver's titles might prove that he can make a second big impression on the Formula One world as a quality manager, he was quite mistaken. Prost Grand Prix came into existence in 1997, after Prost himself bought out the former French national team Ligier. In doing so he robbed F1 of one of its' last teams of great heritage. Ligier had never been one of the greatest teams, but they had a history of being ... ...impressive results. At least in Prost GP's first year, 1997, they looked like they might continue or even improve upon Ligier's form. Their first car was a basic development of the 1996 Ligier, and with the advantage of being one of the few cars on Bridgestone rubber, gave some promising performances at high tyre wear circuits such as Barcelona. However, after driver Olivier Panis broke both his legs at Montreal, Prost GP took a down spiral that ...
SkyscraperFanClub 24.03.2001
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prost are very much a mid field team despite having an excellent driver in jean alesi.u will find this team lingering in the middle of the grid in about 12th/13th place. realiability is a big problem for them this year as it has been in previous years and the speed of the cars is not up too scratch either.this car is generally uncompetitive and as a result the team picks up few points when it does manage to finish a race. their cars still need a ...
steveymacca 09.09.2000
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Alain Prost. Synonymous with 80's and early 90's racing. So why oh Why oh why can he not sort out his grand prix team. I will tell you why. He walks into team management with a fairly average team with a driver who is doing quite well at the time (oliver panis). Expects to manage the team as he did driving. In a winning way. Im afraid it does not work like that Alain. AS a driver you have to be very selfish. Concerned for yourself alone and nobody ...
andycharger 10.08.2000
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Advantages: All the right ingredients Disadvantages: None of them are working
Alain Prost was a damned good Grand Prix driver. He took control of Ligier at a time when they were on the up & up. He hired John Barnard & then Alan Jenkins to design his cars & acquired the services of no less a star than Jean Alesi. He has a works engine deal with Peugeot to boot, yet the team seems to be on the brink of disintegrating. The Peugeot engineers went on strike briefly at the French GP & Alesi has made several choice comments. Poor ...
Advantages: Track ethics; principles; deceptively quick; judgement Disadvantages: Not the greatest in qualifying
[Note: I have contacted Ciao to request they move this op to "Formula 1 > Drivers > All time greats".]
Let us consider the great Alain Prost, perhaps the finest F1 driver of the past 20 years. Yes, I said "finest". I can already hear the howls of anguished protest: "no, no", cry the Senna faithful, "Ayrton was the greatest! How can you even begin to compare Prost to such a genius?" Simple: because Alain was a genius too, and in many ways the Brazilian's superior.
Let me make one thing quite clear from the very beginning: I am not querying Senna's right to be numbered among Formula One's all-time greats. He was massively quick, incredibly brave and had quite astonishing car control, as anyone (not me, sadly) lucky enough to be at a sodden Donington Park in 1993 will recall. But that doesn't add up to a complete package, and although ...
davidbuttery 29.07.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Alain Prost
Advantages: Need new additions Disadvantages: Section is crap without them
What did Alain Prost do during his racing career to make him so bad at team management?
I dont know.
He was one of the best drivers of his generation, only rivalled by the great Ayrton Senna. It was poor Ayrton that ook most of the aimed anger during their battles together.
Alain burst ont othe scene in the early 80's driving firstly for the uncompetitive MacClaren Ford team. Sparce finishes were unable to show the mans true brilliance.
The new Turbo Powered Renault outfit offered Alain a new challenge in 1981. Turbos were unreliable at first, blowing up and exploding until they became reliable and uncatchable.
He was on the verge of his first world championship until a contract dispute with Renault forced him out of the team.
He then went and joined MacClaren in 1984 as they now had the TAG sponsored Porsche engines, again ...
andycharger 29.03.2001
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Advantages: Legendary driver Disadvantages: Has just had one of his records broken
Alain Prost is unarguably one of the all time great drivers. He won the world championship in 1985, 1986, 1989 and 1993. He started with McLaren in 1980, moved to Renault in 1981 where he had his first of 51 wins in France. He went back to Mclaren in 1984 and won the championship in 1985 and 1986. In 1988 he got a new team-mate, Ayrton Senna. The Mclaren team became the hugest force in f1 racing it has ever been, but they didn't like each other. Prost joined Ferrari in 1990 as his personal differences with Senna got too much. The Ferrari thing didn't really work out either so he dropped out of racing in 1992. In 1993 he came back in a blaze of glory to win the championship for one last time.
These days Alain Prost is no longer driving in f1 and has his own team, the Prost team. Driving for the Prost team are the accident ...
hilareeee 08.09.2001
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