The qualified comment of a four-time world champion activated a debate that will surely have more chapters and that is not new: in current Formula 1, Is the quality of the driver or the power of your car more important? The one who revived the matter was the French Alain Prost, who minimized the successes of the Dutchman Max Verstappenthree-time Formula One world champion (2021, 2022 and 2023).
In an interview with Sports Illustrated, the four-time French champion concludes that “the perception that people may have is that they are winning thanks to this car” and ponders: “If you win against two or three different teams, the driver’s value is better”.
Alain Prost, one of the five greats in history both in numbers and quality behind the wheel, considers that in Formula 1 each team bets on a driver, and that it is the technological advantage of a certain car that makes the difference , lowering the price of the successes of whoever is sitting in the cabin.
“Nowadays, the big teams are organized a little more with a number one, number two driver, especially with Max Verstappen, for example, at Red Bull. It’s a little different from my time, but I still think that if you have a fight for a championship with two or three different teams, the value of the winning driver is always greater”says the Frenchman, four-time F1 world champion, winner of 51 races (to Verstappen 57) and owner of 106 podiums.
“Of course it is difficult because, for example, Max is one of the best drivers today. Maybe the best, you have to accept it. But if we look at the perception that people may have, it is that he He’s winning because of this car, so it’s not so good for him, which is a shame because I think it really is part of the success,” he adds.
“The big teams like Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull obviously organize themselves and have a better chance of winning if they have a number one driver, a favorite driver on the team.. And they focus on that. So it’s a shame that we don’t have that,” analyzes Prost, in comparison to what happened in the 80s and 90s, when he ran.
“Is different. The fight I had with Ayrton Senna was also because we were teammates for two years and our rivalry was after our teammate period, so it’s very different.. We didn’t have that many number 1s, Ayrton started and then Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton and now it’s Max. It is not always the driver’s decision, today it is part of the game. But if Ferrari can join the fight and maybe Mercedes later or next year, it will be a very enjoyable championship.”
About Hamilton and Ferrari
“It’s like driving a truck,” Alain Prost said in 1991, referring to his Ferrari. That phrase determined the end of his relationship with the Italian team. But having been part of the rich history of prancing Horse allows you to comment on the arrival of Lewis Hamilton to the team rossosomething that I think will not have a quick adaptation.
“I can understand his decision because obviously when you are in a team like Mercedes, when you don’t win a race for two years and you are fighting to get back to the front, at your age you will have asked yourself: ‘Okay, Why don’t I try something different?’“, summarized.
“After 2026, I think he will be 42, maybe even 43, so it will be another story. But I can understand if you don’t want to stop running. The question is, Is it a good measure? Will it be a good choice? It’s good for the sport because everyone is going to watch. You might have an idea, but the idea or perception you might have today will be different next year at the same stage, because it will be a year older and Will he find his motivation when he returns to Ferrari?asks Alain, who arrived at Ferrari in 1990 at the age of 35.
And the answer is: “It’s possible because if it’s for a short time, maybe just a year, if Ferrari goes well, I think I could regain motivation. And then the relationship with Charles Leclerc, the atmosphere at Ferrari is also important. He had such a long period with an English team, Mercedes, with one way of working and then you go to an Italian team, especially with a different pressure, a different way of thinking, he is under pressure from the media. I think it is not that easy,” he closed.