Alain Prost says people ‘don’t remember’ one crucial aspect of his ‘fantastic’ relationship with Ayrton Senna

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Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna shared one of the most famous rivalries in the history of Formula 1.

By the time Ayrton Senna made his Formula 1 debut in 1984, Alain Prost already had three seasons at Renault and a year at McLaren under his belt.

The Frenchman was a multiple race winner and had narrowly missed out on winning the 1983 drivers’ championship to Nelson Piquet.

Senna moved to Lotus the year after Prost left, and he watched his soon-to-be rival win back-to-back titles in 1985 and 1986.

The pair finally joined forces in 1988 at McLaren and produced one of the finest seasons Formula 1 has ever seen.

They won 15 out of 16 races, which held the record as the most dominant campaign in F1 history, until Red Bull’s 2023 season.

Their relationship fractured by the end of the 1989 season, with Prost moving to Ferrari and blocking Senna following him later in his career.

The Frenchman retired at the end of the 1993 season, and Senna was tragically killed less than a year later at Imola with three titles to his name.

Prost has now spoken again about their relationship and what he learned about Senna after he retired from the sport.

READ MORE: All to know about Alain Prost including Ayrton Senna rivalry and failed F1 team

Alain Prost recalls ‘fantastic’ Ayrton Senna relationship after one of F1’s fiercest rivalries

Prost was asked at the Goodwood Festival of Speed how he reflects on his time as teammates with Senna, and said: “For me, it’s always difficult to talk about Ayrton, obviously.

“But, if I want to be clear in a way, I understood a lot about Ayrton when I retired.

“The day I retired on the podium in Adelaide until his accident, I understood everything from the past.

“How he was before arriving in Formula 1, having me as a goal, as an objective, and obviously being a teammate, people don’t remember, for example, but in 1988, we had a fantastic season.

“We never had any problems. I won seven races, he won eight, I got more points than him, but because of the regulations at the time, because he had one more win, he was the champion.

“But it was not a problem for me, because in the end, I really wanted all of my career to be a contender for the championship. At the end, if you don’t have it, it’s not a problem, but the motivation, the adrenaline, is there.

“Coming back to Ayrton, obviously, when I stopped, I understood that it was more than the normal rivalry with the two drivers. It was more than respect, it was almost like an admiration, and I was very proud about it, and he changed completely.

“He was a completely different person, and if I did not know this period, I would have had a different vision, but I really have a very nice feeling about the last six months of our relationship because you forget all of the bad things; we had some bad things.

“In the press, it was a bit exaggerated, but it was difficult, and you only keep the positive, and there are a lot of positives, because in life, when you have a goal or objective or somebody, you can only be proud.

“And at the end, we had not only the respect, but also the friendship.”

READ MORE: All to know about Ayrton Senna including Alain Prost rivalry and Imola crash

How Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost’s Formula 1 records compare

Both Prost and Senna will be forever remembered as two of the greatest drivers ever to race in Formula 1.

Senna ended his career with one less championship than Prost, and 10 fewer victories (51 for Prost vs 41 for Senna).

However, the pair had virtually identical winning ratios at the end of their careers, with Prost winning 25.6% of his Grand Prix starts, and Senna 25.4%.

A single result going the other way would have swapped that ratio in the Brazilian’s favour.

One area where it cannot be argued that Senna had an advantage over Prost was in qualifying.

The Frenchman’s tally of 33 pole positions puts him joint-sixth on the all-time list alongside the great Jim Clark.

Clark was Senna’s hero growing up, and the Brazilian’s tally of 65 poles puts him ahead of the likes of Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen, despite having started far more races and having won more championships.