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Prost–Senna rivalry

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Ayrton Senna This article is part of a series about
Ayrton Senna

Brazilian racing driver

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Alain Prost and victor Ayrton Senna at Grand Prix Molson du Canada at Montreal, Canada, in 1988

The Prost–Senna rivalry was a Formula One rivalry between French driver Alain Prost and Brazilian driver Ayrton Senna. The rivalry was at its most intense during the period in which they were teammates at McLaren-Honda in the 1988 and the 1989 seasons, and continued when Prost joined Ferrari in 1990.[1] The relationship between the drivers was viewed by commentators as polarising and fierce, with confrontations between the drivers a regular occurrence.[2]

As teammates, Prost and Senna won 25 of the 32 races held during the 1988 and 1989 seasons. Senna had 14 victories and 26 pole positions, whilst Prost had 11 victories and 4 pole positions. On the other hand, Prost amassed 163 (186) points, 25 podiums and set 12 fastest laps whilst Senna amassed 150 (154) points, 18 podiums and set 6 fastest laps. They each won one World Championship. After their time as teammates, Senna amassed 21 victories to Prost's 12. During the ten-year period (1984–1993) in which both drivers were active, Senna won three championships while Prost won four during the same period, including a one-year sabbatical by Prost during 1992.

History

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The Prost-Senna rivalry is widely regarded as one of the fiercest rivalries in Formula One to date, with both drivers often considered to be among the best to compete in the sport.[3] Prost joined Niki Lauda at McLaren in 1984 and won his first championship in 1985 and his second the following year. It was Prost himself who convinced McLaren's management to sign Senna from Team Lotus in 1988. It was at this point that the rivalry is said to have started, with Senna narrowly winning the 1988 championship from Prost. The battle for supremacy between teammates came to head in 1989 with allegations of preferential treatment and favouritism towards Senna ultimately leading to Prost signing for Ferrari in 1990.[4] This ultimately led to an intense manufacturer rivalry between McLaren and Ferrari.

Senna won the South American Kart Championship in 1977, with his success translating to the global karting arena, where he finished runner up in the 1979 and 1980 Karting World Championships. Senna would continue his surge to Formula in the corresponding years. Five years Senna's senior, Prost was born near the town of Saint-Chamond, close to the cities of Lyon and Saint-Etienne in France. Leaving school in 1974 to become a full-time racing driver, Prost went on to win numerous domestic and world karting championships, making his Formula 1 debut in 1980 for the McLaren team which was then run by Teddy Mayer.

Senna first came onto the Formula 1 scene following his performances in the British Formula 3 Championship in 1983. During this period, Williams, McLaren and Brabham all had Senna testing their cars. However, Senna failed to get a seat the following season with each of these teams, having to settle for a seat with Toleman who were into their fourth season and yet to complete a race higher than fourth place.

Despite Prost already claiming two Formula One World Championships, the relentless nature of Senna's driving style often challenged the calculated nature of Prost's style.[5] With their contrasting approaches to racing, in combination with both men having a dominant car, it was inevitable that there would be highly controversial moments on and off the track.[6] Throughout their time in Formula One Prost finished with 51 wins and 4 world championships. Senna, before his death in the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix had 41 wins and 3 world championships to his name.

Time as teammates (1988–1989)

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Prelude: Tumultuous years at Williams-Honda

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Japanese auto manufacturer Honda began supplying Formula One engines in the 1983 season. Williams agreed to try out the Honda engines at the last race of the year, where Keke Rosberg placed fifth. Satisfied, Frank Williams agreed to make Honda his full-time engine supplier in 1984. Together, the Williams-Honda partnership delivered two Constructors' Championships in 1986 and 1987. In addition, Nelson Piquet won the Drivers' Championship in 1987. All together, Honda-powered teams won six consecutive Constructors' Championships between 1986 and 1991, often by crushing margins. However, Honda left Williams in 1988 due to differences in driver philosophy, as Honda preferred a clear hierarchy of drivers that would not compete too aggressively with each other on track.[7] In addition, Honda cultivated relationships with Brazilian drivers Nelson Piquet and Ayrton Senna, as it valued the South American car market.[7]

The Williams-Honda relationship began deteriorating in 1986, following disagreements about Piquet's number one driver status. Piquet was as much a Honda driver as he was a Williams driver. In 1986, Honda arranged for Piquet to sign with Williams, paying to buy out his Brabham contract and covering most of his Williams salary. In return, Honda had extracted a contractual guarantee from Frank Williams that Piquet would receive number one driver treatment.[7] However, Frank Williams was nearly killed in an auto accident that year, and spent much of the year recovering from his injuries. In Frank's absence, Williams' interim team leadership controversially refused to impose team orders favoring Piquet over his teammate, the British driver Nigel Mansell. According to Piquet, Honda (and others) believed that Williams' failure to rein in Mansell had allowed Prost to beat Piquet to the 1986 Drivers' Championship.[8][9][10]

Ahead of the 1987 season, Honda asked Williams to restore Piquet's number one status by replacing Mansell with Honda test driver Satoru Nakajima. Again, Williams refused.[7] In response, Honda ended its exclusive engine supply relationship with Williams and added Lotus (which agreed to sign Nakajima) as a second customer team. Over the course of the season, Honda developed a good relationship with Lotus' number one driver, the new Brazilian star Ayrton Senna.

In 1987, Piquet claimed his third Drivers' Championship with Williams-Honda. In addition, Senna finished third with Lotus-Honda, eleven points ahead of the fourth-placed Prost. However, Piquet's Williams contract expired at the end of the season, and Honda indicated that it would consider other options in 1988.[11] It was understood that any team that wanted Honda engines in 1988 would have to sign either Piquet or Senna.[12] Honda offered to re-sign with Williams if it accepted the Piquet-Nakajima pairing for 1988, but Williams declined the offer, sensing that even though Piquet was the reigning world champion, Senna – not Piquet – was already Honda's top priority.[13]

1988 season

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Ahead of the 1988 season, Senna reached out to McLaren team boss Ron Dennis, telling him that if McLaren signed him, he would use his influence with Honda to sway Honda towards McLaren.[14] Prost, who preferred the youthful Senna to his experienced rival Piquet, consented to the move, although he came to regret it.[15] In a concession to Prost, a two-time world champion, Honda allowed McLaren to announce that Prost and Senna would compete on equal terms.[7] Many expected Prost to dominate, but the relentless nature of Senna and his knife-edge performances saw him win his first championship come season's end.

The Honda-powered McLaren team dominated the season, with both their cars being far superior to the competing field, winning 15 of the total 16 races and the constructors' championship with a then-record 199 points. Senna specifically had a poor start to the season, with gearbox failure ending his home Grand Prix – the 1988 Brazilian Grand Prix – with Prost taking the victory. Senna recorded a total of 8 wins with 13 pole positions whilst Prost crossed the finish line first a total of 7 times with 2 pole positions to his name. These figures began to show Senna's single-lap dominance against Prost's calculated racing strategy.

Senna and Prost generally raced cleanly on track in 1988.[16] However, it eventually became clear that because of the dominance of the McLaren-Honda's car, Senna and Prost were not racing against the field, but each other. Tensions flared at the Portuguese Grand Prix, when Senna led Prost by just three points with four races left in the season. On lap 2, Prost was about to overtake Senna but Senna dangerously swerved towards Prost at around 280 km/h (174 mph) and nearly sideswiped Prost's car into the pit wall.[17] Prost only avoided a collision by coming so close to the wall that he nearly hit March's Ian Phillips; at one point the cars were so close that Prost's front wheel was directly behind that of Senna.[18] Nonetheless, Prost refused to yield and overtook Senna into the first corner.[19] Although Prost won (Senna finished a distant sixth), he remained angered by Senna's manoeuvre, complaining that "If that's how [Senna] wants to win the championship, I'm not interested. I don't want any part of it."[18] Senna later apologised to Prost.[16] In 2019, a reporter commented that "by today's standards, [Senna's] move was quite tame, but in 1988 Senna's swerve ... [was] well beyond the accepted norm, especially when the move was against a teammate."[20]

Over the course of the 1988 season, Prost began to suspect that Honda was trying to make Senna McLaren's number one driver, in violation of McLaren's promise to treat the two drivers equally. In November of that year, Prost met in Geneva with Nobuhiko Kawamoto, the head of Honda's R&D department and F1 racing program. He expressed his feelings that Honda was giving Senna preferential treatment. In Prost's view, Kawamoto confirmed Prost's fears, explaining that the Honda engineers were of a new generation, and that they liked Senna's panache and "samurai"-like driving. Kawamoto convinced Prost that he would work something out on the Honda end of the McLaren-Honda partnership for the 1989 season, but following the 1988 season, Kawamoto was promoted to a position at Honda headquarters, and Osamu Goto succeeded Kawamoto as the head of Honda F1.[21][15]

1989 season

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The 1989 season saw Alain Prost claim his third world championship and last with McLaren, with the team also taking the constructors' title for the second consecutive year. The championship was decided in highly controversial circumstances at the penultimate race meeting of the year; the 1989 Japanese Grand Prix. Senna needed to win the last two races of the season to have even a chance at the title. However, his car collided with Prost's during the final laps of the race. As Prost later acknowledged, it was widely believed that Prost turned into Senna's path knowing that a crash would deliver him the title.[15]

The 1989 season saw a host of regulation changes, the major of which was ending the turbocharger era in Formula One.[22] New naturally aspirated 3.5 litre engines were to be used.[22] Despite Ferrari winning the 1989 Brazilian Grand Prix, McLaren-Honda continued their previous season form. Both Prost and Senna traded wins throughout the season, with the Ferraris on some occasions managing to challenge the powerful Honda V10 McLarens. But ultimately, as with 1988, there was no real question that one of Prost or Senna would win the title: the second-placed McLaren driver (Senna) finished the season 20 points clear of third.

Prost's deteriorating relationship with Honda

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With no meaningful outside competition, Prost and Senna's title fight turned inwards. Despite Kawamoto's assurances of equal treatment from Honda, Prost's suspicions were inflamed when Honda sent McLaren an engine crate marked "Special - For Ayrton."[23] Nigel Mansell (who believed that Honda had given Piquet better engines during their time at Williams[24]) and Keke Rosberg agreed that Prost was not getting equal treatment from McLaren-Honda, and encouraged him to share his suspicions with the media.[25]

After the Mexican Grand Prix, Prost publicly called out McLaren and Honda, as his car was noticeably less powerful on the straights than Senna's even though Prost had set up his car for more top speed than Senna.[26] (On two occasions, Senna out-powered Prost on the straights when Prost had a tow and when Prost was on fresh tyres.[26]) After Prost threatened to join a rival team at the end of the season, Ron Dennis publicly backed Prost against Honda, "declar[ing] that the team had found consistent differences" between the engines that Honda assigned to Senna and Prost.[10] To accommodate Prost's concerns, Dennis attempted to allocate engines on a random basis, such as a coin flip or drawing numbers from a hat.[14][27]

Prost and Dennis' public criticisms forced Honda's Osamu Goto to give an interview before the race at Hockenheim, where he claimed that Senna's driving style was better suited to Honda's machinery. According to Goto, Senna's foot-tapping style with the accelerator helped keep the RA109-E's revs up in the engine's mid-range where most of the power was, while Prost's smoother style dropped the engines into low revs where they had a pick-up problem. However, Motor Sport magazine noted that while Goto called Prost by his last name, he called Senna by his first name.[28] (Per Japanese customs, addressing a person by their first name rather than the surname shows a much higher degree of familiarity and confidentiality.) Prost publicly rejected Goto's assurances after Senna trounced Prost in qualifying at the Italian Grand Prix. Insulted, Honda threatened to withdraw its engines from Prost's car unless Prost apologized, which he did.[29]

Tensions within the team

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Senna accused Prost, a Frenchman, of getting favorable treatment from his countryman Jean-Marie Balestre, the president of the FIA.[30] Prost had previously persuaded Balestre to write to Honda insisting that Prost receive equal treatment.[10]

Prost also accused Senna of reneging on an agreement they had made in advance of the San Marino Grand Prix. The drivers agreed that whoever won the start would not be challenged by the other going into the first turn. Prost kept to the agreement after Senna won the first start, but the race was red-flagged after Gerhard Berger's Ferrari crashed. Prost won the restart, but Senna promptly passed him, believing that the agreement did not apply to the restart.[15] Prost disclosed the agreement to a French journalist, who published the story (purportedly against Prost's wishes). Senna publicly denied that the agreement even existed, but John Hogan, who had witnessed the agreement, backed up Prost.[31] Although Ron Dennis forced Senna to apologise to Prost, Senna's displeasure was clear.[32]

Ahead of the 1989 Italian Grand Prix, Prost announced that he would leave McLaren and join Ferrari in 1990. Prost would go on to win the Italian GP after Senna's engine blew up while in the lead. Whilst on the podium, Prost dropped his first-placed trophy into the cheering crowds of Ferrari tifosi, much to the distaste and fury of Ron Dennis and McLaren officials. (The policy at McLaren is that driver trophies must be handed over to the team in exchange for replicas.[33][34]) Although Senna opportunistically encouraged McLaren to fire Prost immediately, McLaren allowed Prost to finish the season with the team in exchange for a public, written apology.[35] Prost was 20 points ahead of Senna in the Drivers' Championship standings at the time, and McLaren's concession eliminated the possibility that Prost would clinch the 1989 title in a Ferrari car.

Decisive clash at Suzuka

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Despite Honda's suspected support for Senna, the Brazilian's season was hamstrung by reliability issues, suffering mechanical issues at Phoenix, Paul Ricard, and Silverstone in addition to Monza. By contrast, Prost racked up four wins and seven podiums and looked set to cruise to the title. He went into the Japanese Grand Prix (the second-to-last race of the season) with a comfortable 16-point lead over Senna. Senna needed to win the next two races to stay in the title fight, while Prost would clinch the title at Suzuka as long as Senna crashed out.

The 1989 Japanese Grand Prix remains one of the most infamous races in Formula One history. Senna took pole position, with Prost in second. Prost jumped Senna at the start and was leading into turn one. On lap 46, Prost was in the lead and was just seven laps away from clinching the title in the normal fashion. Desperate to pass Prost to keep his championship hopes alive, Senna attempted a daring inside overtake at the slow-speed Casio chicane. Prost squeezed Senna on the inside and did not leave room for Senna to make the overtake. Senna was either unable or unwilling to brake in time to avoid a collision. Both cars rolled onto the escape road.

Prost got out of the car and walked away, thinking he had won the title. However, Senna refused to give up. He waved over the marshals to give him a bump-start – within the rules if a car is deemed to be parked in a dangerous position. Senna re-entered the race via a run-off-road and made it back to the pits for a new front wing. He ultimately won the race, theoretically setting up one last chance at the title at Adelaide.

The manner of Senna's victory was so unusual that he was not allowed to celebrate on the podium. Ultimately, the race stewards disqualified Senna illegally re-entering the track, ending his title chase. Senna appealed to the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), but his case was dismissed swiftly. He was also fined US$100,000 for "dangerous driving" and given a suspended six-month ban.[36] Senna would continue to protest throughout the off-season, with his ultimate battle just beginning to heat up.

On opposing teams (1990–1993)

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1990 season

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The 1990 Formula One season saw an intense constructor rivalry between Ferrari and McLaren-Honda, with Senna still at the helm of his Honda-powered McLaren and Prost newly seated in a Ferrari for the first time. Similar to the 1989 season, the championship came to its head at Suzuka. After Prost had mounted a significant title challenge in his Ferrari by claiming three consecutive mid-season wins at Mexico, France, and in the British Grand Prix. The championship would solely be between Prost and Senna for the third consecutive season. Senna, heading into the penultimate race of the calendar at Suzuka knew that any finish ahead of Prost, or if the pair were to crash out, he would be crowned world champion.

Senna, despite securing pole position, was distressed, complaining that the inside line whereby the pole-sitter starter was on the dirty side of the track. Senna protested with FISA president Jean-Marie Balestre that pole position should start on the racing line, however, Senna's pleas were ultimately rejected. An infuriated Senna vowed to attempt to take the lead no matter the cost heading into turn 1. Subsequently, Prost, starting on the other side of the track jumped Senna. Heading into turn 1 Senna dived down the inside of Prost's Ferrari, colliding and taking both drivers down the gravel and out of the race. Senna was crowned champion. With Benetton flooding the podium, it meant that the McLaren-Honda team would win its 6th Formula One Constructors' Championship. In heated discussions post-race, Prost revealed his disgust with Senna's tactics,[37] publicly slamming Senna as "disgusting....and a man without value" claiming he almost retired on the spot.[38]

1991 season

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Ayrton Senna driving during the 1991 United States Grand Prix

Retaining their successful driver lineup from the 1990 season of Senna and Gerhard Berger, McLaren were in the box seat for the 1991 season. The 1991 season saw Senna take his third and final world driver's championship, with McLaren-Honda taking out their fourth constructors' championship. Despite previous seasons seeing Prost and Senna consistently battle for supremacy, it would be Britain's Nigel Mansell who would come closest to challenging Senna for the title. However, Senna would dominate the first four races of the season, effectively clinching the title before the halfway mark of the season.[39] Prost, despite his previous success was unable to win a grand prix in a calendar year for the first time since 1980.[39] Ferrari struggled heavily throughout the season, the Ferrari 642 and its successor the 643 car were uncompetitive in terms of engine power or handling, failing to come anywhere near Williams or McLaren cars. The 1991 season also saw a number of rule changes with a win now worth 10 points, and every race result would count towards the championship compared to previous seasons, where the best 11 races were only counted.

With little competition throughout, Senna, with his consistent and relentless pace claimed the championship with 96 points to Mansell's 72. Prost was dropped from his seat for the final race of the season due to a strong falling out with Ferrari bosses, after he described the Ferrari car as a 'truck' and publicly mocking and criticised the Ferrari team performance.

1992 season

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In 1992, the balance of power in Formula One shifted decisively from McLaren-Honda to Williams-Renault. Williams' Nigel Mansell became the first British driver since James Hunt to win a Formula One World Championship. Despite managing three race wins, Senna could only manage fourth place in the driver standings come season's end. Meanwhile, Prost took a year off from racing following his well-publicised falling out with Ferrari. Honda left Formula One at the end of the year, removing Senna's greatest backer from the picture.

1993 season and Williams driver controversy

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The 1993 Formula One season saw Prost return to the grid and win his fourth world championship with Williams-Renault. Prost lauded the Williams FW15C car, calling it "absolutely unbelievable." He estimated that it was "a good second [per lap], minimum" faster than the rest of the grid.[40] Senna finished a relatively distant (by his standards) second place, driving a customer Ford-Cosworth engine with 60 fewer horsepower than Prost's Renault.[41] McLaren tried to replace Honda with Renault engines, and even considered buying the entire Ligier team (the only other team with Renault power) to acquire its engine contract.[41] However, all these efforts failed, leaving Williams alone at the top of the grid.

Due to the lopsided dominance of the Williams-Renault combination, most of the drama happened before the season. Going into 1993, Williams had two open seats and no shortage of suitors, although it was expected that Mansell would return to defend his title.[42] Although Senna (no longer bound to Honda) reportedly offered to drive for Williams for free, Frank Williams signed Prost to a two-year contract for 1993 and 1994.[43][44] Prost replaced Riccardo Patrese, who had preemptively agreed to leave Williams for Benetton out of concern that he would be replaced by Prost or Senna at season's end.[45][46] Although Prost had previously infuriated Mansell, his former Ferrari teammate, by demanding number one driver status from the Scuderia in 1990, he agreed that Mansell would receive equal treatment at Williams.[47] Still smarting from their tumultuous year at Ferrari, Mansell initially opposed the move, but he reluctantly agreed to race alongside Prost on equal terms.[48][42]

However, following a convoluted series of events, Williams paired Prost with the rookie (albeit a future world champion) Damon Hill in 1993. Mansell left Formula One for CART after his contract negotiations collapsed over financial terms.[48] Prost had expected to race alongside Mansell,[49] but as insurance, he had negotiated a clause in his contract which prevented Senna from joining the team.[46] Williams belatedly offered to re-sign Patrese, but he opted to honor his contract with Benetton.[45]

After learning that Prost had blocked him from Williams, an infuriated Senna called the Frenchman a "coward" during a press conference at the 1992 Portuguese Grand Prix, and decried his unwillingness to compete for the Drivers' Championship on equal sporting terms:

I think if Prost wants to be called the sole champion, three-times world champion, come back in a sportive way, maybe win another championship, he should be sportive. The way he's doing, he's behaving like a coward. And if he wants to be sportive, he must be prepared to race anybody, at any condition, at equal terms.[50]

Senna continued needling Prost over the course of the 1993 season. Following one of Senna's greatest drives at Donington Park, Prost and Senna sat together for the post-race press conference. After Prost (who finished third after pitting seven times) listed various problems he encountered while driving the Williams car, Senna cheekily offered to swap cars with him.[51]

In addition, Senna realized that even though Prost was a Frenchman, the Brazilian could use Prost's French engine supplier as a pressure point to leverage himself into Williams. Renault was looking to re-enter the Brazilian market (in fact, Renault do Brasil's Curitiba factory is named after Senna).[52] Senna persistently cultivated a relationship with Renault Sport president Patrick Faure,[53] who eventually interceded on Senna's behalf, asking Prost to waive the anti-Senna clause in the middle of the 1993 season.[54] (Senna was contracted to McLaren on a race-by-race basis and was prepared to join Williams at any time.[41])

Prost was stung by the criticism, but could not bring himself to team up with Senna again. Even so, he agreed that it would look bad if he blocked Senna from contending for the title for a second straight season, and he did not want a repeat of the McLaren-Honda years where his engine manufacturer was (allegedly) unhappy with him:

I did not want to be a teammate with Ayrton again. [But] I did not want to continue with this perception of the people saying, "OK, you know, Ayrton is a poor guy with a small car, and Alain, when he wins it's normal because he has the best car." I said, "OK, you want Ayrton. I understand very well. You pay me the contract for the next year, and I stop." I did not want to stop. I really did not want to stop. But to see a situation ... especially in your own country [Renault was a French state-owned enterprise until 1996], going in this direction again?[54]

As such, Prost retired and Senna replaced him at Williams.

Results comparison

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Legacy between the drivers

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Ayrton Senna (in yellow helmet) and Alain Prost (in white helmet)

Considered by many to be one of the greatest Formula One rivalries, Prost and Senna remain influential figures in the world of motorsport to this day. Senna is widely regarded a once in a generation driver and was considered to be the benchmark for racing drivers around the world.[56] However, in a somewhat complementary regard, Alain Prost's tactical and methodical approach to racing allowed him to compete successfully against Senna.[57] Prost was able to face setbacks and still win races. Some considered Prost to exemplify a level of professionalism perhaps greater than Senna did, recognising key moments on which to capitalise.[citation needed] A mathematical model concluded that Prost, overall, had the more impressive results. However, it was also noted that Senna was generally higher ranked in fan and expert polls. [58]

With Prost's retiring from driving at the end of 1993, many expected Senna to dominate the sport in the following years. However, Senna was killed in the early stages of the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix when his Williams collided at high speed with a barrier at the Tamburello corner.

Prost and Senna had reconciled their relationship, as seen via an onboard lap with Senna, who was quoted as saying "A special hello to our dear friend Alain. We all miss you, Alain."[59] Prost was touched by Senna's words. The pair had agreed to meet before Monaco to discuss safety and regulation changes in the sport.

See also

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Notes

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References

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  2. ^ Carausu, Alex (2019-11-18). "Senna vs Prost: One of the Fiercest Rivalries in the History of Motorsport". autoevolution. Retrieved 2021-03-02.
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