Why Senna Became the Icon while Prost Became the Footnote
Introduction
Four-time World Champion Alain Prost achieved almost everything Ayrton Senna did. In fact, by several measures, he achieved more. Yet ask almost any Formula 1 fan to name the greatest driver of all time and one name is likely to appear long before the other.
Ayrton Senna became an icon. Alain Prost became a footnote. But why?
The Numbers – Championships/Wins/Poles/Podiums
In a debate so often driven by emotion, the fairest place to begin is with the evidence. If Senna is remembered as the greater driver, do the statistics actually support that belief?
With the sport's ultimate prize, Prost holds a narrow advantage. He retired a four-time World Champion, while Senna won three titles before his career was tragically cut short. Even this statistic comes with caveats; Senna's career ended prematurely, while Prost himself came agonisingly close to further championships in 1984, 1988 and 1990. The numbers, as ever, refuse to tell the whole story.
Prost won 51 Grand Prix to Senna’s 41. However, their win percentage is separated by .1%, a reminder of how remarkably close they were at their peak. Prost edged consistency on a Sunday with 26 more podiums across their careers.
On paper, that's a convincing advantage. Yet Formula 1 has never remembered greatness on numbers alone. Senna's reputation was built as much on unforgettable moments as sustained accumulation.
Senna was untouchable in the battle of raw pace in qualifying, having registered 65 poles including a record 8 poles in a row between Spain 1988 and the US 1989, in comparison to Prost’s 33. Senna attacked qualifying laps as if every corner was a final opportunity. Prost approached a race weekend differently. Where Senna sought perfection in individual moments, Prost accumulated advantages almost invisibly. One inspired awe. The other inspired respect.
The Numbers – McLaren Edition
They raced for the same team together from 1988 to 1989 for McLaren, which to this day is considered by many the greatest driver lineup of all time. In this time period they each won one world championship, winning 25 of 32 races as a constructor across the two years.
In the currency of race wins, Prost edged Senna in the dry 11 to 10, however, Senna was superhuman in the wet with 4 wins to Prost’s 0, totalling 14-11 to Senna. However, Prost led in terms of consistency with 25 podiums to Senna’s 18. Context behind the race statistics is paramount, with Senna having 11 DNF’s to Prost’s 5, with various reasons for this including spins, disqualifications and mechanical issues. Is this a sign of inferiority or bad luck, the evidence points to a combination of both.
For additional context, in the 1980’s only the best 11 results for a driver counted toward their championship total. Prost did accumulate more over the two years.
In a similar qualifying story to their careers, Senna dominated with 26 poles compared to Prost’s 4, with a McLaren front row lockout occurring 14 times across the two years. This isn’t to undermine Prost, as he still to this day has the sixth most poles in F1 history, but that just elucidates the brilliance of Senna on a Saturday (1).
The statistics ultimately force a philosophical question: do you value sustained accumulation or unforgettable brilliance? That may inform your answer of who impresses more. Their statistics are remarkably comparable across almost every meaningful measure.
If statistics alone decided sporting legacies, this debate would be remarkably balanced. Yet Formula 1 remembers Senna and Prost very differently. To understand why, we need to look beyond the numbers.
My argument is not that Senna was unquestionably better than Prost. It is that Senna’s greatness was more visible, more dramatic, and ultimately became a more powerful story.
Why People Remember Senna – Personality/Driving Style/Qualifying
If the numbers cannot fully explain the gap between Senna’s reputation and Prost’s, then the answer lies in how the two men were perceived. Senna was not simply admired; he was mythologised.
Moving on from the numbers, this section will go into detail of various characteristics of Ayrton Senna. First off, his driving style. Some adjectives I would use to describe his style would be aggressive, fearless, always on the very limit of grip and the latest of the brakers. He was famous for his unorthodox high-revving throttle control, where he would stab the throttle through corners instead of a gradual increase. He would do this to reduce turbo lag as he kept the turbo going throughout the corner, which essentially doesn’t allow the car time to shift the balance from braking (2).
In contrast to Alain Prost, he was herculean in the wet weather conditions and this was evident in the so-called ‘lap of the gods’ at Donnington in 1993. He qualified fourth in a bad McLaren with an old spec due to Ford having agreed a works deal with Benetton, and the Williams of Prost and Hill locked out the front row in the superior machinery. He was fifth going into turn one, but then, he took a line with more standing water off the racing line, and proceeded to overtake the likes of Michael Schumacher, Damon Hill and Alain Prost as though they were backmarkers to lead going into the second lap. Such examples illustrate the sheer talent and risk taking that very few would even dream of possessing, and it’s evident that moments like these resonate more with F1 fanatics.
There’s no doubt that personality influences people’s perception of their talent, given the highly political era they raced in. Ayrton Senna, a deeply spiritual man with a fierce competitiveness and drive for nothing but excellence. At the time he was seen as a national saviour in his native Brazil, but he was also heavily criticised for this ruthlessness on the tarmac. This spilled over into politics as well, as Senna publicly accused Jean-Marie Balestre, the head of the F1’s governing body the FIA, of sporting bias in favour of Prost. A rivalry so intense that it forced Prost to join Ferrari in 1990 as a result. He was fined and nearly banned for 6 months as a consequence for this. Politicising in such a way turned many against him at the time, but history remembers Senna as being hard done by politically given Balestre’s protectiveness of his compatriot Alain Prost. But more to come on this shortly.
The Rivalry – Why Conflict Creates Legends
Where better to go next than the rivalry itself between the two, which ignited in the years 1989 and 1990, from teammates to bitter rivals.
It started as teammates at Imola in 1989. They locked out the front row. Given that it was early in the season and the team wanted to prioritise communal points, they agreed that whoever was first at turn 1 would win the race and there would be no fighting. Senna got there first. However, on lap 4 there was a red flag, which at the time didn’t mean the race was reset and that the driver timings from before the red flag were still in play. At the restart however, Prost got ahead of Senna on the run up to turn 1 which led to Senna having to out-brake Prost and fight for the lead even though Prost was first going into it, and Senna went on to take the win. This sparked their feud as Prost was furious stating that the agreement didn’t apply to the restart and that he should’ve been allowed to lead going into turn 1 after the restart.
Fast-forward to the last race of the 1989 season, in Japan. If Prost out-scored Senna he would be world champion, it was that simple. However, things didn’t start going to plan as Senna qualified a staggering 1.7 seconds faster. In this race, their styles seemed to have reversed. Prost was risking reliability which gave him the lead with 10 laps to go, and Senna was being cautious, but he was catching Prost lap by lap, and he then went in for a move on lap 47 of 53.
This led to a historic collision encompassed perfectly by Murray Walker, “this is the opportunity that Senna is looking for, and he’s going through, OUT, oh my goodness! This is fantastic! They meet! This is what we were fearing might happen … ” as Senna out-braked Prost but Prost wasn’t willing to leave the space as he promised before the race. The cameras showed after the race that Prost evidently turned in early. Magically, Senna got pushed back on the track and went on to finish in 1st. The rules banned push starts but the marshals were informed to move cars from dangerous positions and gave him a second push to start up again. He went on to miss the chicane and join the track on the run-off area. At this point it was Senna versus the FIA as they disqualified him for the method of re-joining, a rule that they amended the following year. Senna argued he couldn’t make the chicane as he would’ve been facing oncoming traffic. The FIA then started throwing the kitchen sink at him, accusing him of this illegal re-entry, two illegal overtakes and the car being pushed into action. Prost would go onto win the world championship as a result, which led to Senna’s war with the governing body (3).
Years later, after leaving the FIA, Balestre publicly admitted he had “helped out” Prost which led to him winning the 1989 title, confirming long-held suspicions of bias. This admission does seem unparalleled and unforgivable, given this changed the outcome of the most sought after of the two, given his ability to remain consistent throughout an entire season, manage tires and avoid unnecessary collisions. Even though some may argue those qualities don’t equate to being a better driver, I think they do hold quite a bit of weight, as it shows he knows when to take calculated risks. However, when I look at who is a better driver, I’m more traditional and believe those moments of brilliance and wheel to wheel racing encapsulates what motor racing is. Therefore, I think Senna was the better driver with more natural talent. Their era of racing was a time where it was more about raw speed and taking risks. The fact that only one teammate in Alain Prost beat Senna in a season shows that he was the man to beat. He had a wider skillset being able to thrive in the wet conditions as well as dry, and he had the better qualifying rate by some margin.
Senna became Formula 1's enduring icon not because he was unquestionably superior to Prost, but because greatness in sport is remembered through stories as much as statistics. Prost's brilliance was built on consistency, precision and calculation, qualities that win championships but don't always capture imaginations. Senna's breathtaking qualifying performances, uncompromising driving style, intense rivalry with Prost and tragic death combined to create a legacy that transcended Formula 1 itself. The numbers make the rivalry close; history made the memories unequal. History doesn't always remember the best driver. It remembers the most compelling story, which in this case, was Ayrton Senna.
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2:
What was Senna’s Bizarre F1 Technique about? – YouTube:
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Grid to Glory: 75 Milestone Formula One Moments (Alex Jacques).
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Great Read! Very informative and interesting. Fairly new to F1, so it's great to learn so much! Looking forward to reading other articles.
Brilliant article - Senna all the way for me!