2023-05-01 07:13:56
Twenty-nine years following the death of Ayrton Senna at Imola, Steve Nichols looks back on one of the most significant periods in the history of Formula 1: the internal duel between the Brazilian and Alain Prost at McLaren. He was then the engineer of the first.
If there is one rivalry that has marked the history of Formula 1, it is obviously the fratricidal duel between Alain Prost et Ayrton Sennafirst at McLaren in 1988 and 1989, then when the Frenchman joined Ferrari in 1990. The two World Champions have faced each other at the top three times for the world title – the first two when Steve Nichols was Senna’s race engineer at McLaren, the third when the American joined Maranello with Prost.
Nichols is obviously in a good position to compare the two men with notably different styles. “Prost was perhaps a little more frugal, but Senna was good for everything”analyzes the interested party in the Beyond The Grid podcast. “For example, in private testing, he was doing a long stint and you might see that he was changing things: he was using a different engine speed, he was using a different boost, and when he came back at the end of his stint, he gave us fuel economy numbers versus lap times.”
“Senna being Senna, he wanted to optimize his situation in any way possible. Prost was very similar, he had a great competitive spirit. His style may not have been as aggressive as Senna’s, but he was an incredibly driver. well, and he was such a nice guy too! He was just an ordinary guy in every way except he had an uncanny talent for driving race cars. Maybe Senna was doing a bit too much – I have the picture of him in a Formula 3, parked on Brundle [après un accident, ndlr] !”
Ayrton Senna and Martin Brundle had a spectacular collision in F3 at Oulton Park
At the start of their collaboration, the dynamic was obviously particular, with a Prost entering his fifth season at McLaren while Senna arrived at Woking from Lotus.
“It was really very balanced”poursuit Nichols. “Prost was more in tune with the team, having been with it for a few years. Senna was new, but obviously very, very good, and he was really in tune with Honda, not only with the engine but with the people. I would say it was balanced relatively well, and it was from the start. They were extremely competitive and almost evenly matched. It was very rare that there was a big gap between them. Maybe a small advantage to Senna in qualifying; on occasion, that gap was quite large. In Monaco for example, he slammed a lap. And he wasn’t a second and a half faster than the village idiot, he was a second and a half faster than Prost!”
When listing the qualities of his pilot, Nichols evokes a striking memory. “He was incredibly fast, it was almost supernatural”he recalls. “I remember once in Monaco, I don’t know why but I was a little idle. I went down, you see what the pit lane does, we go down this staircase and we are immediately at the level of the Quick entrance to the Pool is amazing! People always say such a thing is amazing, but they are not truly amazed. There, I watched him pass there and I was literally amazed by his attack , by its sheer speed in this corner. Not the slightest margin of error. It’s so fast it’s hard to believe. You’d think our eyes were playing tricks on us!”
“There was the speed, there was the commitment, there was the dedication to this job. Every minute of his life was dedicated to winning those races and winning the World Championship.”
Prost was not left out, however, with his nickname of Professor, which was “at least in part” deserved according to Nichols. “It’s not so much that he had great theoretical knowledge, he relied on the engineers for that, but he was very smart and had a very good memory.”
Alain Prost talks to Steve Nichols
During their two years of collaboration at McLaren, then the next with Prost at Ferrari, these two drivers won 36 of the 48 Grands Prix contested, obviously winning the three world titles at stake, however not without two controversial clashes at Suzuka at the end of 1989. and 1990. The rivalry had turned into an obsession.
“Senna, for example, told me: ‘Prost is our only concern. The others are not a problem. We just have to beat Prost. It’s him once morest me, and that’s it'”, reveals Nichols. An obsession “maybe a little more” present in the mind of the Brazilian than in that of the French. “Some may have misjudged Prost; he has a great competitive spirit, he has an iron will, he has all the qualities of a racing driver. I was Senna’s man, I was his race engineer , but I was working with Prost during testing and there was no problem between us, he even asked me to go to Ferrari with him!
The influence of Ron Dennis
The engineer from Utah is in any case delighted with one thing: that McLaren has kept its unity when the rivalry between the drivers was so intense that they only communicated through intermediaries.
“They had an intense competitive spirit, and they both wanted the same thing, so it was going to be tough, they were never going to be friends.”estimated Nichols. “It was bound to be more and more intense. I find it perfectly normal that it happened. And yet, all the members of McLaren have the credit that it never divided the team. In fact, even in the period the more intense, it never affected the team, it never split into two camps. AT with very few exceptions, everyone was aware that they were working for McLaren and not for the drivers.”
Ayrton Senna communicates with Steve Nichols before the start of free practice in Mexico City in 1988
“Given the intensity of the rivalry, the team was trying to keep both under control. Ron Dennis in particular did the best job possible. As I said, the team was operating normally. They were still working together, they did not speak to each other, but they worked normally during the debriefings – but in a roundregarding way. If Senna had a question, he did not ask it to Prost: he asked it to me, I asked it to the engineer of race of Prost, who put it to the latter, then it went the opposite way. It’s a bit like in a divorce: when you want to talk to your wife, you have to talk to the lawyer and pay! It’s like “That worked. They had ultimate mutual respect, they seemed to hate each other, but they were actually working together to develop the car, even if it was in this more or less roundregarding way.”
On whether team principal Ron Dennis had a favourite: “There was definitely a bit of that. It happened all the time. If you go back to [Niki] Lauda and the arrival of Prost [en 1984], Lauda was really suspicious of Ron and told me: ‘Prost is the new guy, he’s fast, he’s the future, and Ron is going to favor him’. A race engineer not only has to do the technical part of things but also be kind of a nanny and contribute to the mental side. I had to tell Lauda: ‘Don’t worry regarding that, Ron is spending more time on Prost’s car, but he’s not technically contributing to it. You’ve got me, you’ve got your three mechanics, the team has enough scale and budget to keep you both well equipped. I’ll make sure you never get cheated. You will always have all the opportunities at the level of the material, you do not need anything else. You got your guys here, don’t worry regarding that. Drive the car, and we’ll take care of the rest.”
“Something similar happened: Senna arrived, he was the fast young wolf, Prost was the old one and he thought that Ron was paying too much attention to Senna. His race engineer had to reassure him of the same way: ‘You’re not going to get cheated’.”
Ayrton Senna shows something to Steve Nichols
“Ron had a real soft spot for [Mika] Häkkinen, you [David] Coulthard felt the same. I was like, ‘David, don’t worry. I know Ron talks to Hakkinen on the radio and all that, but you have your guys, you have your race engineer, you have Dave Ryan talking to you on the radio. He has Ron, you have Ryan; Ryan is more aware of what is happening in the team, car-wise. It’s better for you ! Don’t worry, you have equal opportunities.”
However, the collaboration between Senna and Prost at McLaren ended with this collision which gave the Frenchman the title at Suzuka and which stuck in Senna’s throat. The latter was to take his revenge – his revenge, even – by hitting the Ferrari driver at the first corner the following year, confirming his second coronation.
“[Prost] shrugged, and he was obviously pissed off”narre Nichols. “What can we expect? It’s inevitable, Senna being Senna. The latter was so upset the previous year when Prost hung him. He felt he had been robbed.”
“[Prost] was probably a little suspicious, but what might he do? He had a better start and he passed him. He wasn’t going to be like, ‘Oh shit, what if he hits me from behind? I better put my foot down before the bend and let it pass’. After, where are you going to double it? You let him take the lead, and following that, as soon as you try to pass him, he’s going to crash into you.” Senna would go on to win a third title with McLaren in 1991, while Prost would pick up a fourth crown at Williams in 1993.
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