Top 25 Formula 1 drivers of all-time
By Asher Fair
Top Formula 1 drivers of all-time: #5 – Alain Prost
As hard as it is not to think of his rivalry with Ayrton Senna when thinking about the role he played in Formula 1 during the late 1980s after becoming a two-time world champion with McLaren in 1986, Alain Prost himself is one of Formula 1’s greatest drivers of all-time himself and deserves a top five spot on this list, if not higher.
The fact that he and Senna took turns finishing in first and second place in the driver standings during their two battles as McLaren teammates in 1988 and 1989 further goes to show just how great of a driver Prost was. His 51 wins rank fourth on the all-time list.
Prost, like Jackie Stewart, went out on top, winning the world championship in the 1993 season before retiring. Prost entered the 1993 season having not competed since 1991 after taking a sabbatical in 1992. That title was his fourth, which trails only three drivers on the all-time list, and he easily could have had more, finishing runner-up on four occasions.
On one such occasion, many still feel that he was robbed due to a decision to turn the 1984 Monaco Grand Prix into a half-points race as a result of the fact that it was shortened due to poor conditions. By winning that race, Prost scored just 4.5 points instead of 9 points.
That ended up costing him the title, which would have been his first, as he finished the season with 71.5 points, second only to Niki Lauda’s 72. Lauda did not score any points in that race and therefore did not incur any reduction.
Prost had plenty of other success in the sport’s crown jewel race as well, winning it on three other occasions — in fact, all within the next four seasons. Only three drivers have ever won it more than Prost has, with one, of course, being the six-time winner Senna.