Prost Grand Prix
Full name | Prost Gauloises Blondes (1997) Gauloises Prost Peugeot (1998–2000) Prost Acer (2001) |
---|---|
Base | Guyancourt, Yvelines, France |
Founder(s) | Alain Prost |
Noted staff | Bernard Dudot John Barnard Loïc Bigois |
Noted drivers | Olivier Panis Jarno Trulli Jean Alesi Nick Heidfeld Heinz-Harald Frentzen Shinji Nakano 1997) |
Drivers' Championships | 0 |
Race victories | 0 (best finish: 2nd, 1997 Spanish Grand Prix and 1999 European Grand Prix) |
Podiums | 3 |
Pole positions | 0 |
Fastest laps | 0 |
Final entry | 2001 Japanese Grand Prix |
Prost Grand Prix was a Formula One racing team owned and managed by four-time Formula One world champion Alain Prost. The team participated in five seasons from 1997 to 2001.
History
Purchase of Ligier
As early as 1992, Alain Prost had ambitions to buy the
In the meantime, Ligier was bought instead by Cyril Bourlon de Rouvre. The team enjoyed an upswing in fortunes under his ownership and went on to be reasonably competitive in the mid 1990s.[4]
De Rouvre then sold up to
Prost completed the purchase of the Ligier team in February 1997 after several months of speculation.
Early promise
The season started strongly. Olivier Panis lay third in the championship early in the season aided by podium finishes in Brazil (third) and Spain (second). Form seemed to be on Panis' side, but the Frenchman crashed heavily at high speed in Canada, breaking both his legs.[8]
With its lead driver forced to miss much of the season, Prost struggled with novices Jarno Trulli and Shinji Nakano until Panis's return at the Luxembourg Grand Prix. There were glimpses, a commanding drive by Trulli in Austria where he led for much of the race before his engine expired, and a run by Trulli again to fourth at Germany showed potential, and a dogged points finish for Panis on his return in Luxembourg meant that Prost wasted no time in signing the pair up for a further season.[9]
1997 world champion Jacques Villeneuve later remarked that in the year of his title victory, he had regarded Panis as something of a threat.[citation needed] Panis had been fastest in Spain, and was running right behind Villeneuve in Argentina when his car gave up on him. He was close to winning in Canada too as his Bridgestone tyres were better equipped than the Goodyear tyred cars around him.[citation needed]
Problems and decline
After such a promising 1997, hopes were high for the partnership with Peugeot as this was an attempt at becoming an all-French powerhouse and thus Prost earned Peugeot's direct factory support. It was established just a few days before the partnership was made official that Peugeot had changed the terms of their agreement with Prost meaning they had to pay Peugeot for the engines over a period of three seasons rather than receiving them for free over a period of five seasons; this left Prost with little to no choice but to agree to the new terms as it would have left them with little to no time to find a new engine supplier, however also not doing so would have had major ramifications with potential sponsors pulling out of sponsoring them,[10] things took a turn for the worse in the following seasons. After serious gearbox problems in testing, the team almost did not start the 1998 season-opener as their car still had to pass a crash-test. They made it to the Australian Grand Prix, but the season proved to be a failure. Only Trulli's sixth at Spa kept the team from last in the standings. In the first few races of 1998, the team also ran with X-wings until these were banned on safety grounds.[11]
The 1999 season saw an improvement. John Barnard was hired as technical consultant.[12] Several points finishes were achieved and a second place coming by way of Trulli's strong drive at the Nürburgring. At times the car looked genuinely competitive with strong qualifying displays. Yet the results often failed to materialise. At Magny-Cours Panis had started third, but was unable to capitalise and finished outside the points. Trulli was under contract for 2000, but the team's relative lack of success enabled him to leave for Jordan. Panis was dropped and went on to become McLaren's tester.[13]
Struggle for survival
In 2000 the team began its sharp decline. Veteran racer Jean Alesi, Prost's former teammate at Ferrari in 1991, was signed to the team. The team also signed up rookie F3000 champion Nick Heidfeld for 2000.
Despite a promising driver lineup, Prost finished last in the Constructors Championship, failing to score a single point during the season. Heidfeld was disqualified from the European Grand Prix at the Nürburgring for his car being two kilos underweight. Prost fired Alan Jenkins, the car's designer after Monaco.[14] At the Austrian Grand Prix their two drivers crashed into each other, putting them both out of the race. The relationship between Prost and Peugeot collapsed.[15]
In 2001 the cars now ran with Acer-badged Ferrari engines. The season began with Alesi and ex-Minardi driver Gastón Mazzacane, but after four races, the latter was dropped from the team and replaced by Jaguar's Luciano Burti, who himself was replaced at Jaguar by Pedro de la Rosa. Alesi was very consistent, finishing every race, occasionally in points scoring positions, most notably in Canada when he did a few donuts afterwards and after getting out of the car, threw his helmet into the crowd. It was his best finish with the team. A fallout after the British Grand Prix, however, saw Alesi walk out after the German Grand Prix. For his final race with Prost, Alesi scored another championship point in that race of attrition. The first start for the race was red-flagged when Burti was launched into the air after crashing at high speed into the back of Michael Schumacher's ailing Ferrari just seconds off the line. Alesi moved to Jordan Grand Prix for the rest of the year, and was replaced at Prost by Heinz-Harald Frentzen, who himself had been sacked from Jordan after Silverstone.
In
At the end of the season, speculation began surrounding the fate of the team in the light of its increasing debts. Finally, in early 2002 the team went bankrupt, just before the start of the season. Prost had been unable to raise enough sponsorship to keep the team afloat. Deeply hurt by the episode, Prost described it as a disaster for France. Frentzen had hoped to stay, but ended up at Arrows. The team never managed to replace the money that Gauloises stopped supplying when they withdrew their title sponsorship at the end of 2000.[17]
Reflecting back on the experience, Alain Prost stated that Prost Grand Prix was his biggest mistake.[18]
Phoenix Finance's failed F1 entry
A consortium fronted by Phoenix Finance – run by Charles Nickerson, a friend of Arrows' Tom Walkinshaw – purchased the team's assets, believing that together with their purchase of old Arrows assets, specifically the engines, it would gain them entry for the 2002 season. However, the FIA viewed the consortium as a new entry (subject to an entry fee) and the project did not go ahead.[19]
Complete Formula One results
(key)
Year | Chassis | Engine | Tyres | Drivers | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | Points | WCC |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1997 | JS45 | Mugen-Honda MF-301HB 3.0 V10 | B | AUS | BRA | ARG | SMR | MON | ESP | CAN | FRA | GBR | GER | HUN | BEL | ITA | AUT | LUX | JPN | EUR | 21 | 6th | |
Olivier Panis | 5 | 3 | Ret | 8 | 4 | 2 | 11† | 6 | Ret | 7 | |||||||||||||
Jarno Trulli | 10 | 8 | 4 | 7 | 15 | 10 | Ret | ||||||||||||||||
Shinji Nakano | 7 | 14 | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | 6 | Ret | 11† | 7 | 6 | Ret | 11 | Ret | Ret | Ret | 10 | ||||||
1998 | AP01 | Peugeot A16 3.0 V10 | B | AUS | BRA | ARG | SMR | ESP | MON | CAN | FRA | GBR | AUT | GER | HUN | BEL | ITA | LUX | JPN | 1 | 9th | ||
Olivier Panis | 9 | Ret | 15† | 11† | 16† | Ret | Ret | 11 | Ret | Ret | 15 | 12 | DNS | Ret | 12 | 11 | |||||||
Jarno Trulli | Ret | Ret | 11 | Ret | 9 | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | 10 | 12 | Ret | 6 | 13 | Ret | 12† | |||||||
1999 | AP02 | Peugeot A18 3.0 V10 | B | AUS | BRA | SMR | MON | ESP | CAN | FRA | GBR | AUT | GER | HUN | BEL | ITA | EUR | MAL | JPN | 9 | 7th | ||
Olivier Panis | Ret | 6 | Ret | Ret | Ret | 9 | 8 | 13 | 10 | 6 | 10 | 13 | 11† | 9 | Ret | Ret | |||||||
Jarno Trulli | Ret | Ret | Ret | 7 | 6 | Ret | 7 | 9 | 7 | Ret | 8 | 12 | Ret | 2 | Ret | Ret | |||||||
2000 | AP03 | Peugeot A20 3.0 V10 | B | AUS | BRA | SMR | GBR | ESP | EUR | MON | CAN | FRA | AUT | GER | HUN | BEL | ITA | USA | JPN | MAL | 0 | NC | |
Jean Alesi | Ret | Ret | Ret | 10 | Ret | 9 | Ret | Ret | 14 | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | 12 | Ret | Ret | 11 | ||||||
Nick Heidfeld | 9 | Ret | Ret | Ret | 16 | EX | 8 | Ret | 12 | Ret | 12† | Ret | Ret | Ret | 9 | Ret | Ret | ||||||
2001 | AP04 | Acer 01A 3.0 V10
|
M | AUS | MAL | BRA | SMR | ESP | AUT | MON | CAN | EUR | FRA | GBR | GER | HUN | BEL | ITA | USA | JPN | 4 | 9th | |
Jean Alesi | 9 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 6 | 5 | 15 | 12 | 11 | 6 | |||||||||||
Heinz-Harald Frentzen | Ret | 9 | Ret | 10 | 12 | ||||||||||||||||||
Gastón Mazzacane | Ret | 12 | Ret | Ret | |||||||||||||||||||
Luciano Burti | 11 | 11 | Ret | 8 | 12 | 10 | Ret | Ret | Ret | DNS | |||||||||||||
Tomáš Enge | 12 | 14 | Ret |
References
- ^ Prankerd, Tom (19 April 2013). "Testing Time - Alain Prost, Ligier, 1992". second-a-lap.blogspot.com. Archived from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
- ^ "1992 - Le feuilleton Prost - Ligier". www.statsf1.com. Archived from the original on 16 April 2021. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
- ^ "Prost Grand Prix's original plan to debut in 1995/96". unracedf1.com. 12 May 2019. Archived from the original on 31 March 2023. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
- ^ Thomsen, Ian (21 May 1993). "Ligier's de Rouvre: Man of Many Parts". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
- ^ "Briatore buys out Guy Ligier". www.grandprix.com. Archived from the original on 6 October 2022. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
- ^ "Prost and Ligier". www.grandprix.com. Archived from the original on 14 July 2020. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
- ^ "Motor racing: Prost acquires Ligier F1 team". The Independent. 14 February 1997. Archived from the original on 14 July 2020. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
- ^ Day, Aron (16 September 2014). "What Ever Happened To…? Olivier Panis". Formula Spy. Archived from the original on 14 July 2020. Retrieved 18 October 2020.
- ^ "What Ever Happened To…? Olivier Panis". 16 September 2014. Archived from the original on 14 July 2020. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
- ^ "The Problems Of Prost Grand Prix". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2023-03-19. Retrieved 2023-03-19.
- ^ "Prost And Williams Seek Solutions". Crash. 14 May 1998. Archived from the original on 28 June 2021. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
- ^ "Prost Looks To Barnard For 1999". Crash.net. 19 August 1998. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
- ^ Collins, Aaron (3 September 2018). "F1: Prost Grand Prix - What went wrong?". Archived from the original on 15 August 2019. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
- ^ "Prost, Alan Jenkins part ways". us.motorsport.com. Archived from the original on 26 January 2020. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
- ^ "Austrian GP, 2000". www.grandprix.com. Archived from the original on 27 January 2020. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
- ^ "Prost AP04". www.f1technical.net. Archived from the original on 26 January 2020. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
- ^ Edworthy, Sarah (4 February 2002). "Formula One: Prost's failure casts large shadow". Archived from the original on 26 January 2020. Retrieved 15 July 2020 – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
- ^ "Prost says being a team manager his 'biggest mistake'". Crash. 13 August 2015. Archived from the original on 13 February 2023. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
- ^ "Phoenix will not rise from Prost's flames". SportBusiness. 13 March 2002. Archived from the original on 19 October 2019. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
External links
- History of Prost – December 23, 2000