Top 35 Quotes & Sayings by Alain Prost

Explore popular quotes and sayings by a French driver Alain Prost.
Last updated on December 21, 2024.
Alain Prost

Alain Marie Pascal Prost is a French retired racing driver and Formula One team owner. A four-time Formula One Drivers' Champion, from 1987 until 2001 he held the record for most Grand Prix victories until Michael Schumacher surpassed Prost's total of 51 victories at the 2001 Belgian Grand Prix. In 1999, Prost received the World Sports Award of the Century in the motor sport category.

You were not in control You had no visibility: maybe there was a car in front of you, maybe not.
That is an important part of my success. Another big part of my success is that I hated not to finish a race.
I like the mentality of the Americans. It's like when you talk about money. — © Alain Prost
I like the mentality of the Americans. It's like when you talk about money.
So in fact the only thing you can judge in this sport its the longterm. You can judge a career or a season, but not one race.
The people who criticise you will not be the ones taking care of your legs when you are in your wheelchair. People who never drove a car in these conditions, they just don't know.
A German team could be quite good. But maybe they are a little bit too convinced that they are the best.
In 1980 I finished three or four times in seventh place.
I always work the same way, starting from the beginning of the weekend, so I know at the beginning of the race, from all that I have analysed during the practice, whether I will win the race or not.
People don't understand that it was maybe my biggest pleasure to drive an F1 car when it's wet.
It's like when people talk about driving F1 cars in the rain. I have absolutely no problem with it.
When I test I never go right to the limit. Only because when you are below the limit you can go at the same speed all day, and that's the only way you can be absolutely sure about what you are testing.
I don't like to go over curbs, because I don't want to be hard on the car.
It's always better to speak the language of the team. Not only for the direct contact with everyone - sometimes it also helps you to understand the mentality of the people in the team a bit better.
You want to have fun but you also want to work well. Sometimes I was quite happy at Ferrari, because we would have fun, but then they could not stop having fun and go back to the real work.
I have had some problems because the French don't like people to have success, they don't like the number one.
Maybe I am not French, maybe I am from nowhere.
Some Italians are geniuses, but you have to find a balance.
You can't always have the best team. It's always a compromise.
It's not too good to have this attitude in F1. It could be a disadvantage.
I think maybe the English don't want to try something and look stupid, because they are a bit reserved.
I remember in the first part of the race I was sixth and I could have gone quicker, but I had to go slow. It was one of the most difficult things I have ever done.
Sometimes I think I could have got some better results if I had a different mentality; if I could have pushed hard and attacked. But then I would have had a good chance of making a mistake.
I have always had this mentality because I hated to break anything on the car.
Without going to what I think is my limit. I always say that my ideal is to get pole with the minimum effort, and to win the race at the slowest speed possible.
When you win a race like this the feeling is very, very good.
I'm brave to say that I won't take this sort of risk. — © Alain Prost
I'm brave to say that I won't take this sort of risk.
One of my biggest problems this season was with the clutch at the start of the race. I hate to risk the car.
I was very interested in that. It is very important to have confidence as well as to build up experience.
I have no problem with the people who work hard to get success. But I think people are very jealous about success. I work very hard and they don't appreciate that.
I was looking at the history of the sport and I couldn't understand why there have been so many good South American drivers, especially Brazilians.
Do you know, why I really love my helmet that much? Because it makes me 15 centimetres taller!
When I look fast, I'm not smooth and I am going slowly. And when I look slow, I am smooth and going fast.
Does it scare me, driving into nothing at 300kph? - Of course it does - I'm not an idiot.
When I drove for British teams... they called me The Tadpole because I was too small to be a frog.
When you win a race like this the feeling is very, very good. There have been times when I have been flat-out to finish sixth, but you can't see that from the outside. In 1980 I finished three or four times in seventh place. I pushed like mad, yet everyone was gathered around the winner and they were thinking that I was just trundling around. But that's motor racing. So in fact the only thing you can judge in this sport is the long term. You can judge a career or a season, but not one race.
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