Alain Prost: “A privilege to have been an active witness to evolution”

When you started in Buenos Aires in 1980, you took part in the 329th Grand Prix in history and, since then, you have hardly left the paddock. Does the number 1000 make you a little dizzy?

It's not the number that interests me, especially the evolution of this sport from the mid-70s. I experienced the entire period when the F1 exploded. I don't know exactly how many Grands Prix I have participated in, but between my activities as a driver, in communication Renault, behind the commentator microphone at TF1, at Mercedes, at the head of Cheers GP, back at Renault, I must not be very far halfway. It is a true privilege to have been an active witness to this evolution.

The 1980s are often presented as being the richest that F1 has known. Is this your feeling?

There was a set of things that made the public and people internally embrace this period. We are still at the crossroads between amateurism and professionalism, between craftsmanship and industrialization. There was the ingenuity of the technicians, the reading always at the limit of the legality of the regulations, the genius of the designers, new technologies, etc.

F1 was a testing ground, but in connection with the public. When Renault brought the turbo to F1 in 1977, the English who represented the artisans, the kingpins of the sport, were mocking. The following year, Michelin scored the first victory for a radial tire when everyone thought the task was impossible. In fact, a lot of certainties were starting to fall away.

Discover our special report on the 1000th F1 Grand Prix, and the full interview with Alain Prost, in issue 2211 of AUTOhebdo, available now in digital version and on newsstands?