Carpooling Prost: “Returning to Paul-Ricard represents a real pilgrimage”

Quadruple world champion Formula 1, Alain Prost is also a four-time winner of the French Grand Prix on the Paul-Ricard circuit (Var): 1983, 1988, 1989 and 1990. It is not for nothing that the Frenchman believes that the return of F1 to Castellet “represents a real pilgrimage”. Among his victories, it is the first that continues to mark his mind.

“Pole position, victory and lap record. One of the rare (victories) where we tell ourselves that nothing can happen to you, that you are completely one with the machine”, remembers “The Professor”, then on board a Renault RE40.

However, everything could have gone wrong for the French pilot. " You know what ? I was coming out of terrible sciatica which, the day before, had left me writhing in pain. Nobody ever knew about it. A physiotherapist came to treat me at the hotel, I had barely slept. »

The Paul-Ricard circuit was also regularly used for long testing sessions between races. It was a small world that rubbed shoulders then. “At the time, everything was open and the many weeks (…) were lived in total sharing with the people on the circuit. Jeff, the king of the sandwich at the pit bar, Jacques Luc the champion biker who manages circuit security,…”

I still remember of our ears pressed against a partition to listen to Mauro Forghieri's phone calls, the technical boss of Ferrari, was obliged to stop by Enzo Ferrari every evening to report on the day, often by coming to terms with the truth in terms of performance and times. »

Find other juicy anecdotes in the Carpooling by Alain Prost as well as the French F1 GP Guide in issue 2168 of AUTOhebdo, available on newsstands and in digital version.