Prost: “Do we want a French Grand Prix? »

Alain Prost, who will participate this winter in the Andros Trophy with Dacia for the second consecutive year, remains very concerned by the future of the French Grand Prix of Formula 1. For the four-time World Champion, this project must remain alive, despite the delay already incurred. “It must not be buried,” he insists in the RMC show Motors.

Alain Prost is sorry for the turn things took when everything was ready. “ There was a fantastic opportunity last year, during the regionals. There was a first project at Disney (file first approved by Prost, editor's note), which was perhaps a little complicated in hindsight. But Flins was an exceptional site with a real project, a real business plan, with Formula 1 which was only hosted eight hours a year to please the detractors. »

For the former World Champion, the Flins project brought together a large number of assets, which unfortunately was not enough. “ There was a real program for using the circuit. There was an economic and social benefit. This project was abandoned even though everything was ready, everything was financed. We could have had 100 (spectators) every year around Paris. Everyone was enthusiastic, Bernie Ecclestone first and foremost. But the project was abandoned because of regional (elections), an ecological and above all political problem. »

Beyond the failure of the Flins project, the Dacia driver in Andros explains that the economic question is the grain of sand which prevents the project from moving forward, while the cost of a European Grand Prix is ​​less important than the cost a GP in Bahrain, Singapore or Abu Dhabi. “ Do we want a French Grand Prix? Today, we no longer have a French driver in F1, the team Renault will soon no longer be called Renault? It?s a bit complicated but it?s all just an economic problem. The price of the F1 grid requested by Bernie Ecclestone varies: around fifteen million euros per year, in Europe. Abroad, it is between 30 and 40, like in Abu Dhabi. It is therefore a loss (to race in Europe) for Bernie Ecclestone, for the teams because these sums are redistributed to the teams »

For Alain Prost, political will must be accompanied by economic involvement in order to relaunch the project. “ It?s just an economic equation: how many spectators can you accommodate? Around 50 to 60 paying. The price of the board is 000 million, you are not entitled to other resources. The losses are therefore around eight million euros. Who is capable of putting in eight million euros? Either it's the politicians, or it's the government saying "it's important for France to have a French Grand Prix", otherwise it's not worth talking about it. When I hear that we need a promoter, it?s total heresy. The promoter was with the Lagardère group and myself. But above all, the economy must be viable, otherwise it is not a promoter that must be found but a patron. »