So, to the grand prix of Japan in 1989 Alain Prost had an advantage over Ayrton Hayden in 16 points, but the Brazilian did not at all embarrass, he expected to win the race in Suzuka, and then the final, Australian, grand prix and snatch the title from the hands of the Frenchman . Prost claims that on the eve of the race he warned his partner that he no longer intended to miss it in order to avoid a collision.
On the qualification two McLaren again was not equal. Senna was faster at 1.730 and took first place on the grid. On Sunday, Senna did not start well and rolled back to third place, in addition, Prost was more successful in setting up the car and the gap was increasing. On the 40th circle Senna overtook his partner, Prost claims that he deliberately let the Brazilian to his side. Simple settings allowed you to go faster on the straight, adjusting the downforce of the car Senna allowed him to be faster in the corners. Prost calculated that the attacker Senna would rather tire and lose his advantage in the corners. Five laps remained a break within a second.
On the 46th circle, in chicane, practically the only place on the route where overtaking is possible, Senna decided to use his advantage in the passage of the turns and decided to overtake, later braking and taking the internal trajectory. If you watch the video, it seems that the Prost either intentionally closes the "gate" partner, or before it starts entering the turn, when Senna came up 2/3 with him, there was a collision. Prost himself claimed after the race that he had no purpose to cut his partner, and he only turned on the trajectory that he considered appropriate, and only the one who spoke in Formula 1 can understand it.
Whatever it was, after the collision, two McLaren flew past the turn to the asphalt technical site, past the chicane, where they died, stopped. The commissars ran up fast enough, Alain left his car, and Ayrton gave the commissioners a sign to push him, and then got into the car and, rushing through the technical passage, went to the pits to change the nose fairing.
From the pit-stop, he returned in second place, he managed to get around behind the pair of McLarens Alessandro Nannini on Benetton, but in the first position he did not last long. Senna quickly caught up with Nannini and easily walked around him in the very chicane where the clash with Prost occurred. Three circles before the Brazilian waved a checkered flag.
It would seem that one can honor a winner, but everything was not so simple. From the scene of the accident, Alain went to the judge's box, and argued about something with the judges, then the head of the FIA, Jean-Marie Balestere, also came there, it's worth noting - a good friend of the Prost. After the finish, the second participant of the accident was summoned. The conversation took place in front of the waiting public, the judge's booth was just above the podium. Rewarding was postponed for about 15 minutes, and then on the podium came Alessandro Nannini, Ricardo Patrese and Thierry Bootsen. Senna was disqualified for having continued the race after the collision, bypassing the chicane.
According to the judges, after the collision, the Brazilian had to return to the track in the same place in which he flew. The team McLaren could not convince the judges that the driver did not win anything by such a maneuver. The political underpinning of this decision is clear if we look forward to a year ahead - before the grand prix of Japan, at the briefing, the riders took the initiative to change this absurd rule, the return to the track from the departure point was very dangerous, the car would have to go to the meeting with the peleton. The race administration supported this initiative, to which Senna emotionally recalled last year's situation and demonstratively left the conference room. And in 1989, for such behavior, Ayrton was fined $ 100,000 and lost his racing license for six months.
This decision completely deprived Senna of the chances of a title and ahead of schedule made his team-mate a three-time champion.
Even before the end of the season, Prost decided to leave McLaren, accusing the team of creating unbearable conditions for him, the whole team works only for a partner / rival and does not leave Alen with chances. For the sake of justice, it should be noted that many of the partners of Prost spoke about it exactly the same. The next season the Frenchman got a seat in Ferrari.
The season of 1990 was no less intense, Senna still struggled in every race for victory, and Prost confidently and methodically scored points. Despite the fact that the opponents regularly appeared either on the starting line or in close proximity to each other, a direct fight between them took place only in Mexico, where Prost performed many magnificent overtaking, having outstripped even the leading Senna, however, soon it turned out, That the Brazilian was experiencing problems with the tires, and soon completely disappeared from the distance. The fate of the title was again to be decided at the Japanese Grand Prix.
The best time on the qualification showed Ayrton, Alain lagged behind him only 0.232 seconds, but Senna categorically did not like the location of the pole position. The place was on the right, dirty side of the track, in addition, the entrance to the first turn on the left side guaranteed the highest speed of passage. With his considerations, the candidate for the title appealed to the Japanese judges and those, finding the remark fair, decided to swap the right and left sides. But at night this decision was canceled by our main anti-hero - the head of the FIA Jean-Marie Balestere. For the sake of justice, it should be noted that Senna started twice in Japan from poles, and both times exactly from the same place.
According to eyewitnesses of the events, after Balestera's decision, Senna in the boxes swore that if Prost seizes the lead from the start, he will fight for the first place from the first turn, regardless of the consequences. Unfortunately both pilots and fans - that's exactly what happened.
When the start was made, Prost rushed forward, Senna caught up with him at the entrance to the turn on the inner trajectory and rammed, both cars flew out onto the gravel. Telemetry showed that Senna did not even brake, although without her data everything was clear. The insults accumulated like a snowball, and such a dramatic outcome was inevitable. After a while, Senna himself admitted that he deliberately knocked the opponent off the track.
Ayrton received his second champion title ahead of schedule, although it was perfectly clear that the way he got it did not suit him in the first place.
In 1991, Senna earned his title almost unhindered and with a solid margin, Prost at the end of the championship took only the 4th position, the reason for which was the car. At the end of the season, Prost was fired from the Cudderry, the Frenchman said about the car that he was behaving like a truck on the road. The only incident between our heroes occurred in Germany, where they fought for the 4th place. In one of the turns Prost went much faster and tried to get around Senna on the outer radius, but the Brazilian did not miss him, entering the turn deliberately wide, Alain was forced to stop and leave the track.
In 1992, Prost failed to sign a contract, Senna tried to fight Williams, but on the side of the new cars there was an active suspension, and one talent for such a struggle was not enough.
In 1993, Alain Prost was invited to Williams, the contract was signed for three years, the only requirement for the Frenchman was not to take Senna to the team, and despite Ayrton's statements about his willingness to compete for Williams even for free, the place of the second pilot was given to Damon Hill.
Alain feels very confident at the wheel of the most technological in the history of Formula 1, according to many estimates, the car, and surely goes to its fourth title. Senna, still fighting for a place on the track, struggles in every possible way for a place in the advanced team and, approximately in the middle of the season, Alain starts hinting about the possibility of revising the contract item about the partner. Alain takes the decision to end his career in Formula, and to get his title without any problems and hold on until the end of the season, he says he is ready to try. Having received his fourth title, Prost requires a fee for another year and ends his career.
This ends the story of Prost and Senna as irreconcilable rivals, their personal relationships and warm affection are not based on racing facts.
At the same unfortunate Grand Prix of San Marino in 1994, Alen Prost arrived as a spectator, a welcome poster from Senna was waiting for him at the airport: "I'm bored, Alain's friend." Prost saw off the last way the coffin with the body of the great rider. He also became president of the Ayrton Senna Foundation, founded by Ayrton during his lifetime, to help children from low-income families in Brazil.
