Alain Prost

Alain Marie Pascal Prost (; born 24 February 1955) is a French former racing driver and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from to . Nicknamed "the Professor",
Prost was widely known as ''the Professor'' for his methodical and analytical approach to racing.}} Prost won four Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles and—at the time of his retirement—held the records for most wins (51), fastest laps (41), and podium finishes (106).

Born in Lorette, Loire, Prost began karting aged 14, winning the junior direct-drive Karting World Cup four years later, and progressing to junior formulae in 1976. Prost won his first title at the Formula Renault National Championship that year, prior to winning the Challenge de Formule Renault Europe in 1977. Replaced by the French Formula Three Championship the following season, he successfully defended his titles in 1978 and 1979. His junior career culminated in his victory at the 1979 FIA European Formula 3 Championship with Oreca. Prost signed for McLaren in , making his Formula One debut at the , where he finished sixth. He moved to Renault in , taking his maiden victory at his home Grand Prix in France, with further wins in the Netherlands and Italy. Following multiple race wins in his campaign with Renault, Prost finished runner-up to Nelson Piquet in the 1983 World Drivers' Championship after retiring with a turbo failure in the title-decider. Prost was sacked by Renault two days later for his post-season comments and moved back to McLaren for , where he finished runner-up to teammate Niki Lauda by a record half-point. until , half-points were awarded in Formula One for incomplete races that had run between two laps and 75% of the scheduled race distance.}}

In , Prost won his maiden title with McLaren, becoming the first World Drivers' Champion from France. He successfully defended his title the following season, amidst a close title battle with Piquet and Nigel Mansell. After winning several races in his campaign, Prost was partnered by Ayrton Senna. Together, they won all Grands Prix bar one in —driving the Honda-powered MP4/4—with Senna taking the title by three points. to points system, each driver's best 11 results counted towards the Drivers' Championship. With all results counted, Prost scored 105 points to Senna's 94.}} Their fierce rivalry culminated in title-deciding collisions at Suzuka in 1989 and 1990, despite Prost's move to Ferrari in the latter, with Prost winning the former championship and Senna taking the following. Amidst a winless campaign, he was sacked by Ferrari over comments made about the 643. After a year hiatus, Prost returned with Williams in , breaking several records on the way to his fourth championship and retiring at the end of the season. He returned to Formula One as the owner of Prost Grand Prix from to , having purchased Ligier. Prost held an advisory role at Renault—later re-branded as Alpine—from to .

After retiring from Formula One, Prost was a race-winner in the 2005 FFSA GT Championship, and entered the Race of Champions in 2010, representing France alongside Sébastien Loeb. In ice racing, Prost is a three-time champion of the Andros Trophy, competing from 2003 to 2012. He was the co-owner of Renault e.dams in Formula E until 2018, winning three consecutive Teams' Championships from 2014–15 to 2016–17. Prost was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1999. Provided by Wikipedia