Insider reveals two key traits which set Alain Prost apart

Former McLaren designer John Barnard has highlighted two defining traits that made Alain Prost one of Formula 1’s most successful drivers.

Prost is regarded as one of the greatest drivers of all time, having won four championships in a career that saw him race for top-end teams like Renault, McLaren, Ferrari and Williams.

Barnard worked closely with Prost during their time together at McLaren, designing the cars with which the Frenchman won his first two F1 titles in 1985 and 1986.

One of the first things that stood out to Barnard was Prost’s exceptionally smooth driving style, which allowed him to eke out more life from his tyres than rivals.

“What is special to me when I worked with him was [that] he was fantastic with tyres,” Barnard said at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.

“I'd see him start the race. We ran then with full tanks, we didn't refuel. And he'd run the first 10 laps really easily. We thought What is he doing? He is cruising.’

“And then slowly he'd just work it up and work it up. And when everybody else was wrecking their tyres, he got perfect tyres at the end. He was brilliant with tyres.”

Barnard revealed that Prost was also heavily involved in technical matters, so much that he would remember the exact set-up the team had used at any given race.

“The thing I recall about him is that he remembered the set-up on the car.

“I could say to him, ‘Maybe we should go down on the front rollbar. And he would say, 'we ran to a number three'.

“That was four races back. He said, 'Yeah, I remember what we did.' I thought that's pretty good.”

Prost, who was present with him at Goodwood, added, “Even now I remember some set-ups from ‘84.”