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Alain Prost breaks silence on toxic fanbase: “I get messages every day"

Alain Prost wants to be known for more than his time alongside Ayrton Senna.

Alain Prost

Alain Prost

Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images

Alain Prost has revealed the onslaught of messages he gets regarding his rivalry with three-time Formula 1 World Champion Ayrton Senna. Admitting that this includes "hateful" messages, the former racing driver is considering stepping back from social media.

Despite retiring from the sport over three decades ago, the four-time champion receives messages regarding his intense racing alongside Senna "everyday." Few rivalries have carried as much weight as the one between these two drivers. During their time as team-mates in McLaren in 1988 and 1989, they won 25 out of 32 Grands Prix. This rivalry came to a head at the 1989 Japanese Grand Prix, when the pairing clashed just seven laps from the end of the race. 

While Senna's car was pushed back onto the track, he was later disqualified for this very reason and Prost was awarded the championship. 

“My biggest fan base on social media is from Brazil, of all places, so I’m forced to think of him. Indirectly, I’ve been living around this story for 30 years, and it will probably stay that way for the rest of my life,” he said on the subject.

“Life consists of many parts: the path to motorsport, my career, and now. In the 30 years [since I retired] I have done a lot, but it is hardly talked about, I get the feeling that my life is just this Prost-Senna duel.”

The Brazilian wasn't Prost's only champion team-mate. He also partnered with Niki Lauda in 1984 and 1985, Keke Rosberg in 1986, Nigel Mansell in 1990, and Damon Hill in 1993. He has a long history of joining talented drivers on the grid.

But his time with Senna has been a story that has stuck with him over all these years, and the driver's fanbase still thrives - something that Prost struggles with, especially after Senna's untimely death in 1994.

Alain Prost, Ferrari

Alain Prost, Ferrari

Photo by: Ercole Colombo

"I can't not think about Ayrton, fortunately or unfortunately, if you like... For example, I'm considering turning off my Instagram, because I get messages every day, really every day without exception - from time to time there's a hateful one, yes, that can happen," Prost said.

"My biggest fan base on social media is from Brazil, of all places, so I'm forced to think of him. Indirectly, I've been living around this story for 30 years, and it will probably stay that way for the rest of my life." 

After 2003, Prost retired from F1 with 51 wins, 106 podiums, and four championships to his name, he moved into a presenting role while also doing bits of work with Renault. Eventually, he moved back to McLaren where he consulted on their F1 team before creating his own. The Prost Grand Prix F1 team went bankrupt in early 2002.

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Alex Harrington
Formula 1
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