Alain Prost's side of the story

[Knowlesy]

He really did not get away with it "ah bless" at all! Senna was routinely slaughtered in the press and rightly so.

[Born Racer]

Originally Posted by Paradise City

Senna that Latin charisma plays a powerful role in the way we interpret him. In that light Senna gets the sympathy that Prost, Schumacher and Mansell can only dream of.

I sort of agree with this, even if it risks going down the nationality route. Fundementally, I think that had he been a dour guy, he would've got panned more in people's memories. That's being human though - people are not always judged objectively.

[Paradise City]

Originally Posted by Knowlesy

He really did not get away with it "ah bless" at all! Senna was routinely slaughtered in the press and rightly so.

That's only the press though.

[chunder]

I don't really recall Ayrton being slaughtered in the press that much from memory, only after he did stupid things or made errors that caused crashes etc.

If anyone, Mansell of that era was panned in the UK, but a lot of that was maybe self induced!

From what I have read and heard from people who spoke to him regularly he was far from hated in the press, quite the opposite, he was engaging, utterly captivating and gave un-PC answers to a lot of questions. He might also have been forceful in getting his point across, but if you have a problem with that as a sports reporter then you are out of your depth!!

[Bononi]

What press ? It depends on what "press" you're talking about...

[chunder]

I would say the specialist press, they certainly, from my recall, didnt have a huge problem with Ayrton. He was frequently forthcoming and used ther press to his advantage, as Alain did at times, especially early in his career at Renault where he was treated like a brood mare, almost expected to win!

Maybe the print media looked on him differently, but I wouldnt know as I dont read the tripe.

[Paradise City]

Senna was the villain to Mansell in the popular printed press in Britain but so what? Today's newspaper is tomorrow's fish wrapper. Senna waged war with a Zorro-like mystique in a way that Schumacher had his cold teutonic ruthlessness and that mystique was not altogether attributable to Senna's immortal status that sporting heroes acquire after their deaths.

That's a gross exaggeration of the two peoples traits and too easily forgives Senna's own tendency towards callous ruthlessness but, by fair means or foul, these 'stereotypes' nevertheless leave a lasting imprint on the popular imagination.

[chunder]

You must have quoted that fomr somewhere!! Reads like some sort of thespian publich speech! lol

But I do agree with you!

[VIVA GT]

I went to Monaco for the Grand Prix in 1983 and have always liked Alain Prost since then, and it was because of his attitude to the press.
In a bar we watched an interview with him of French TV after one of the practice days. (Sorry, but this is 30 years ago, I don't remember exactly!)
This was happening on the harbour side, at the end of the interview he shoulder barged the journalist off the side and straight into the water!

[BSchneiderFan]

Part of Senna's mystique undoubtedly derives from him being no longer with us.

[Paradise City]

There was never much of a Zorro-esque mystique surrounding Nelson Piquet mind you despite his slew of titles. I guess being a sarcastic smart-ass who routinely sneered against his competitors wife precluded him from acquiring a halo of mystique.

[mountainstar]

Originally Posted by Paradise City

There was never much of a Zorro-esque mystique surrounding Nelson Piquet mind you despite his slew of titles. I guess being a sarcastic smart-ass who routinely sneered against his competitors wife precluded him from acquiring a halo of mystique.

I believe he was lucky to win the titles he did. Partly the car he had those years helped, but he was either on or off as a driver. He never really struck me as a deep thinking intellectual that was an enigma you wanted to learn about. I've always been neutral about him, didn't dislike him, but didn't overly like him either.

[chunder]

Haha, I loved Piquet when I was a kid, always seemed to enjoy himself, and let's face it driving for Bernie can't have been a huge amount of fun either mentally or financially!

He took advantage of a good car a few times and also of Renault falling over their feet! IN the same way drivers like Mansell, Hill, even Vettel have takane advantage of cars clearly superior to the compeition. But the 83 title was won the hard way, if 81 was best car as was 87.

He totally got to Mansell at Williams even though he wasn't as quick, and proved at Lotus and Beneton that he was still a decent peddlar, some of those races in the Lotus (after he got his arse kicked) he drove beautifully.

But early in his career he was a great rival to Alain, and I think really that Renault did for him, which is why he was delighted to get out!!

But Nelson did well everywhere he went, and he wasn't a crasher, was fair on track if not off it, and let's face it, there have been worse world champions! In that era against those guys to win it three times deserves enormous respect and admiration.

[Bononi]

Well, there a lot of stories of Piquet that I know, but to be honest, I believe that in his own words, the 87 title was the hardest.

[BSchneiderFan]

He might well have won in '82 if he'd run the Cosworth instead of the BMW. Then again, arguably, he might not have won in '83 had it not been for the work he'd put into the BMW in '82.