Senna and Prost (Part 1)

The early stages of one of Formula One's most famous and defining rivalries

The long list of problems with this story starts with the title: “Senna v Prost” or “Prost v Senna”? Or just “Senna and Prost” or “Prost and Senna”? Why do you put one before the other, or the other after the one? Alphabetical? Most titles? Most enduring legacy? Most wins? Most pole positions? Most feared driver?

Each question has one answer, and even if you answer them all, you still cannot separate the two.

Of course, this is peanuts compared to the problems Ron Dennis would face at McLaren once he put them both in a car together but, when you have two drivers with talent, determination, and insatiable desires to win to rival any others F1 has ever seen, life can be extremely difficult.

Apart from winning, obviously. That was fairly easy once the car was on par with the talent of its drivers. Once McLaren rolled out the MP4/4 for the 1988 season, they had a car that was to machinery what Ayrton Senna da Silva and Alain Marie Pascal Prost were to driving.

It was never supposed to becom…