The Australian Grand Prix has to be a great closing party. The celebration of the 500th Formula 1 Grand Prix , forty years after Saturday, May 13, 1950,, when Giuseppe Farina won at Silverstone, on Alfa Romeo, the first race of the World Championship history. The end of a heated season, with the battle between Senna and Prost, between McLaren and Ferrari. But the organisers of the Australian Grand Prix, in Adelaide, the capital of the State of the South Australia, the region of the wines, of the great parks, with 3700 kilometres of beautiful coasts infested by the terrible white sharks, have found an empty box. It is still the event for the anniversary that also Jean-Marie Balestre and Bernie Ecclestone had carefully prepared by inviting characters and champions of the past, but the atmosphere is weak, heavy indeed, it seems like it is the one of a spring balance. The speeches about the accident of Suzuka between the two protagonists of the battle for the championship and there is the impression, even between a little group of innocence-proving (in favour of Senna) and for the most of the guilty-proving, of being screwed. So true that the sales of the tickets proceeded slowly and so they are starting a big advertising campaign to recover some audience, with a mysterious slogan:
"What happened in Japan is nothing compared to what could happen in Australia".
While the Ferrari moves from the Surfers Paradise to the Gold Coast, where the team stayed for a well-deserved and short period of relaxation. There is disappointment and bitterness also inside the Maranello team, which has seen so many efforts wasted in a few seconds. Ayrton Senna, who at first was considered, by everyone, the reference point ofFormula 1, the bravest and fastest driver, has lost few points, especially as a man. But it is not a resigned Ferrari, the one that comes in Adelaide. With assertion, Cesare Fiorio says:
"We still have a possible target to hit, and is the one to overtake McLaren on the race victories during the year. We are six to six, we may end up with seven to six, which could be a matched record for our team that only in 1952 and 1953 managed to reach this number of victories in a season, considering that at that time there were eight races against the current sixteen. The years are still eleven, since the World Championship won by Scheckter in 1979, since they can’t get to this level. But the appointment arrives on the track and at the wrong moment. The city circuit of Adelaide, with his turns at a right angle, is not suited to our cars, even if Berger in 1987, with the turbo engine, caught a significant victory here. But so many things have changed and maybe we can’t say that we will not be competitive: now, I’m convinced that we could have our say. The team is still very motivated and wants to show that our performances are at the highest level. But we are facing a highly demotivated Prost. I talked a couple of times with Alain while he was on a trip in Port Douglas and I thought he was in crisis. He’s a professional, he’ll do his job, but we can’t really ask him to risk his life on a circuit he doesn’t like, even if he is the only one that has won two times in this track, in 1986 and in 1988, where they are racing between two walls, where going off track is always a huge risk. Against us, in the global challenge, we will have Nigel Mansell that is on fire, in the free role. With the end of the team games, the English will have the possibility to perform at the top. And Mansell is the right man for the fight, also because he has a score to settle in Adelaide, remembering the 1986 season when he lost the title in this track for a double burst of a tyre".
Fiorio ends:
"So we are here not to just appear, but we want to be fierce and combative. They say that if you finish well the season normally is well-launched for the next one: so, we want to consider an eventual and possible claim on Sunday as an auspicious gesture for the next championship, a challenge that is still fresh in the mind of our rivals".
While in Adelaide the Australian Grand Prix is about to begin, the last race of the 1990 World Championship, on Tuesday, October 31, 1990, the FISA decides to show their plans to give back reliability to Formula 1, on the fairness plan. What are the moves of Jean-Marie Balestre?
A special committee of inquiry for the security, created by the FISA, at the end of the year will present a report that will allow them to judge the validity in the respective roles of all participants in the Formula 1 World Championship: organisers, stewards, managers, teams and drivers. A type of report card, with promoted and rejected, in short. In a statement issued on Friday, November 30, 1990 in Paris, the FISA states that, on the basis of the conclusions of the Committee of Inquiry, the Federation will decide if deliver or not to deliver the super-license that will allow them to participate in the 1991 World Championship. A problem for Senna, accused by many to have rammed Prost in Suzuka, at the start of the Japanese Grand Prix, who needed to win or to precede the Brazilian in order to stay in the title fight. In his statement,the FISA stated that the Appointment of the Commissioner of Inquiry was necessary to protect the image of the World Championship, which deteriorated as a result of the behaviour of some participants. This is the text of the statement:
"During these last few months, the races of Formula 1 were the scene of many accidents that have involved different drivers. Later, the evolution of the technique and of the behaviour of few drivers, the image of the World Championship has deteriorated. To efficiently and rapidly restore this image, the president of the FISA decided to set up a special committee of inquiry into safety. This commission, whose composition will be communicated soon, will have powers to examine documents and testimonies about the sixteen Grand Prix of the 1990 season. It must establish objectively the responsibilities of each. The conclusions of the commission will show, before the end of this year, how to judge the ability of every driver, to the Championship of Formula 1: organisers, stewards, managers, teams and drivers. The commission will offer new documents to change the regulations from 1991 in order to improve the functioning of the World Championship. On the basis of the conclusion of the commission, the FISA will release or not release the super-licenses that allow them to participate in the 1991 World Championship of Formula 1".
The intervention of the FISA, even if delayed, is proper. And it is right that all the components of the Circus of the Formula 1 are under exam. But, while the composition of the super-commission is still to be disclosed, it is confusing that the judges, whoever they are, will only intervene at the end of the Championship. The exam of some sensational incidents - such as the Senna-Prost collision - should be very fast and so should be the related interventions. Otherwise, they would end up sealing certain situations, except the next punishment. In order to be effective, sanctions must be immediate. Especially in a world made in the name of speed as the one of Formula 1. Friday, November 2, 1990, the first practice session for the Australian Grand Prix will take place. And, about this, two days before Nigel Mansell will make a lap on track, he releases this statement:
"A disaster, there’s mud and you slide like on a toboga smeared with soap. But for me it’s ok: I love driving a bit on the verge. I’m quite sad, this is my last race with the Ferrari. I’m already nostalgic. It has been a beautiful and terrible period. So much pressure and a warmth, the one of the fans, unique. I wish i’d done more. Here I won't hold back. Much will depend on the Ferrari, from the engine I will have. This should be a free race, by now the championship commitments have faded. It will count above all to beat McLaren to get the biggest number of victories in a season".
After playing the part of the kamikaze in Japan, mortifying the hope of Prost and of the Ferrari to stay on the race for the victory of the World Championship, on the eve of the Australian Grand Prix, Ayrton Senna participates to the usual press conference that precedes the first day of practice making a long monologue and accusing, with a violence without any previous, the great rival. An answer to Alain Prost. The driver of the Maranello team, in an interview held at his arrival in Adelaide, said that the presence of Senna in Formula 1 is an authentic disgrace for this sport. Much less Senna. The Brazilian keeps repeating that he has no fault for the accident in Suzuka and that the collision was unintentional, like many others and like there will be more. Then, after he said that the photographs and TV images prove him right (subjective interpretation) and having reiterated that the title is the result of the whole season and not of the last race, Senna goes to the direct counterattack.
"The one of Prost is a planned provocation. Because he can’t and he will never be able to beat me on track, he is trying to find excuses. He's a mean person, who is only able to speak ill of everyone. He has done it when he was at Renault, has continued in McLaren, against the team, against me and against Honda. Arriving in Ferrari, in a little time, he denigrated Berger, again me, then Mansell, Goodyear, at the end Ferrari and his management. Real insults. I’m surprised, I don’t understand how a group of high level ofFiat, so of Ferrari, let themselves be exploited and used by a guy like him".
If it is true that Prost is a perpetual grouch, never happy, led to accuse others, the Brazilian is not a simpleton: attacking in this way his opponent, Senna is trying to hide the focus of the speech, that is the incorrect action, however incorrect, of which he was the protagonist in Japan ramming the Ferrari. But also at this point Ayrton is surprising.
"I was on holiday in Thailand, relaxed. But some friends, on the phone, informed me that many papers were covered with mud. However, I never feared an action of the FISA because I know that I’m right. But I’m in favour of an initiative to take measures to avoid misconduct on the track. At first I thought that the statement of Balestre was addressed only to me. I read it carefully and I understand that there were warnings and a move that affects all, from the drivers to the stewards".
The journalists asks to Senna if this controversies will have a weight of a possible future steps to the Ferrari:
"I don’t think that something has to change. I always think that a driver that has won or that wants to win sooner or later will end up in Maranello. It’s a team that can give great emotions and that arouses a huge attraction. But things change every year and we must see if there’s the opportunity to find a deal".
But what will happen on Sunday?
"I race to win, as always".
Alongside Alain Prost, who does not want to reply, he says that he is charged, ready to fight for the first place. A new battle, so, without titles up for grabs, but for pride. According to few reliable sources, the Frenchman is waiting to know more about the disciplinary decisions that the FISA may take. If they will not be to his liking, it is said that he could retire. But Prost let it be known to Ferrari to be very clear in the internal relations with the arrival, in the 1991, of Jean Alesi. Meanwhile, the leaders of the Scuderia Ferrari say that they appreciated the statement of Balestre. Cesare Fiorio says about this:
"It’s positive for the purpose, it has to be checked in detail".
For the others, that is the drivers, there is almost unanimous opinion. They agree on a greater severity of sports authorities, but without touching the super-license. They prefer warnings, fines and an eventual disqualification. And immediately, not at the end of the year. The 1990 championship was, once again, full of events, suspense, but also and above all controversy. This is a pollution that no longer seems to want to save any sport. Maybe a sign of the times. But it leaves, however, unhappy because even if they involve huge interests, the Motorsport involves huge interests and puts on a show. And it is not accidental that the last race, with the end of the games, with the titles assigned to Senna and to McLaren, there are other important reasons.
Not only for the last attempt of the Ferrari to tear, from their English rival, at least for the palmares for the highest number of victories, about the battle between the two champions that, even though they esteem each other, they hate each other. Leaving to the reader the pleasure to choose, in this way, the role of Senna and of Prost, it can only be said that for the Australian Grand Prix, the number 500 of history, the battle between the Brazilian and the French will be present. Even if it could be another one (Mansell or Berger, or Piquet with the Benetton, or Alesi with the Tyrrell, Patrese or Boutsen with the Williams) to win, they are the expected protagonists. Ayrton Senna, descendant of a rich and bourgeois Paulista family, a nice guy, and Alain Prost, a little man with a crooked nose with Armenian origin who made his way through life always struggling hard, suffering and complaining. One, the Brazilian, religious, devoted, maniacally fussy; the other, the transalpine, materialist, almost atheist, pragmatic, committed. The last duel finds the rivals in different situations. Friday, November 2, 1990, Ayrton Senna sets the best time, racing on the Australian track as only he can do. The Brazilian is euphoric, he knows that he can win.
"Arriving first is my target. I have nothing to prove, I deserved the title. But I race to beat the other drivers, to be the fastest. My McLaren is okay, I like the circuit, I have no fear of the comparisons".
On the other side there is a driver in crisis who hesitates. A little, he lets know, he will fight, he said that he is demotivated, without any more incentives. He feels persecuted, and has a patible appearance. In the afternoon, Alain Prost is the protagonist of another fight, returning to the centre of the storm. The French journalists assail him because in the morning, L’Equipe headlined:
"Prost to leave, he asked Ferrari to look for another driver for 1991".
But Alain stops everyone:
"I’m done talking. That’s it with this story of Senna and Prost, I will reply to nothing of what the Brazilian has said. Every time that I pronounce a sentence, it is deformed. Now do what you want, you will hear me open my mouth only when I want it and when I will be pleased".
In fact, the Frenchman does not deny anything. Since the journalist who wrote the incriminated article, Johnny Rives, has a deep friendship with the driver, it is impossible to think that he made up the story of his retirement. Maybe he took advantage of certain confidences. It is clear that Alain Prost, in order to continue to race, wants guarantees. From FISA, with the regulations that protect the drivers from eventual misconduct, from the Ferrari, on the management of the next season, when he will have, besides him, the young and aggressive Jean Alesi. And if he will not obtain what he wants, a sensational decision is not excluded. Maybe it will depend on the result of the race; the only certain thing is that, unintentionally, Senna and Prost will not be able to avoid another confrontation. It is the punishment to be two champions. While the injury of Alessandro Nannini opens the hunt for the last available seat in Formula 1, the one at Benetton-Ford, next to Nelson Piquet. For the Anglo-Italian team, few drivers offered themselves for the seat, among which De Cesaris, Martini, Boutsen, Bernard. But it could be a Japanese, the one to win. It is Aguri Suzuki, now at Larousse-Lamborghini, whose best result was third place in Japan. Suzuki, 30 years old, was one of the revelations of the year, proving to be much stronger than his compatriot Nakajima. According to a Tokyo newspaper, the driver would take with him the sponsor Toshiba, who may be worth 9 billion lire. In any case, despite the excellent performance, Roberto Moreno, the current replacement of Nannini, has no chance to stay. In terms of the other candidates, the main reason for the exclusion of the others is that Benetton should pay a penalty to almost everyone as they are already bound by contracts.
The day after, Saturday, November 3 1990, Ayrton Senna preserved the best time in the second turn of qualification of the Australian Grand Prix. For the tenth time from the start of the season, the Brazilian will start from the pole position. It is the pole position number 52 for the McLaren driver, in 110 races so far. An extraordinary average, near to the 50%, which breaks all previous records. Actually, Senna does not struggle to keep the position, with the time of 1’15”671, that he set on Friday. The track, under the summer sun, became more slippery and only eighteen drivers improved. Actually, they make leaps forward above all the one that during the first turn that they were under their possibilities. So, even if there are no substantial changes behind Senna, the World Champion does not bother. And in any case he obtains, again, the best time in 1'15"693. But behind him is Gerhard Berger, who climbs over Alain Prost, while Nigel Mansell is in P3. Basically, at the start, the first row is all made by McLaren and the second one by the Ferrari, in front of Alesi, Patrese, Piquet, Moreno, Boulsen and Martini, in a session that rewards also the other Italians (Larini P12, Capelli P14, De Cesaris P15, Modena P17, Morbidelli P20, Pirro P21, Tarquini P26). Outside from the grid, but not for their fault, Alboreto and Caffi, because their Arrows, on city circuits, are not competitive. For Alboreto and Caffi there is only a hope: that the 12-cylinders Porsche engine that they will have access to from next year, will give different results. Back to the race, Senna is the favourite, unless the Brazilian is content with the title who has just conquered and does not gratify his teammate Berger with a generous gesture, giving him a possibility of victory. And Ferrari? They will not just bide their time. This year, the cars of Maranello did not go very well on city circuits, but this race is totally different. In practice, Prost and Mansell slip on the track as on ice, but it seems that the race set-ups are very competitive. While Ayrton Senna reiterates:
"I will try to win, but the one of tomorrow will be a very long race, challenging for the cars and the drivers’ physique. The technical choices will be crucial, as well as the tires and also the attitude of the drivers".
What does the South American mean with this latest statement? Maybe he fears that someone may take revenge after the accident in Suzuka? Hopefully not. It is true that in this track the speeds are not dangerous. But if the drivers continue to race like bumper cars, the risk remains very high and the chances of getting hurt are not excluded. As usual, before the race there is the annual photo shoot of the end of season with the drivers. Since this is the Grand Prix number 500 of the World Championship, a photoshoot with many World Champions that are present is planned, between them there is also Juan Manuel Fangio. But Alain Prost, still angry after the events of Suzuka, is not present in any of the two photos for his choice, because he does not want to appear with Ayrton Senna. This, and its public statements on his McLaren’s ex-teammate after the Japanese Grand Prix, where he said that Senna deliberately eliminated him at the first corner in the race to win the World Championship involve heavy criticism of his mental state by some, between them also the former World Champion and BBC commentator James Hunt believes that the accident of Suzuka is a racing incident and Senna did not intentionally eliminate Alain Prost. Hunt, as the 1976 World Champion is present at the photoshoot with Fangio, Jack Brabham, Denny Hulme, Jackie Stewart and the current drivers, Ayrton Senna and Nelson Piquet, during the race narration will say that Prost has been mentally defeated by Senna after losing the championship in controversial circumstances. Not only Prost, who chooses not to take part, the World Champions who are still alive but not present at the photoshoot because they are not in Adelaide are: Phil Hill (1961), John Surtees (1964), Emerson Fittipaldi (1972 and 1974), Niki Lauda (1975, 1977 and 1984), Mario Andretti (1978), Jody Scheckter (1979) and Keke Rosberg (1982). But the most surprising absence is the one of the Australian 1980 World Champion Alan Jones, who is present at the circuit, but as a journalist for the Australian television station, Channel 9. Sunday, November 4 1990, the two McLarens, at the start of the Australian Grand Prix, from the first row, the two McLarens are in the lead. But Gerhard Berger does not start off very well and slows down Alain Prost, while Nigel Mansell takes advantage to put himself in the middle of the track and reach, without any difficulties, the rear-end of the two Anglo-Japanese cars. Senna forces the rhythm pulling Mansell along behind him while the others remain almost immediately detached. In the meanwhile, Nelson Piquet overtook Riccardo Patrese at the start and Jean Alesi a few turns after. Then he overtook Alain Prost on lap 3, at the end of the long straight and Gerhard Berger on lap 9.
Between Ayrton Senna and Nigel Mansell an exciting duel unfolds, until, around lap 40, with the first drivers lapping, trying the record lap, Ayrton Senna creates a gap from Nigel Mansell. Then, trying to recover, he does a half-spin that costs him a further gap and tire degradation. Sliding in every part of the track, Nigel Mansell is reached by Nelson Piquet, who has already regularly overtaken Riccardo Patrese within a few laps, Alain Prost and Gerhard Berger. At this point, the Ferrari #2 (on request of the driver, but from the box they were ready) gets back to the box to make a pit-stop (lap 46). Mansell falls down to P5, behind Senna, Piquet, Prost and Berger. When it seems that everything has been decided (the World Champion has over 25 seconds of advantage), here is the surprise. On lap 62, Ayrton Senna goes off track, against a wall of tires, being left in neutral in a second gear corner. The race, at this point, comes back to life. In a few minutes Nigel Mansell, with new tires, is gaining ground and overtakes Gerhard Berger and Alain Prost. But when the English driver stands near the Benetton of Nelson Piquet (also because a half off track of the Brazilian driver and a couple of overtaking slowdowns) the best top speed of the English car does not allow the Ferrari to get the first position. Mansell tries a thrilling braking at the penultimate corner, but Piquet responds by maintaining his trajectory, winning in this way the race number 22 of his long career. The Brazilian driver of Benetton precedes the two Ferrari of Nigel Mansell and of Alain Prost, the McLaren of Gerhard Berger and the two Williams-Renault of Thierry Boutsen and of Riccardo Patrese. Ayrton Senna wanted to close the season of his second world title with a lovely gift. The Brazilian, after dominating three quarters of the Australian Grand Prix, he made a mistake and he went off track.
So, the victory goes to his compatriot Nelson Piquet, who with the age of 38 scores the second consecutive success after three championships with no victories. But this was not a lucky victory as the one in Japan, where he was first without opponents capable of troubling him. Piquet made one of the most beautiful races of his career, contrasting, with great class, the unsuccessful return of Nigel Mansell. If Ferrari had the small satisfaction of remaining equal with the McLaren on the number of victories on this season (six for each team, two the Williams and two the Benetton) the result of Adelaide - with the English at the second place and Prost at the third - has a double face. The positive one is represented by the confirmation of competitiveness of the cases and the reliability of them also on the difficult city circuits. The negative one is that they missed another opportunity: seeing how things went, after the retirement of Senna, the victory was possible. The Grand Prix number 500 of the history of Formula 1 has been celebrated with an emotional race, uncertain and correct, where three drivers put on a show: Piquet, the winner, Senna, until he was first, and Mansell with his courage mixed with recklessness. Who disappointed instead is Prost who is ailing, the usual Berger - who can be seen only when he will have a car with a cockpit suitable for his maxi-size - and not for the fault of the drivers: Boutsen P5, Patrese P6, that Williams have a role of appearance by now in several races. For Mansell it is the last race with Ferrari. Next year, the Englishman will be back in Williams. Uncertain is the future of Alain Prost, who continues his press moratorium, pronouncing only some purely technical explanation about the race and a couple of obscure utterances.
"My race has been conditioned by a wrong aerodynamic choice. I wanted a smaller wing than the one fitted on Nigel’s car and this almost immediately gave me some troubles with the tires, which deteriorated. In the end, I slipped everywhere and I had any trouble with the brakes. I could not aim for a better result".
What will Alain Prost do during the next few weeks?
"That's my business, these are human problems and not driver’s".
Right before he had repeated that he was bitter at the criticisms and the controversies that he had to suffer in these last few weeks, moreover in the last few years.
"My words do not mean that I'm retiring, or that I will continue to drive. Simply I will do my own business".
In the French morning he was the protagonist of another drama. He goes away in the middle of the driver briefing when Ron Dennis, manager of McLaren, had asked, provocatively, if the bump places in certain points on the circuit were to be considered edge of the runway or not. Because he answered affirmative, the English manager recalled the accident of Suzuka of last year, when Senna had been disqualified also because he had exceeded the yellow line that bordered the entry of the box during the accident with Prost. That is why Alain Prost felt mocked and left the assembly, only to be recalled and officially warned. The Frenchman is under pressure, victim of stress, also for his family problems (he is separating from his wife and he lives with Bernadette Lafitte, the wife of his ex best friend). Everyone waits for his decisions, which are unknown. Ferrari has scheduled for Prost some practice sessions in December, until that moment he will be on holiday. By now, the opinions are 50% divided between those uncertain and those who instead claim that the taste of the 7 million dollars planned for his contract will convince him to continue. Cesare Fiorio has to take a breath before speaking with the journalists after the race.
"Ferrari has shown again that it has been the protagonist and it ended the 1990 World Championship with the best score ever conquered since 1979, the year of the title of Jody Scheckter. Unfortunately, Prost had some trouble. Mansell was great but it was not enough to reach the victory. We immediately noticed that from the TV that had gone to the spun-out. He had to make a half lap to pass in front of the box and then another one before entering and he lost precious time, so it was enough for Piquet to overtake him. After he attempted everything to recover it. It was not possible. From Wednesday we will be on track with Morbidelli in Fiorano”.
Then, the sports director of the Scuderia Ferrari goes on talking about the intentions of Alain Prost:
"Prost never said, directly, that he will leave racing. Moreover, also in these last few days we discuss the work programmes that we will be doing during the winter, of the technical solutions that we are studying. Officially, therefore, the problem does not exist".
But, admitting that this is going to happen, what will happen?
"We had to recognize that Prost is a complicated and difficult man. Obviously, we can’t force him to continue or put him into the cockpit by force. The case is different, but may be an example of Jean Alesi. He didn’t want to drive the Williams and he wanted to come to us. If Prost wants to stay at home for a year or forever, we cannot oppose".
Has Ferrari thought of some alternative?
"Not exactly. But we wondered what we could do in an emergency case. There’s gotta be a solution, even if we prefer to not face this problem".
Fiorio ends:
"Everything is possible, but it will not be easy because we'd be sorry to cause problems for the other teams. The top drivers are always under contract with someone, but in any case they are able to get rid if they want. Personally, I hope to continue with Prost and Alesi because I think that this pair of drivers is very good".
Not far, Nelson Piquet, always brilliant, not only on track, celebrated the obtained victory, the second in a row with Benetton:
"I’m so old that I feel like I have raced all of this 500 Grands Prix that we are celebrating today".
Then, the Brazilian tells briefly about his race:
"I never dreamed of reaching Senna. I was thinking of saving tires, not making mistakes. When I was the leader, I also took a good advantage on Mansell, but I lost it with the lapped ones and for a half off-track that almost cost me this beautiful victory. When the Englishman was near me at the penultimate turn I decided to keep my trajectory. We didn’t touch each other for a while".
The Brazilian also uses some polemical tone. Before he attacks his detractors, those that they consider him, for some time, a finished driver.
"There are people who don’t understand anything, especially few commentators. The performance of a driver depends 90% on the cars that they drive. No one can do miracles with a bad car. With a competitive car, I can still race for the World Championship. And that is what I will do in 1991".
Next, Nelson turns into a defender of Prost, when the Frenchman refuses to explain why he went away from the briefing of the drivers.
"Alain wanted to protest against the sports authority that had intervened for what happened in Suzuka. Senna, on that occasion to overtake him, used a part of the track where he couldn't stay. And he made this that in a race it could not be done".
A thrust to Senna, who has no sympathy. In the meantime, Ayrton Senna has long gone, after he had said, also to him, a few words:
"I had to pay attention to the brakes from the start. I was always at the limit. I retired because I failed to engage the second gear and found myself in neutral. Unfortunately, the success could not fail to realise it. In any case I didn’t need to legitimise my second World championship title with a victory".
These are the protagonists. Then there is Patrese, sixth at the finish line.
"I could do it better but from the start I was behind the Minardi of Morbidelli that broke the gearbox losing much oil. I ended up in a spin, I lost time and I had to make a pit stop to change the tires. At this point, with overheated brakes, I could only take the car to the points".
For the other Italians, little satisfaction, considering their hard work: Martini P9, Larini P10, Modena P12. Larini, above all, would have deserved something more after a good start that led him to earn a few positions. But also the Italian driver has had an off-track that forced him to start the running again. Ultimately, somenews: the Australian Grand Prix (81.000 paying spectators and about 200.000 during the three days) should not be in danger in the coming years. The FIA suggested to the organisers of the Gold Coast that they may host the Indy Racing League in March and asked that the race be invitation-only and invalid for the American Championship, maybe also open to Formula 1 and Formula 3000 cars. If the advice is taken, the FISA will give up disqualifying the drivers, teams and organisers. The answer will be taken by the managers of the IRL who want to come to Australia only for an economic question, because the expected engagement is impressive. The Formula 1 season just ended, leaving many indications for what is to come.
The first is that the 8-cylinder engines will always have less chances to win: the same fact that the Honda are going through from the 10- to the 12-cylinder (the maximum number allowed by the regulation) clearly shows that in terms of power they cannot give anything to rivals. And the horsepower is at the highest speeds of rotation, reachable only with the maximum fractionation of the displacement and with the use of all possible means to convince the air to fill the cylinders even in a very short time. Also, they need to minimise the loss for the inside friction. To solve the problems that the engineers have to face, one has to think that 14.000 rpm (a limit now considered normal for the most powerful V12) is about 233 revs per second. As the aspiration is done during a half-lap, the air has about 1/500 of a second to fill each cylinder. All this horsepower (about 700) is used to the fullest: from this the research on the range of speed changes with semi-automatic and servo-assisted systems. Here,Ferrari has been the trailblazer, but now it is certain that others will follow it. On the other side, they have to make the aerodynamics of the cars work at best since air resistance increases with the cube of speed. It is necessary that the wings, indispensable for the curve grip, do not waste too much HP on the straight. Another teaching of the 1990 season is that the aerodynamics on certain cars with an 8-cylinders engine with fewer 50 HP have been able to withstand much more powerful cars on certain circuits. Connected to aerodynamics is the problem of suspension, which has reached the limit of acceptable hardness, but cannot offer anything else in the current conditions. That is because some constructors are again experimenting with active or intelligent suspension, in order to keep the bottom of the car at a constant distance from the ground, but at the same time with an adequate suspension. Now that the cars practically double in weight at high speed due to the effect of the wings, they have to work on minimal movements. The result? For every little irregularity of the track, the car jolts like a wild colt, increasing the driver’s fatigue.
Suspension is directly connected to the tires. The constructors that have most suitable tires to their car in every single circuit certainly benefit from them. Also, any changes of the regulation that are made to reduce the performances will have fleeting effects because then the performances will rise again, as in the past. On Sunday night, Alain Prost leaves the circuit in a hurry, followed by many journalists. Then, in a reserved room, he offers dinner for the end of the season to the mechanics and to the technicians of his team. On Monday, the French driver leaves by plane for an unknown destination. Probably he is travelling to Switzerland to get his son Nicolas, ten years old, and he will be busy. He will obviously keep contacts with the Ferrari that awaits him for December 10, 1990, the day of the first official tests organised by the FOCA, the association of Formula 1 teams, at Estoril, for the next season. Until this day, in theory, Alain Prost can keep his secret, if he wants to leave racing or if he wants to continue with the Maranello team also in 1991. But it is not excluded that the Frenchman will communicate his intentions before this date. It is unlikely, if not impossible, that the three-times World Champion may try to change teams, even if the opportunities and the offers are not missing. His contract with the Maranello team is clear: he can stay at home as much as he wants, but if he races, he has to do it with Ferrari. So Prost is the only big question mark for the next season, because the doubts of the major teams are solved, except for the replacement of Nannini at Benetton because there could be again some surprises, even if the negotiation with the Japanese driver Aguri Suzuki has almost ended. The Japanese driver has clearly said that is waiting for the decisions of the FIA to communicate his intentions. But, between the lines of an incredible and confusing situation it is difficult to understand something, between some torn sentence and the same Prost and with the confidences that he made to his friends. The motivations for his press moratorium are the following:
"After the nightmarish episode of Suzuka, I went for a holiday in Australia to forget it. And I did it, until my arrival at Adelaide, on Wednesday night, and then on Thursday morning, when I realised that I was in the middle of a senseless storm and I was forced to give excuses, to answer to statements that I didn’t make or that were deformed".
Discouraged by what happened in Japan, worried about the attitude of the sports authority that always disappointed his expectations, Prost confessed that he lost the passion to race and to drive, that is what supported him in this activity that gave him satisfaction not without risks and danger.
"In a similar situation, I really thought that it was the moment to start to think about my future. And I can confirm that I said to the Ferrari that he could start to search for another driver. And it’s also true that I thoughtI was going to retire. But there’s a lot of things that can happen to guide me towards one or the other decision, bring me to the withdrawal or convince me to continue".
It is clear that Prost, in this way, is trying to force the decisions of Jean-Marie Balestre, who announced the establishment of a special committee to judge the accident that happened during the championship. But it has to be recognised that the president of the FISA will not have an easy job: if he supports too openly his fellow countryman, he may attract more trouble (the anger of Senna, for example, with threats to race in Formula Indy), if he tries to be perfectly impartial, he will be the responsible for the abandonment of the champion.
"In any case, I will not choose little country roads, underground streets. I will stop doing the driver or I will not, but this will be my decision and without mincing words. I will go on as I please: I should hold a press conference and tell everything. And I can assure you that I will talk about it for everyone. Or I could shut myself in the most complete silence, without explaining anything to anyone".
Exactly one week after the end of the World Championship, on Sunday 11 November 1990, at his return in Brazil, arriving at the Congonhas airport of Sao Paulo, Ayrton Senna learns about an attempt of kidnapping against him from the criminal organisation Comando-Vermelho,, in order to obtain a sum of money to free the new World Champion of Formula 1. The revelation - of an undercover informant - came out a couple of weeks before and the ambush should have taken place in the days of his return, during the holidays that Ayrton Senna had planned to spend at Angra Dos Reis, a beach resort in a place located 151 kilometres from the capital, where he is usually the guest of the businessman Antonio Carlos Braga. At the airport, the police establish a supervisory service for the driver, trying not to be noticed and the same driver, informed of the situation, is not too alarmed. Also because, after a traffic accident of the January of the previous year in the centre of the Paulista metropolis, Senna had become aware of his vulnerability and had adopted various security measures, including, among other things, that of almost always using the helicopter and the private jet for his movements. The kidnapping, always according to the police, is allegedly organised by three bosses of the criminal underworld, Antonio Rosa Silva, Daniel Francisco Silva and Marcos Alexandre Lessa, fierce bandits who operate into the favela of Jacarezinho, an authentic maze of houses and huts on the hills of Rio, where hundreds of people are living in. In the same month, they discovered a plan to kidnap his ex-girlfriend and also a famous television host, Xuxa (akaMaria da Graça Meneghel). The Senna family was, in the recent past, a victim of similar criminal attempt: the father of Ayrton, Milton da Silva, had escaped, some time ago, an assault near the family villa, on the hills of the Serra da Cantareira, not so far from Sao Paulo, but on board of the car intercepted by the bandits there was only his driver. Ayrton Senna, however, reacts firmly to the situation of risk, accepting the escort of some agents who accompany him in all his movements. Despite this problem, on his return to Brazil, Ayrton Senna cannot escape from the ritual interviews of the sports journalists, and the Brazilian, once again, is talking about the season that just ended. And, in this occasion, he repeats that he was about to leave the McLaren to move to Ferrari:
"The negotiations had begun when my team had problems tuning the chassis that was not up to the performance of the Honda engine. I didn’t close the deal at the time, because it could have complicated the championship, which for me was important to regain the title. I'm sure I made the right decision to stay at McLaren, for now. Until this team offers me the best conditions to win, I will continue on the same path".
Meanwhile, as Alain Prost enjoys a long period of holiday, thinking about his future, Ferrari is working on the 1991 season. Probably, on Thursday, 15 November, 1990, the 26-year-old Jean Alesi will arrive in Maranello. It will be the first official contact of the driver from Avignon with the red cars of the Prancing Horse. Few laps on the track of Maranello, photos and interviews. The recruitment of the young driver of Sicilian origin it was at the centre of many polemics during all the Championship.
A signed contract with the Tyrrell also for 1991, another commitment made with Williams in February, then the definitive transition to the Italian team, thanks to his determination to take advantage of the great opportunity that was offered to him, Alesi comes to Maranello to replace a champion (discussed but always a driver of significant value, who even if between ups and downs and too many mistakes has won the heart of the fans, even more of what Prost have done) as Nigel Mansell. A difficult work for a young man who until now disputed 24 Grands Prix in Formula 1, achieving two second places, after he achieved, before, the French title of Formula 3 and the one of Continental Champion of Formula 3000. But the commitment of Jean Alesi will have to go beyond it. His Italian descendent, a real gift in which many believe, and at the moment of the revival of Ferrari, makes many fans demand from this blue-eyed young man a kind of exorcism from a curse that since 1979 has prevented the most prestigious team of Formula 1 to win the World championship title. Not last, the one that took away from the team of Maranello a concrete possibility to fight until the end.
"I’m thrilled. It's difficult to explain how I feel at the moment. But I can assure that I will do everything to respond in the best way to the expectations. I wanted the Ferrari at all costs, they - president Fusaro and Cesare Fiorio - waited for me to be free from all the commitments, they believed in me, even if I never won a race. This is a dream that comes true, but it’s also a starting point and not an end point. I have a three-years contract, I think I have the necessary time and get to express myself to the maximum".
A different car with the electrically controlled transmission, a difficult teammate as Alain Prost: do you have doubts and fears?
"No. These are not the problems. With Alain there will be a good relationship. He is an accomplished champion, one that has won everything. I am an apprentice. I have to learn how to set up the car, study the race strategy,work with a team that is at the top".
Your role as a wingman?
"That’s not. Ferrari is one of the few teams able to provide the same car to its two drivers. I think I am fast enough to be able to play my chances during the next championship. Our sport is individual. But it’s clear, I repeat it, that from Prost I only have to learn. And in case I will help him to win the World Championship, as far as I can. My target for now is to gain points, to win some races, the agreements will be very clear, at the half of the season the roles will be already outlined and I will not withdraw from my responsibilities because I realised that first of all comes the Ferrari".
Jean Alesi, so, accepted a position of apprentice, at the school of Maranello and Alain Prost. Regarding the team, there will be no problem. It will be interesting to see how the three-times World Champion will act. His current doubts, the bitter quotes of the recent days, except for waiting for the decisions of the FISA to implement race rules, suggests that Prost has no concerns, maybe a confrontation that he does no’t like too much. About this, Monday, 12 November, 1990, it seems that Alain Prost dissolved his doubts and decided that he will race for the Italian team also in 1991, renouncing the intentions of retirement expressed after the Japanese Grand Prix. The French driver was to be in Maranello to meet the Ferrari managers but he had already given his consent to practice, the 22-23 November 1990, on the renovated track of the Mugello with his new teammate, the twenty-six-year-old Jean Alesi. The same Alesi that, on Sunday night, with Nelson Piquet, visited Nannini at Siena (the conditions of the Tuscan are discreet), paid a visit to Cesare Fiorio and on Thursday will try for the first time one of the red cars at Fiorano. It is not impossible that the young Frenchman will make (or has already made) a short secret test to practise with the electronic gearbox. Meanwhile, work on the active suspension continues in the garage for the preparation of the new car for the next World Championship. Wednesday, 14 November, 1990, also the last few clouds are thinning out. Alain Prost will still race next year and he will do it with Ferrari.
During the afternoon, the French driver had a long chat with president Fusaro, in Maranello, during which they discussed the problems that emerged at the end of the season and the foundations were laid for the 1991 programme that will see Alain flanked by his new teammate, Jean Alesi. The French driver from Avignon, during the morning, underwent a medical examination at the Institute of Sports Medicine at the San Martino hospital in Genoa. With the medical officer of the Fiat group race, Bartoletti (that he choose the équipe of Genova to follow the drivers of Ferrari, Alfa and Lancia) Alesi made eight tests and at the end he answered gladly some questions about his future relationship with Prost, saying:
"But how can’t I get along with him? When he was already a champion I was just beginning to race on the kart. So, for me, he is a teacher, from him I just have to learn".
Thursday at 12:00 p.m., the Frenchman will be officially presented in Maranello, while during the morning he will do a few laps in Fiorano with his new Formula car. And, in the end, the fans will put it on their shoulders, taking him in triumph, as if he won his first Grand Prix. And Jean says, indeed scream:
"It’s the most beautiful day in my life".
There is nothing more he can do, Jean Alesi, he basically behaves like all the champions, who, when it is time to change teams and colours and to be presented to their new supporters, they swear eternal loyalty. But Alesi really believes it. He laughs and talks. His face became red from the emotion and his bright eyes glee. A huge party at Ferrari, a warm welcome to his new driver. On the Fiorano track, fans are admitted too. About three hundred Tifosi, maybe more, mixed to the journalists and photographers, while the other members of the team of Maranello, with binoculars and flags, snoop along the road, over the bridge, standing on the trucks' chests, wherever they can catch a red flash, a roar of the engine.
"First I wanted to be a driver, then win a championship: now I'm at Ferrari and that’s all that I dreamed of. The next step is to conquer the World Championship".
Blocked by cameras, surrounded by microphones and notebooks, heated into the cold wind by the warmth of his new friends, Jean Alesi, son of Sicilians from Alcamo, repeats ten, twenty times the same things. The Frenchman praises Alain Prost, promising support and respect, but he also adds that on track he will try to put his tires in front of him, a sign of consideration of the colleague but also of personality, of self-confidence.
"From Prost I have much to learn and hope to discover all the secrets of Formula 1 with his help. But in races, it will be different. It’s normal that you try to overtake him: we are twenty-six drivers, and I will be one of the twenty-five that will do anything to beat him".
It could seem, hearing these promises, that in Ferrari, between Jean Alesi and Alain Prost, a sort of rivalry started between the two. Maybe that is the way, even if there is the impression that everything is continuing regularly in Maranello, at least for now. Alesi has already set, for the first time, behind the wheel of the 641/2 making a total of 58 laps between the morning and the afternoon and also running into his first drawback, differential break after 7 laps. Actually, it is Ferrari’s technicians who are talking about the differential. He says that he had a gearbox problem. It may be that the discrepancy only depends on Jean’s imperfect Italian of Jean who,in any case, also helps himself with gestures and grimaces. In short, as a good Latin, he manages to express his thoughts with clear fullness.
"It’s true, I'm a driver who focuses on speed. But the important thing isn’t to go fast for twenty minutes or so in a single race, but to keep a high level during the entire season. That’s what I want to learn from Prost. And then, if I come after him it’s not a disgrace: in fact, Alain is a champion and it would be great to arrive second or third in my second year of Formula 1".
Then he admits, as to point out the spirit of friendship and collaboration that everyone, him first, wish for in Ferrari:
"If necessary, I'm ready to put myself at the service of the team".
A helping hand: what can the boy offer them more?
"I’ll have to do many tests, I’ll have to try a lot with the car: for this reason I think I’m moving to nearby Maranello".
And about his recent experience at the wheel of the Ferrari, he adds:
"I believed I had more difficulty with the electronic gearbox, but things went better than expected. Of course, Ferrari is another thing compared to Tyrrell, that is without the suspension that created so many problems. I don’t believe that a day of practice is enough to be at the level of a technology so sophisticated, but I’ll get used to it soon".
A promise, and his bright eyes send flashes.
"If Nannini had signed for Ferrari, I would have left Tyrrell anyway to work as a tester at Maranello".
Thursday afternoon, already with the pace of a champion, Jean made a set of timed practices lapping in 1'02"65, great performance considering that the record is owned by Prost with a time of 1'01"60. Not bad as a first try behind the wheel of a car of Maranello. Things are going so well that the twenty-six year-old driver form Avignon decides to try again also on Friday, with the difference that he will not simply acclimatise with the car, but already work on the study and development of details. The next appointment is for 23 and 24 November at Mugello. On 10 December, at the end, he practises at Estoril: and in Portugal there will be a close call with Prost. In the next few days, Jean-Marie Balestre, the FIA president, reveals to some friends.
"We will use the iron hand".
In this way, the French manager anticipated the decisions that will be taken on Thursday, 6 December, 1990, from the one that is pompously called the FIA World Council, which will be held in Paris to make a report of the season and especially to prepare the rules that will regulate the races of the next year. After the clamorous episode of Suzuka, when at the first turn of the race, the Brazilian Ayrton Senna crashed into the Ferrari of Alain Prost, winning the World Championship with one race in advance, Balestre, right after the accident, had announced the establishment of a committee of super-experts who would judge in the future any action deemed incorrect by the drivers.
"We will form a group of people who can form a court to punish with the maximum severity all the infractions during the race".
But, since that moment nothing has leaked yet, despite the initial protest of the same Ferrari that, even if politely, asked for justice. They had made some names, such as the one of the former World Champion Jackie Stewart and other superstars.
Now, there is indirect confirmation, even if unofficial. It seems sure that the jury will have wide powers and could decide about exemplary sanctions that could be warnings, disqualifications or hefty fines. So, like yellow and red cards in football. But Balestre was able, until that moment, to hide the identity of the chosen people. In any case, regardless of the composition of the new court, the decisions of the FIA will not fail to arouse controversy, because the interpretation of the accidents is always personal and it will be very difficult, in regard to the interests at stake, to please everyone and be impartial. It seems, however, that no retroactive measures will be taken - unless unthinkable denials are denied. Senna can rest assured: the World Champion should be present the day after, Friday, at the Grand Gala, which is programmed in the headquarters of the FIA in Place de la Concorde, where the annual awards will be assigned. It will be interesting to know the opinion of Senna and of the others involved, not least the one of Prost, whose participation in the 1991 World Championship depends on the decisions that would be taken by the Federation about the subject. Balestre, in this sense, cannot do anything: he could not punish the McLaren driver directly for what he has done in the past, without arousing a scandal. Also because, the year before, the same Prost was the protagonist of a similar case arousing the anger of the Brazilian. So he must limit himself to threatening everyone heavily for the future. Hopefully, the FIA president does not let himself go into head strokes, as is his habit.
"In Formula 1, every improvement of the security is welcome, which concerns the public, circuit or drivers. But we don’t want to transform the Grand Prix into boring races, like sometimes they are. The risks are part of this sport when the philosophy is to win".
On Friday, 7 December, 1990, in Paris, Ayrton Senna misled partially the questions about the Balestre’s plan, whether the FISA is in the pipeline to limit misconduct (and abuse) in 1991.
"I’m not well informed".
The Brazilian driver explains, but suggests that he would dislike measures that are likely to dampen the competition. Like reducing the gap in scores between the first three of every race. The points system will count the results during the whole season, not only the eleven best placements. Then a special Safety Commission is created, chaired by Balestre. Then, a supervisor will be appointed to follow every race. In their report, sophisticated video footage will be added. No official confirmation of the passport-card that each driver will receive and where the mistakes triggering the penalty in the standings or, even, suspension, would be noted. The higher-ups of the FISA discussed the package on Thursday, 6 December, 1990, in Paris, where Senna and other champions will be awarded the day after. Senna – who from Balestre receives a personal gift, after so much controversy – a talk for 45 minutes in the rooms of the Hotel Crillon.
"The new McLaren with Honda V12 engine will be ready towards the end of January, but next week I will be in Great Britain for the first exam. I’m confident. We expect, however, to work harder than the Ferrari, our absolute rival also for the 1991. I can say only one thing: next year, the challenge will be only technologic, while in 1988 I remember a battle between drivers and the last two editions the psychological war has triumphed".
If it is not a peace with Prost, it seems like an armistice.
"How do I deal with the new Championship? In great shape. The holiday in Brazil was good for me. Today I'm happy and motivated differently from the 1990, a season with different problems, inside and outside my team".
On Monday, 10 December 1990, Formula 1 restarts at full capacity with a series of tests on the Portuguese track of Estoril. While waiting for the first confrontation between Ferrari and McLaren with the new Honda V12 engine (which from Tuesday should be driven by Ayrton Senna), it is the team of Maranello to come into the limelight.
For the first time, Alain Prost and his new teammate Jean Alesi will test together. There is much curiosity for this debut even though the younger of the two French drivers, obviously, should not push too hard. Ferrari brings many innovations: aerodynamic changes, an experimental engine, some new details for the differential and suspension. In short, all materials to be tested in view of the new car that should debut at the end of February. On Monday, Alain Prost will regularly be on the track of the Estoril, the Frenchman drives the Ferrari for the first time after the end of the last season and marks the best time of the day. But, at the end of the work, pressured by the journalists Intrigued by the rumours of a possible retirement, the three-time World Champion admits that he still has doubts about the future.
"Hypotheses were made. There has been talk of contrasts with the sports director Cesare Fiorio, of disagreements with the same Ferrari , of a lack of approval for the recruitment of Jean Alesi. It’s not true. It’s a personal problem, of a man and not of a driver. I will communicate my decision within 31 December".
It must be said that the declarations of Prost are sufficiently clamorous: in fact, the Frenchman has already signed a contract with Ferrari for the next season. And the explanations that that provides are not clear enough. If it is true that he has personal problems (for example, a complicated family situation with a separation from his wife Annemarie and maybe a divorce ahead), it is not understood that he did not present them at the time to the team of Maranello. There is the impression that Prost is trying to force the Ferrari management to obtain certain guarantees in respect of Alesi. After the declarations against Fiorio that he made in Portugal, criticising harshly the work of the sports director, maybe Alain fears that the young compatriot, if it is confirmed as a emerging talent, can blow his leadership away. In the past, the French driver, especially after the accident of Suzuka, had said repeatedly to wait for the FIA to make the decisions about the security and the establishment of a committee to enforce the regulations. Now, he argues for a private matter. There is at least a contrast between the two different versions.
"When Ferrari is involved, controversy is always raised".
But no one would think to provoke discussions if it is not the Frenchman feeding them with an ambiguous attitude.
"The 1991 Formula 1 World Championship will be more difficult. But drivers, technicians, mechanics and not least the shareholders, will do everything so that next year we could win both championships, drivers’ and constructors’".
These are the considerations of Cesare Romiti, expressed on Saturday, 15 December, 1990, during the traditional Christmas lunch at Ferrari, where all the staff is present, including president Piero Fusaro, the board members Piero Ferrari, Luca Montezemolo, Sergio Pininfarina, Marco Piccinini and all the men of the team. Fusaro confirms the target of the season:
"We have to win and win well. Tradition demands it, it is the ideal witness that Enzo Ferrari got us".
During the dinner, Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Gianni Morbidelli get rewarded. Jean Alesi receives the traditional “Prancing Horse” as a welcome. The most cheered is Mansell, who is going to Williams. In the meantime, it is communicated that the engineer Pierangelo Campagna became the head of the English technical basis of Guilford. And, in parallel, the aerodynamic expert Jean Claude Migeot, who has been for a season at Tyrrell, officially resumes service. Prost confirms that he will decide about his future within Christmas, while Ferrari is planning the practices at Mugello, on 19-20 December 1990, with Alesi and Morbidelli. During the traditional pre-Christmas gathering, Alain Prost meets - and will meet again, in the following days - the higher-ups of Ferrari. But the team of Maranello seems to be willing to assert its rights, as the sports director, Cesare Fiorio, explained:
"I hope that everything will be resolved in the best way. The situation for Prost is still being defined. But I want to remember that Alain has already signed a contract with us for 1991. Which is why, if he decides to leave,we can’t force him, but he will take all the appropriate responsibility. We reached a deal, we have not made any progress on the market and we would be seriously damaged in the event of a change of mind".
This is not a threat but certainly is a warning. However, if Prost leaves the Ferrari, whatever are his intentions, he will have to face bureaucratic, legal and economic obstacles, this is why he has always been so sensitive about this. Waiting for an official statement, after the practices of the Estoril, a first winter report onFerrari can be done. Fiorio goes on:
“We are satisfied with the work done so far. Apart from the chronometric results and the track record, 1'12”58, made by Prost, there are two positive factors to consider. On the technical level, with the test that we made for the approach with the ’91 car, that is engine, aerodynamic, drive, brakes and electronics, have given excellent results and no reliability issues. For the human side, we had the confirmation of the qualities of Jean Alesi. On two fronts. The boy has proven to be fast, determined and brave and at the same time showed a certain sensitivity in the tuning of the car, the availability, the desire to learn. I think the purchase was right. He has yet to learn, even if he has already covered almost 2000 kilometres, but he does it quickly and with acumen. During the simulated Grand Prix in Portugal he ended with about a lap of advantage on the time recorded by Mansell during the race of the Championship. So, for now, everything is going well".
And the opponents?
"They are always strong. At Estoril, we saw that the new V12 Honda is powerful with the McLaren, even if an engine blew up. These are things that may happen. It became clear that the ten -cylinders Ilmor set on Leyton House should be competitive, that the Williams is already at a good point with the electronic gearbox that has a system similar to ours, even if the plant should be different, that the Benetton with the Pirelli tires, especially in qualifying, could be very dangerous".
So there is no break. That is why Ferrari will be on track, again, on Wednesday and on Thursday at Mugello with Alesi and Morbidelli, to continue a work that cannot be stopped waiting for the decision of Prost. While motorsports are closing this year’s season following the adventurous story of the Paris-Dakar, Formula 1 benefits from the holiday to have some days of rest. But the work in the workshop and the practice on track are closed. And, according to someone, even if not official, Alain Prost has finally dispelled his doubts. Indeed, between retirement and the continuation of the activity, he has preferred to continue, even asking for a two-year contract with Ferrari. A sign that Alain Prost has not abandoned his goal to reach Juan Manuel Fangio’s record.