Editing Alain Prost (section)

===Ferrari (1990–1991)===
[[File:Alain Prost, 1990 USA GP Phoenix.jpg|thumb|Prost practising for his first event for [[Scuderia Ferrari|Ferrari]], the [[1990 United States Grand Prix]]]]
In [[1990 Formula One World Championship|1990]], Prost became the first Ferrari driver to sign for the Scuderia after the death of team founder [[Enzo Ferrari]] in 1988. Ferrari had lured away several McLaren chassis designers over the years, including [[John Barnard]] and [[Steve Nichols]].<ref name=":23">{{Cite news |last=Straw |first=Edd |date=2017-12-29 |title=Why the Ferrari 641 should have won a Formula 1 title in 1990 |url=https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/why-the-ferrari-641-should-have-won-a-formula-1-title-in-1990-4988738/4988738/ |access-date=2024-10-01 |work=Autosport}}</ref> The 1990 [[Ferrari 641]] was the first car to seriously threaten Honda's stranglehold on the Constructors' Championship, as Ferrari came within 11 points of the title. Prost won five races for Ferrari that year, in [[1990 Brazilian Grand Prix|Brazil]], [[1990 Mexican Grand Prix|Mexico]], [[1990 French Grand Prix|France]], [[1990 British Grand Prix|Britain]] and [[1990 Spanish Grand Prix|Spain]]. At Mexico, he accomplished one of his finest drives, winning the race after starting in 13th position.<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=27 May 2020|title=Race of my life: Alain Prost on the 1990 Mexican GP|url=https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/149648/race-of-my-life-alain-prost-on-mexico-1990|access-date=10 February 2021|website=Autosport.com|language=en|archive-date=28 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201028020359/https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/149648/race-of-my-life-alain-prost-on-mexico-1990|url-status=live}}</ref> In both the Mexican and Spanish races, he led Mansell to Ferrari 1–2 finishes.

The championship once again came to the penultimate round of the season in [[1990 Japanese Grand Prix|Japan]], but this time the roles were reversed, with Prost trailing McLaren-Honda's Senna by nine points. As in 1989, a controversial collision between the two settled the race.<ref name=":3" /> At the first corner of the first lap, Senna intentionally drove his car into Prost's, taking them both out of the race and sealing the title in his favour. Dennis immediately knew that Senna had purposely crashed Prost out of the race,<ref name=":16" /> but it took a year for Senna to admit that the crash was intentional; in 1991, he disclosed that he crashed into Prost in part to retaliate for Prost's actions in 1989.<ref name=":112">{{Cite web |last=Tremayne |first=David |date=2014-07-07 |title=The other side of Senna — his rage at Prost and Suzuka 1990 |url=https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/december-1991/6/the-other-side-of-senna/ |access-date=2024-10-03 |website=Motor Sport Magazine |language=en-GB}}</ref> Although Prost complained loudly about Senna's manoeuvre, saying that "What he did today was absolutely disgusting. ... He has no value [as a person]," Senna was not penalized.<ref name=":112" /> Prost finished the season seven points behind Senna, and his Ferrari team were runners-up to McLaren in the Constructors' Championship.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/database/championships/1990-f1-world-championship/ |title=1990 F1 World Championship |website=Motor Sport Magazine |access-date=27 January 2021 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210301231913/https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/database/championships/1990-f1-world-championship/ |archive-date=1 March 2021}}</ref>

At the end of the season, Mansell left the Scuderia to rejoin a resurgent Williams team, citing his unstable relationship with Prost.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Walker |first=Murray |title=Murray Walker's Formula One Heroes |date=2001 |publisher=[[Virgin Books]] |isbn=1-85227-918-4 |page=108}}Murray Walker & Simon Taylor ''Murray Walker's Formula One Heroes'' p. 108, paragraph 2. Virgin Books, {{ISBN|1-85227-918-4}}</ref><ref name=":7">{{Cite web |last=Taylor |first=Simon |date=December 2009 |title=Lunch with... Nigel Mansell |url=https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/december-2009/60/lunch-nigel-mansell |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230713202624/https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/december-2009/60/lunch-nigel-mansell/ |archive-date=13 July 2023 |access-date=11 February 2021 |website=Motor Sport Magazine |language=en-GB}}</ref> Although Mansell had supported Prost during the 1989 Prost-Honda controversy, as reigning world champion, Prost had joined Ferrari as the team's lead driver and was said to have played on this status. (According to Mansell, Ferrari contractually guaranteed him number one driver status, but once Prost became available, Ferrari paid Mansell to let Prost be the number one driver.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Woodhouse |first=Jamie |date=2022-08-20 |title=Nigel Mansell now realises why his team-mates didn't like him too much |url=https://www.planetf1.com/news/nigel-mansell-realises-reason-team-mate-dislike |access-date=2024-10-01 |website=PlanetF1 |language=en}}</ref>) Mansell said that after watching him take pole in [[1990 French Grand Prix|France]] with a purportedly superior chassis, Prost secretly demanded that Ferrari give him Mansell's car for the next race in [[1990 British Grand Prix|Britain]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Mansell|first=Nigel|title=My Autobiography|date=1995 |page=222|publisher=Collins Willow|isbn=0-00-218497-4}}</ref><ref name=":7" /> Mansell was replaced by Frenchman [[Jean Alesi]].

[[File:Alain Prost 1991 United States GP.jpg|thumb|left|Prost at the [[1991 United States Grand Prix]]]]
The {{f1|1991}} season was not as kind to Ferrari, as the [[Ferrari 642]] was not as reliable as the McLaren and Williams cars. Prost never finished a race lower than fifth, but won no races, scored only five podiums, and finished only eight races; similarly, Alesi finished only seven races. Reportedly, Ferrari's famous V12 engine was no longer competitive against the smaller, lighter and more fuel efficient V10s of its competitors, and the Ferrari chassis was likewise uncompetitive.{{Citation needed|date=September 2024}} (Barnard had left Ferrari in 1990, early enough to have input on the 1990 car but too late to help with the 1991 cars.<ref name=":23" />) Although Ferrari upgraded the car to the [[Ferrari 643]] in time for Prost's home race at [[1991 French Grand Prix|Magny-Cours]], in which Prost and Alesi finished second and fourth, the car was still unable to compete for the title over the course of the season. Adding insult to injury, Mansell's Williams-Renault clearly supplanted Ferrari as McLaren-Honda's main competition in 1991, and Mansell finished second in the Drivers' Championship that year.

Prost took out his frustrations on the team, publicly likening the car to a "truck."<ref>{{cite book |title=Formula Ferrari |first=Umberto |last=Zapelloni |isbn=0-340-83471-4 |publisher=[[Hodder & Stoughton]] |date=April 2004 |page=17}}</ref><ref name=":19" /> Ferrari retaliated by firing him with one race left to go in the 1991 season.<ref>{{Cite book|first1=Murray| last1=Walker| first2=Simon |last2=Taylor |title=Murray Walker's Formula One Heroes| date=2001|page=115| publisher=Virgin Books|isbn=1-85227-918-4}}</ref> He was replaced by Italian driver [[Gianni Morbidelli]] for the [[1991 Australian Grand Prix]] and by another Italian, [[Ivan Capelli]], for the following season.