Editing Alain Prost (section)

=== Driving style ===
During his career, Prost was nicknamed "The Professor" for his intellectual approach to competition. Though it was not a name he particularly cared for, he later admitted that the term appropriately characterized his driving style. Skilled at setting up his car for race conditions, Prost would often conserve his brakes and tyres early in a race, leaving them fresher for a challenge at the end.<ref name=":2" /> His mantra was to "win as slowly as possible,"<ref name="mcbride_nyt_p3" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=On this week #8: A masterclass from The Professor |url=https://www.pirelli.com/global/en-ww/race/racingspot/formula-1/a-masterclass-from-the-professor-119946/ |access-date=2024-10-02 |website=www.pirelli.com |language=it}}</ref> a phrase he may have picked up from his teammate [[Niki Lauda]],<ref name=":24">{{Cite web |last=James |first=Clive |title=Niki Lauda Wins Going Slowly |url=https://www.clivejames.com/niki-lauda-wins-going-slowly.html |access-date=2024-10-02 |website=CliveJames.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Buxton |first=Will |date=2016-06-03 |title=BUXTON: The Secret |url=https://racer.com/2016/06/03/buxton-the-secret-130356/ |access-date=2024-10-02 |website=RACER |language=en-US}}</ref> or [[Juan Manuel Fangio]].<ref name=":27" /> Honda F1 boss [[Nobuhiko Kawamoto]] once told Prost that Ayrton Senna "was more the samurai, and [Prost] was more the computer."<ref name=":5" />

In contrast to Senna, who had a "tendency to go flat out all the time,"<ref name=":2" /> Prost employed a smooth, relaxed style behind the wheel, deliberately modelling himself on personal heroes like [[Jackie Stewart]] and [[Jim Clark]].{{sfn|Roebuck|1986|p=131}} Although Prost may not have driven as stylishly as his contemporaries – [[Nigel Mansell]] once said that Prost merely "chauffeur[ed]" the best car on the grid – Stewart praised Prost for his silkiness behind the wheel, explaining, "To some, that's boring; to me, it's artistry - and so much more difficult than just throwing a car about."<ref name=":27" /><ref name=":28" /> Prost's calmness allowed him to get the most out of an engine without driving it to failure. [[Clive James]] wrote that Prost "was considered uncanny even by the other drivers for the way his cars held together: it was as if he could hear what was going on in the engine. Prost was the car's friend. Other drivers treated the car no more tactfully than they treated women."<ref name=":24" /> However, his approach had some critics, including Ron Dennis, who was upset that Prost declined to go for the win at [[1985 Belgian Grand Prix|Spa in 1985]]. Prost responded that "I've lost the championship at the last moment so many times I'm not taking any chances."<ref name=":26">{{Cite web |title=Alain Prost |url=https://www.mclaren.com/racing/heritage/formula-1/drivers/alain-prost/ |access-date=2024-10-02 |website=www.mclaren.com |language=en-GB}}</ref>

Prost's smooth style sometimes masked his raw pace on track. [[Steve Nichols]], Prost's car designer at McLaren and Ferrari, said that at the [[1985 Belgian Grand Prix]], he watched Prost calmly circle the track three times, and did not realize that Prost had taken pole position until after he went back to the garage.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Prosser |first=Dan |date=2023-08-02 |title=McLaren designer Steve Nichols on Prost, Senna and Lauda |url=https://www.the-intercooler.com/library/blog/mclaren-designer-steve-nichols-on-prost-senna-and-lauda/ |access-date=2024-10-02 |website=The Intercooler |language=en-GB}}</ref> [[Nigel Roebuck]] told a similar story about a Prost pole position at Monaco.<ref name=":28">{{Cite web |last=Keilloh |first=Graham |date=2011-07-24 |title=In defence of Alain Prost |url=http://www.talkingaboutf1.com/2011/07/in-defence-of-alain-prost.html |access-date=2024-10-03 |website=Talking About F1}}</ref> [[Adrian Newey]], Prost's car designer at Williams, said that Prost sometimes frustrated him in testing because Prost rarely pushed the car to the limit, making it harder for Newey to figure out whether the car was quick enough.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-10-02 |title=Prost's final fling |url=https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/november-2023/71/prosts-final-fling/ |access-date=2024-10-02 |website=Motor Sport Magazine |language=en-GB}}</ref> Newey added that "when he wanted to, he could turn it on."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Costa |first=Lucrezia |date=2024-08-11 |title=Adrian Newey on the champions he has worked with: "Very different characters, but all phenomenal" |url=https://pitdebrief.com/post/adrian-newey-on-the-champions-he-has-worked-with-very-different-characters-but-all-phenomenal/ |access-date=2024-10-02 |website=Motorsport {{!}} Pit Debrief |language=en-US}}</ref> Although Senna crushed Prost in qualifying during their 32 races together, taking 26 poles to Prost's 4, on race day Prost scored 12 fastest laps to Senna's 6.<ref name=":21" />

Although Senna outshone Prost's qualifying pace, Prost was also an underrated qualifier. Niki Lauda remarked that when Prost joined McLaren in 1984, Prost was so quick that Lauda quit trying to match Prost in qualifying and used his track time to set up his car for the race. Prost internalized those lessons and used them against Senna in 1988 and 1989.<ref name=":21" />

Prost also understood the importance of racing in top machinery; McLaren's website comments that he "built his long career on making the right move at the right time."<ref name=":26" /> However, once he found his way into a winning team, he was not always deft with his relationships with teams and engine suppliers. Formula One's website notes that while Prost "made winning races [] look easy," he "was less successful at the politics in which he was invariably embroiled," and he "left teams acrimoniously on four occasions."<ref name=":2" />