Editing Alain Prost (section)

===McLaren (1980)===
After winning the European Formula Three title, Prost was courted by Formula One teams [[McLaren]], [[Brabham]], and [[Équipe Ligier|Ligier]].<ref name=":10" /> After impressing McLaren team boss [[Teddy Mayer]] at a test drive, McLaren signed him for the [[1980 Formula One season|1980 season]]. He was paired with Ulsterman [[John Watson (racing driver)|John Watson]].<ref name=":2" />

Prost's career started promisingly. On his debut in [[1980 Argentine Grand Prix|Buenos Aires]], he accomplished the rare achievement of scoring in his first race, earning one point for finishing sixth.<ref name="mcbride_nyt_p3" /> From 1973 to 1993, only two other drivers earned points in their maiden race ([[Johnny Herbert]] and [[Jean Alesi]]). However, Prost finished 15th in the Drivers' Championship with five points (one point behind the veteran Watson), scoring at Buenos Aires, [[1980 Brazilian Grand Prix|Interlagos]], [[1980 British Grand Prix|Brands Hatch]] and [[1980 Dutch Grand Prix|Zandvoort]]. He had several accidents, breaking his wrist during practice at [[1980 South African Grand Prix|Kyalami]] and suffering a [[concussion of the brain|concussion]] during practice at [[1980 United States Grand Prix|Watkins Glen]]. He also retired from the previous round in [[1980 Canadian Grand Prix|Montreal]] a week earlier because of rear suspension failure.

At the end of the season, despite having two years remaining on his contract, he left McLaren and signed with [[Renault in Formula One|Renault]]. Prost later explained that he left because the car frequently broke down and because he felt the team blamed him for several accidents.{{sfn|Roebuck|1986|p=126}}<ref>{{Cite web|last=Melsher|first=David|date=7 July 2014|title=Alain Prost – McLaren (1980)|url=https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/december-2000/28/alain-prost-mclaren|access-date=8 February 2021|website=Motor Sport Magazine|language=en-GB|archive-date=9 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210209004746/https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/december-2000/28/alain-prost-mclaren|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="GP Encyclopedia" /> According to Watson, Mayer had initially wanted to sign [[Kevin Cogan]] but Marlboro insisted on Prost.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hamilton |first=Maurice |title=Alain Prost |date=2015-09-24 |publisher=Bonnier Publishing Ltd. |isbn=978-1905825981 |page=49}}</ref> Prost would not return to McLaren until 1984, after [[Ron Dennis]] assumed full control of the team.