Prost wins his first F1 world title

On 6 October 1985, Alain Prost won the Formula 1 championship for the first time in his career, at 30 years of age.

Ahead of the European Grand Prix at Brands Hatch, McLaren’s Prost enjoyed a 16-point gap over his only remaining rival, Ferrari’s Michele Alboreto, and needed to bring his lead to 18 points at the English circuit in order to be out of reach.

Prost had practically always been an F1 frontrunner, to the extent that he was already the fifth-most victorious driver in history with 21 race wins for Renault and McLaren, only led by record-holder Jackie Stewart on 27, Jim Clark (25), Niki Lauda (25) and Juan Manuel Fangio (24).

Coincidentally, McLaren team-mate Lauda was the driver Prost had lost the 1984 title to by half a point, but in 1985 the Frenchman’s dominance was near-complete. Ayrton Senna was the fastest driver in qualifying but Prost prevailed on Sundays, while Lauda finished just three races in the whole season, having suffered mechanical woes in most grands prix and broken his wrist at Spa-Francorchamps.

It was therefore no surprise that Senna took his sixth pole position of the season for Lotus at Brands Hatch, outpacing Brabham’s Nelson Piquet by three tenths and Williams’ Nigel Mansell by nine, with Prost down in sixth – 2.260s off the pace – and Lauda’s stand-in John Watson a modest 21st, with a 5.327s deficit on Senna. Alboreto, meanwhile, qualified 15th, making his title bid even trickier.

At lights out, Prost was surprised by Keke Rosberg’s slow-starting Williams ahead of him, put two wheels on the grass and dropped down to 14th, but it took him just nine laps to fight his way back to the points-paying positions – the top six in those days.

One of the reasons why Prost climbed back up the order so swiftly was Rosberg spinning when attempting to overtake Senna for the lead and being hit by Piquet, with the Brabham driver retiring while the Finn pitted, emerging in last place.

Rosberg then played a key role in Williams team-mate Mansell snatching the lead – he impeded leader Senna as long as he could before being lapped, allowing Mansell to overtake and pull away.

Meanwhile, Alboreto made the most of the early drama to run in sixth until he was overtaken by Prost, made an early pitstop for new rubber and suffered a spectacular turbo failure which ended his race after 13 laps. All Prost needed for the title was now fifth place.

The real stars of the race were Brabham’s Marc Surer and Ligier’s Jacques Laffite, who gradually surged to second and third place. This may have been Surer’s best-ever chance of an F1 podium finish, but he retired on lap 63 due to a turbo issue. Laffite, meanwhile, was repassed by Senna for third on lap 51, pitted for new tyres and eventually suffered an engine failure.

Prost was down in seventh with 25 laps to go, but made the most of his rivals’ troubles – including fifth-placed Stefan Johansson’s mechanical woes – to climb to third, also courtesy of an overtake on Elio de Angelis.

While Mansell won the race, Prost lost the podium to the recovering Rosberg on lap 65, but the title was his.

Alain Prost, McLaren MP4/2B

Photo by: Getty Images

“I remember that, behind my visor, my eyes were misty,” the Frenchman wrote in his 1988 book Maitre de mon destin. “This was the sign of a deep and intense joy I wanted to feel first and foremost for myself alone, before thinking about my loved ones and everyone who helped me.

“Then, before I even emerged from my cockpit, it was champagne time. Then the podium, which now had a fourth step – the world champion’s. And finally, the frenzy of the celebrations…”

Prost went on to win three more titles, with his tally only surpassed by Juan Manuel Fangio at the time, while becoming the record holder for victories (51), fastest laps (41), podiums finishes (106) and points scored (798.5), among many other feats.

Team-mate Lauda retired at the end of that 1985 season, which was not unrelated to Prost’s performance. “I hated having him as a team-mate,” the Austrian later explained. “I had this perfect car, and then this French pain in the ass arrives and blows me away. If he hadn’t turned up I’d have gone on for another few years.”

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