Prost has revealed that he’s frequently the subject of abuse on social media, on which he has over 300,000 followers on Instagram.
The four-time world champion formed half of one of the most intense rivalries in Formula 1 history alongside Senna.
The pair were teammates at McLaren in 1988 and 1989, and tensions gradually built.
They came to a climax at the 1989 Japanese Grand Prix when they clashed, sealing the world title in Prost’s favour.
A year later, Senna nerfed Prost – then at Ferrari – out at the first corner of the same race to secure for himself a second championship.
“I can’t not think about Ayrton, fortunately or unfortunately,” Prost told Motorsport-Total.
Secure your spot today.
“For example, I’m considering turning off my Instagram, because I get messages every day, really every day without exception – from time to time there’s a hateful one, that can happen.
“My biggest fan base on social media is from Brazil, of all places, so I’m forced to think of him.
“Indirectly, I’ve been living around this story for 30 years, and it will probably stay that way for the rest of my life.
“Life consists of many parts: the path to motorsport, my career, and now.
“In the 30 years [since I retired] I have done a lot, but it is hardly talked about, I get the feeling that my life is just this Prost-Senna duel.
“But there was something else even during that time, all the drivers I drove against and fought against: I had four world champions as team-mates, and they are extremely important people who meant a lot to me.”
Prost retired from F1 at the end of 1993, the year in which he secured his fourth and final title.
That decision cleared the way for Senna to switch from McLaren to Williams in 1994 with tragic consequences.
Prior to Senna’s death at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, the Brazilian had attempted to mend their relationship such that Prost was one of the pallbearers as the Brazilian was laid to rest.
“When I stopped, on the podium in Adelaide in 1993, another person came out immediately, in a split second. He was just completely different,” he said.
“And in the six months before his death, we spoke regularly on the phone, two to three times a week.
“He was no longer the same, he became a different person when I was no longer there.
“He said to me several times: ‘Come back, I’m not motivated to race against the others. There was a whole personal context that he told me, he wasn’t particularly happy in the team.
“But those six months also made me understand, and in a way forgive, all the things we did in the more difficult years of our relationship, because we also had good years.”
Though the relationship was largely healed, their rivalry was fired back into the public consciousness with the Senna documentary, released in 2010.
More recently, the Senna series on Netflix has cast a new light on it, one Prost is especially critical of.
“Bulls**t, bulls**t, complete bulls**t,” he said of the series.
“Almost everything has been completely fictionalised. I don’t really want to talk about it anymore.”
He was even more emphatic during a separate interview with Canal+, which produced a documentary of his own career in 2024.
“I’ve only seen a few pictures and have heard quite a lot of feedback,” Prost admitted.
“As with the film Senna, the first one, which I probably spent even more time on than my own documentary, and this biopic, it’s obvious that I won’t be satisfied.
“Because there’s always a good guy and a bad guy. I know a little bit about the story, what’s being told, and yes, it’s a biopic, it’s fictionalised.
“But unfortunately, a few repetitive stories are inserted that are totally made up, just totally false. People act like I’m arrogant, and honestly, if there’s one thing I can really dismiss, it’s that.”
Prost’s comments regarding online abuse have drawn a response from the FIA.
Motorsport’s governing body runs the United Against Online Abuse campaign, a fact that has contributed to the current stance against swearing and amendments to the International Sporting Code.
Findings from a recent UAOA survey across a multitude of sports highlighted that online abuse is forcing competitors and officials across the board.
“As a former world champion in his sport, Alain Prost should not be driven off social media due to online abuse,” a UAOA spokesperson said in a statement issued to Speedcafe.
“His experience highlights the harsh reality faced by sports men and women at all levels—daily abuse, harassment and even threats.
“Under the FIA’s leadership, UAOA is developing the educational, technological, and regulatory solutions needed to protect competitors, officials, and fans to ensure that sport remains a place of strong but fair and inclusive competition.”
Discussion about this post