Remembering Alain Prost’s first World Championship in 1985

By 1985, Alain Prost was considered the best driver on the F1 grid. He’d somehow managed to miss out on the World Championship the previous year, despite equalling Alberto Ascari’s record of seven Grand Prix victories in a season, by just half a point from his team-mate Niki Lauda, and there was a sense that 1985 simply had to be the Frenchman’s year.

After three seasons with Renault that saw him grow from young upstart to hugely respected craftsman behind the wheel, his performances earned him a return to McLaren, and the MP4/2 with its TAG-Porsche engine was the class of the field. He and Lauda had won 12 of the 16 races in 1984, including the final seven of the season, and Prost was therefore a firm favourite to pick up his first World Title after successive years finishing as the runner-up.

A perfect start

He could only manage the sixth fastest time in qualifying for the opening race of the season in Brazil. His best lap was more than a second slower than Michele Alboreto’s Ferrari, and he was also behind both Williams and Lotus cars. Cause for concern you’d think, but by now it was well documented that Prost’s biggest strengths were in his race management. In temperatures of up to 38°C, the Brazilian Grand Prix would be decided by who could nurse their car to the end of the 61-lap distance.

It was the typical Alain Prost performance, as he made a decent start to climb to third ahead of the Lotuses of Elio de Angelis and Ayrton Senna on the opening lap. Then, as those around him fell into mechanical trouble, he set a strong, but sensible and consistent pace to run away from the opposition. Nigel Mansell was out of the race by lap eight, leader Keke Rosberg suffered a turbo failure on lap ten before Lauda and Senna also pulled into the pits with their own issues.

Prost, however, had no such troubles, and drove to a dominant but brilliantly measured victory where he showcased all of the traits that would see him become known as ‘The Professor’. It was his 17^th Grand Prix win, which saw him overtake Stirling Moss as the driver with the most wins without a World Championship. Surely that would not last.

Weathering the storm

The wheels did threaten to come off at the following two rounds of the season, though. He made an uncharacteristic mistake (albeit in appalling conditions) in Portugal, and was then disqualified after crossing the line first at Imola after his car was judged to be 2kg underweight. It was still early days, but far from ideal for Prost to have suffered two sizable disappointments in quick succession.

Unperturbed, and with all his famed pragmatism, Prost responded with aplomb in Monaco two weeks later. By now it was clear that the McLaren was far from the quickest car in qualifying trim – Prost would indeed only take two pole positions throughout the entire season, and he lined up only fifth in Monte-Carlo, which was a major dent to his chances of victory.

But even on a circuit where overtaking is virtually impossible, Prost managed to find a way past Eddie Cheever and Nigel Mansell to climb to third, and then moved up to second when race leader Senna suffered an engine failure on lap 13. He was gifted the lead three laps later when Michele Alboreto slid wide in oil left by a prior collision on the entry to Saint Devote, but the Ferrari’s superior pace saw him fight back through. That was until a further mistake saw Alboreto slow once again with a puncture.

Prost, now back ahead with a lead that looked to be definitive, was able to do what those ahead were not. He managed the race superbly once again to claim his second win of the season, perhaps the only driver in the field who didn’t make a mistake that day.

The title charge

That win in Monaco was the start of a relentless period for Prost, who finished on the podium in nine of the following 11 races. But even with that amount of success, the Championship was still far from over, because his main rival, Alboreto, was himself enjoying a hugely impressive season.

Prost’s three victories at Silverstone, the Österreichring and Monza helped to first close the gap to Alboreto in the Championship, and then extend his advantage over the summer. The British Grand Prix was another race of attrition, as Prost again was able to navigate the full distance as those around him dropped out with mechanical failures. Rosberg, Mansell, Senna and Andrea De Cesaris all retired around him to leave the door open for another victory, which Prost took in some style as he lapped the rest of the field by the chequered flag.

His performance in Austria was even more dominant, as he led from start to finish in a car that was far superior to the opposition on the Österreichring’s high-speed layout. It was his first pole position of the year, and a statement victory as he led home Senna by 30 seconds.

His final victory of the year at the Italian Grand Prix was perhaps even more impressive, as he stormed to a remarkable win from fifth on the grid, once again managing the perfect balance between pace and reliability. As the Williams pair, who looked to have the performance advantage, were again hamstrung by engine issues, Prost raced away from the Brabhams of Nelson Piquet and Marc Surer, and Senna’s Lotus, to win by a 50-second margin.

A Champion at last

He didn’t know it then, but Prost had already done enough to claim his first F1 World Championship. He left Monza with a 12-point lead over Alboreto in the Drivers’ standings, and the Italian went on to retire from each of the final four races, sealing the title for Prost.

Prost was confirmed as the Champion at the European Grand Prix at Brands Hatch on the 6^th October, where a fourth-place finish was enough to clinch the title, and see the Frenchman finally fulfil his potential.

That he went on to become a four-time World Champion, and still to this day ranked as one of the most successful F1 drivers of all time, is really of no surprise when you consider just how good he was. Few drivers, if any, had the capability to drive so far within the limits of their car and still come out on top on a such a regular basis. His uncanny ability to reach the chequered flag more often than anyone else was no accident, but to do that, and more often than not still be the fastest, made him the ultimate driver of his era.

The 2025 Festival of Speed takes place on 10^th-13^th July. Friday and Saturday tickets are now sold out, but Thursday and limited Sunday tickets are still available.

Images courtesy of Getty Images.