TC Candler

Sometimes, when someone dies young, the general public over-emphasizes their greatness.  It is a natural human reaction born out of some semblance of respect for the dead.  However, the reality is often far more unglamorous than the memory.

I mention this specifically in the case of Ayrton Senna because of the huge marketing campaign for the documentary that was recently released about the life and times of the Brazilian Formula 1 driver.  The film is called “Senna”… and it is an intriguing one with many recommendable qualities.  I would tell anyone with an interest in competitive sports to watch it.

However!!!  The documentary makes the same mistake that many in the media over the years have made — It deifies Ayrton Senna to such an extent that it proclaims him as the undisputed greatest driver of all time.  Something which is far from the truth.  In reality, he wasn’t even the best driver of his era.  That honor belongs to the unglamorous and still very much alive Frenchman, Alain Prost.

The facts are irrefutable… When faced with the below statistics, even Senna’s mother would have to put her hands up and say, “Yeah, that’s hard to argue with.”

They raced together, head to head, 141 times.  In order to be fair to both drivers, we will only consider head to head races (which benefits Senna, because Prost was great before anyone had even heard of Senna).

Generally, Senna was faster in qualifying (where he gained his legendary status), winning 60 pole positions to Prost’s 23.  This, of course, is due to two reasons — Senna was a reckless risk taker… and more often than not, he had the better car.

However, as soon as the race began… everything changed.

Despite Senna’s qualifying speed, Prost devoured him in terms of fastest race laps — 33 to 19.

Of the 141  races, Prost finished 111 times and Senna 101.  This again was primarily due to Senna’s proclivity to crash into walls and other drivers with reckless actions behind the wheel.

Prost finished in the points 102 times.  Senna 88.

Prost had 88 podium finishes.  Senna 73.

Prost had 41 wins.  Senna 37.

World Championships… Prost 4.  Senna 3.  Although, Prost should have won the 1988 season over Senna, but Formula 1 was fiddling around with that ludicrous points system where only certain races counted.  If all races counted, Prost would have won easily, making the actual World Championship count 5-2 to Prost.  Oh, and Prost came within half a point of winning in 1984, when the F1 committee ludicrously only awarded half points at the Monaco Grand Prix.  This cost Prost his 6th title.  So the actual count is Prost 6 and Senna 2.

When the lights went out and the chequered flag waved, Prost dominated Senna in every category that mattered.  Even the edge that Senna had in Poles gives more credence to the idea that Prost was actually better at racing the greatest cars around the greatest circuits.

Listen, Senna was a fabulous driver… He probably ranks behind only Prost, Fangio and Schumacher on the All Time Greatest Driver List.

He was never the best… only the most obsessed… only the most charismatic… only the most reckless… only the most exciting… only the most dirty… only the most jealous… only the most paranoid… only the most over-praised.

Now he is the most nostalgic.  And that is why people confuse him for the best of all time.

The facts prove otherwise.

Alain Prost, “The Professor”, was superior in every way that mattered on the track.  His only flaw is that he isn’t charismatic enough or dead enough to have a gushing documentary made about him.  I would still love to see one made though.

Prost was a winner.
Senna was a celebrity.