Prost unhappy with 'Senna' documentary: "Could've made it so beautiful"
- Nicolás Quarles van Ufford
F1 legend Alain Prost has insisted his relationship with his arch-rival Ayrton Senna was never as bad as the public perception is, as the Frenchman rues the documentary 'Senna' for painting a wrong picture of the former teammates.
Senna & Prost
Whoever has seen 'Senna' will not have much sympathy for Prost, Senna's biggest rival in his F1 career, portrayed as a villain-like figure in the documentary.
While it is certainly true tensions were high between the two stars, Prost explains their relationship was getting better at the end of the four-time champion's career.
"From that last podium in Adelaide (when Senna embraced the retiring Prost and let him on the top step), Ayrton started talking to me," Prost told Le Parisien at an on-stage interview.
"He called me at least once or twice a week. Sometimes for nothing, sometimes for advice. It lasted six months until Imola… We became friends, we became close. It's a new period that I would never have imagined before. I remember it very fondly."
The documentary
While 'Senna' was a resounding success worldwide as a film, this came at the detriment of Prost, whose side of the story is not told when it comes to the famous rivalry. Unsurprisingly, Prost wasn't thrilled with the story it tells.
"I'm not happy with the film because they could've made an amazing film of Senna's real story as a driver and outside of that.
"In this film they claim 'We all miss you Alain' wasn't true," the Frenchman referred to Senna's final words to Prost on French television, just a few days before his accident at Imola.
"That's when you know the film is wrong. It's such a shame because in the history of sport, there aren't many stories like that. Because it is not a sports story, it is a human story."
Prost is now a non-active chairman at Renault's works team in F1 as he tries to get the team back to its glory days of the mid-2000s.