Alain Prost reacts to the title: “What will Red Bull be without Verstappen tomorrow or the day after?”

Alain Prost was interviewed by Canal+ following the Qatar Grand Prix, to react to Max Verstappen’s third consecutive Formula 1 title. The four times world champion joked about this « big surprise, his title this year. »

« I have a kind view of him, we have known him for a very long time. What is atypical is that when we talk about Max Verstappen, we cannot not think about Jos, his father, his mother, all this education and energy around car racing with a project around him. » the French F1 world champion commented.

Jos Verstappen was a Formula 1 driver and when he saw the potential of Max, his son, he decided to help him and train him to become a champion. This upbringing therefore bore fruit, notably with 14 victories in 2023 out of 17 Grand Prix and more than 82% of victories. Max Verstappen won 15 races in 2022 and 10 in 2021, during his first title. He also has a total of 49 victories in F1 and notably 10 Hat-tricks.

In two victories, he could thus equal the number of F1 victories of Alain Prost at 51 and with the 5 remaining races, he could also surpass Sebastian Vettel as early as this season.

« He has become an incredible pilot, certainly one of the best of his generation. I couldn’t say out of all the drivers I’ve encountered who is number 1 or 2 or 3, but overall he is one of the best and totally well-supported. »

“I was asked to go apologize”

« To give you an anecdote about Spa, a few years ago, when I was at Renault and there were engine problems, Helmut Marko and Christian Horner asked me to come apologize to Max and his father and his manager. It creates an atmosphere and a bond when you want to win. »

Alain Prost also returned to his philosophy of fighting in Formula 1 where only the win counts.

« I have given some thought to his involvement, the way he won his titles and his behavior. We can’t compare all drivers, world champion once or several times. He’s all about winning and the question is at what point he will have to let go and take a breath. It’s very difficult to do what he does in reality. He is built and born to win. It’s different from Hamilton or Senna. You can feel he has a mission and sometimes it can stop quicker than expected. So that’s a question. »

When asked if Verstappen can continue like this, Alain Prost is optimistic about the next two seasons, with regulations more or less similar to these. However, he worries about the future of Red Bull the day Verstappen leaves.

« While waiting for the next two years, given that the regulations don’t change, I don’t see much of a problem for him. On the other hand, I wonder what Red Bull will be like tomorrow or the day after without Max Verstappen. »