Former Formula 1 champion Alain Prost thinks McLaren may live to regret the decision to let both their drivers fight equally this season. The two drivers have dominated the last three races with their only real competition being each other. Both drivers are similar in terms of pace and the close fight has led to some tension within the McLaren camp.
Prost himself has been in a similar situation when he fell out with team mate Ayrton Senna in ’88 and ’89, a time when McLaren were dominating F1, and he believes that the current situation could end up hurting the team.
“I think now having two cars within the same team is a mistake,” Prost told newpaper El Pais. “In the end, it will hurt them because it generates too much tension.”
Prost has also said that Hamilton is benefiting from his time spent in the McLaren simulator. “The simulator has reached an amazing perfection,” Prost continued. “It is even capable of simulating weather conditions – the rain, the wet asphalt, everything. And Hamilton has worked with the simulator a lot more than Alonso, and his driving style is very smooth, less rough than the Spaniard. I think that is why for McLaren, it is easier to setup the car for Hamilton’s style.”
Prost also explained that he felt the technology in Formula 1 was ruining the racing. “Now, it’s not the same,” he explained. “Back in my days, the driver was more important than the car – now, it’s technology first, and then the driver’s hands. The cars are so equally matched because of the limitations and the technological advances that make overtaking so hard. The races are decided in the pits. The strategies are decisive in Formula 1 – the only thing that the teams cannot take into account is driving errors.”
