In Belgium in 2021 something exceptional happened: points were awarded even though no race was held. That revived another strange situation from 2009: drivers with decimals in the standings. Half-points appeared in the boxes of Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton, and Carlos Sainz. Half-points that decide world championships. Ask Alain Prost.
Alain Prost is one of the great myths in Formula 1 history. Not only because he won four world titles, but because he lost four others by a total of 13.5 points. In 1988 he even amassed more points than Ayrton Senna, but the peculiar scoring system of the time caused him to lose. But Prost’s most memorable defeat is not any other, but the one karma handed him in 1984.
Prost Asked to Stop the Monaco Race, and That Cost Him a World Championship
McLaren was beginning its dominant cycle backed by the powerful Porsche engines and had Niki Lauda as the star driver, who had been brought out of retirement two years earlier. But they wanted to go a step further, signing the promising Alain Prost from Renault. The Frenchman hadn’t won a world title yet, but he pointed to achieving it with the right car.
Prost, known as ‘The Professor’ and probably considered the most cerebral driver in Formula 1 history, always kept points in mind. His thing was doing what was necessary to win the world title. Prost began by winning in Brazil, and shortly after repeated in San Marino, but in between Lauda won in South Africa and France.
It seemed clear that that world championship would be a two-man affair for McLaren, and in this context the Monaco Grand Prix arrived. The rain drenched the Monte Carlo track before the 1984 race, which would later become one of the most legendary events in Formula 1 history.
Prost, who had the pole, started perfectly and took the lead in the rain. The conditions were tricky, so behind him there were many spins and crashes. Niki Lauda had not had such a good qualifying, was stuck in traffic trying to move up, and when he was third he crashed into the wall.
Lauda managed to run second temporarily, but a couple of laps before his accident he had been overtaken by a relatively unknown driver who was having his moment of glory with a Toleman: Ayrton Senna. That bold Brazilian was flying in second position, and it was obvious he would reach Prost and probably pass him.
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But when Lauda crashed, knowing he had led and that Senna was coming up fast from behind, Prost began demanding over the radio that the race be stopped, arguing that it was impossible to drive in those conditions. He wanted the victory points before Senna arrived, and now that Niki Lauda was out of competition.
At that time, and still today, the French influence within the FIA was very strong. Nevertheless, Jean-Marie Balestre, Prost’s personal friend, was the little Napoleon who ran the Federation with an iron fist. When Senna was closing in on Prost, only eight laps after Lauda’s crash, he decided to raise the red flag. The race was canceled.
However, as less than 50% of the scheduled laps had been completed, only half of the points could be awarded. Prost did not collect the nine points for his win, but rather 4.5 points which still allowed him to consolidate his lead over Lauda and have a race cushion.
But the season did not follow the path Prost expected. The matured Lauda, already 35 years old and with his face visibly deformed after the brutal Nürburgring crash, continued to challenge Prost. He beat him at Brands Hatch, repeated at his home in Austria, and also won at Monza, while the mechanical problems Porsche still suffered hit Prost hard.
Thus, the two drivers went to the final race, the Portuguese Grand Prix, with mathematical title chances. But while Prost needed to win and a Lauda mistake, the Austrian only needed to finish second, even if Prost won. Lauda held the cards, and only reliability could sabotage him.
No ocurrió: Niki Lauda terminó segundo el Gran Premio de Portugal, por detrás de Prost, y se proclamó campeón mundial de Fórmula 1… ¡por solo medio punto! Lauda terminó su casillero en 72 puntos, mientras que Prost solo sumó 71,5. Es la diferencia más pequeña que jamás ha habido entre el primero y el segundo de un mundial.
El karma le jugó una mala pasada a Alain Prost, porque si no hubiese pedido detener aquella carrera de Mónaco probablemente habría acabado segundo, por detrás de Senna, pero se hubiesen completado las vueltas necesarias y habría sumado seis puntos en lugar de los 4,5 que se llevó por ganar. Y así se pierde un mundial.
The 1984 World Championship was historic for many reasons. Not only did it mark the smallest margin ever for a champion, but it was Niki Lauda’s third and final title, who achieved another unique milestone: he became one of the two Formula 1 world champions never to have earned a single pole position during an entire season. The other is Denny Hulme.
