Prost, much more than a name

It’s not natural to pursue a career as a pilot when your name is Prost… Did you almost become a golfer?

I could just as well have been cycling, skiing or playing football! Prost is above all an education, my parents always pushed me to do a lot of sport. I ended up doing cars, but they never encouraged me to do more cars than anything else. School was also very important [NDLR : il a fait des études en économie aux États-Unis]. But they didn’t push me to do motorsport.

Your first laps date back to 2003 in Formula Campus. Do you remember your first sensations?

It’s starting to go back a little, it’s almost twenty years ago… But I remember that I had the impression that it was going super fast, whereas the Formula Campuses of the time weren’t super fast. The first sensations, we necessarily remember them. Driving a racing car is still quite a step to realize how far you can go in terms of grip. At first, you have to get used to it! It goes back a bit, but it’s still great memories.

You then tested several categories (Formula Renault, Grand Touring, Formula 3000, endurance, etc.). Does the Prost name open doors or is it difficult to bear?

After twenty years, when you draw the line, I think it has advantages and disadvantages. It’s always good to be able to compare to others like Bruno Senna or Nelsinho Piquet, and you realize that it opens a lot of doors, but it also closes a lot.

« With me, dad, it’s always been ‘manage yourself!’ « . Of course he helped me, but he was not omnipresent”

What is the place of your father Alain Prost in your career: an adviser, a model or a simple support?

With me, dad, it’s always been « manage yourself! » « . Of course he helped me when he could help, but he was not omnipresent. He was a father like others, more or less present whether they were pilots or not. One surely takes things from his father. I would have done another sport, I would surely have applied his methods as well. But it’s more about upbringing and it doesn’t have much to do with who he is and what he’s done.

You’ve done a little bit of everything in motorsport, have you ever wanted to settle in a category?

I spent most of my career in single-seaters and prototypes. All the same, I did ten times at Le Mans, ten years in the world endurance championship, six years as a test driver in Formula 1, I did Formula E… Of course, my predilection was to do single-seaters and prototypes, which I did and I’m super happy with it. Afterwards, it does not prevent touching something else. Today, I am 40 years old, my career is largely behind me at the world level. Coming back to race in France, doing Grand Touring, it was a huge challenge. I had to relearn everything.

At 40, what do you dream of now? Can the rally-raid tempt you?

We are already going to try to win this French GT4 championship, because when you set a goal you have to achieve it. Everything in its time. The rally-raid, I don’t know… Going to sleep in the desert doesn’t necessarily appeal to me! We will see in the future. For now, I’m focused on GT France and F3 Ultimate to try to win it a second time in a row. I am very happy to come back to my country and race on the circuits where I rode when I was young.

Pot noises

Guest star: Julien Fébreau competing in the Renault Clio Cup. His gimmick is his signature before each Formula 1 Grand Prix start: “Crank up the volume and go to the first corner! The journalist Julien Fébreau (39) has not only been the voice of F1 on Canal + since 2013. The Breton is also a racing driver when he has the opportunity for ten years. After starting with rallycross, he tried his hand at several categories such as the drift championship, the Andros Trophy, the Mitjet or even the Alpine Elf Europe Cup which had already allowed him to discover the Paul Armagnac circuit in 2019. Three years later, Julien Fébreau is back in Nogaro, this time at the wheel of a Clio (#100) from the GM Sport team. After signing on the 18^and free practice time, the journalist-driver slammed the 22^and qualifying time (out of 27 drivers) and will therefore start in 11^and line on the starting grid for the first race this Sunday (12:40 p.m.). Come on Juju, speed up, speed up!

Innovation: The 360° Recovery Box, a recovery asset for pilots. It does not go unnoticed in the paddocks. Parked behind the GT drivers’ pits, it has nothing to envy to their motorhome. He even has a thing or two more! This UFO is the Recovery Box 360°, a 14 meter long semi-trailer “specialist in mobile recovery” for athletes. Designed by former SU Agen hooker Marc Barthomeuf and his partner Hervé Inglebert, this fully modular truck adaptable to all sports offers an infrared cabin with three zero-gravity chairs, balneotherapy, two massage tables, six pairs of pressotherapy, two photobiomodulation lamps, a neuro-relaxation capsule, and a whole-body cryotherapy cabin. Devices that arouse the curiosity of pilots. Some have even already tested them and have been able to measure the benefits while driving.