HAMILTON HAS A ‘SPECIAL TARGET’
Prost believes Briton has extra motivation to match Schuey
Four-time Formula 1 world champion Alain Prost says the chance to equal Michael Schumacher by winning a seventh F1 title in 2020 will provide Lewis Hamilton with a “special motivation.”
Prost retired at the end of 1993 having won four titles – leaving him one behind the then record holder Juan Manuel Fangio’s tally of five.
While Prost insists that he personally didn’t see Fangio’s record as a target, he believes the opportunity to match Schumacher’s record will spur Hamilton on more than if he was still on three or four titles.
“At the moment he’s really racing with a lot of expertise, with a lot of experience,” Prost said. “So we can see that he manage not only a race, but also a season.
“I’ve never experienced being a six-time world champion, but sometimes if you win twice, three times, four times, what is your next goal, what is your next motivation? Sometimes you can lose a bit of motivation. “So at the moment the good thing for him is he has a target, and a seat at the best team in the best car, so I think it’s going to be interesting to see what he does. Next year he has a great challenge. It is a special motivation, because of the way he is at the moment. “When I was fourtimes my goal was not to equal Fangio, but I can understand today his motivation is there.
It’s good for him, good for the championship and for the interest of F1.” Prost famously went up against Niki Lauda and Ayrton Senna in the same team in his heyday, winning three of his four titles in those situations before claiming his final crown in 1993 with Williams with the inexperienced Damon Hill alongside him.
He thinks number one and number two situations are now inevitable in modern teams, suggesting Valtteri Bottas is an ideal partner for Hamilton at Mercedes but not a threat to him.
“If you look at Ayrton, if you look at Michael, even Sebastian [Vettel], Max [Verstappen], more and more you need to have a number one and number two,” said Prost.
“That is difficult, it’s not what we all want. But you compete at the top level, it’s very difficult to not have a number one or number two.
“And the best today is Lewis and Valtteri in this situation, because they are OK, Valtteri is not far off, he’s quick. But Lewis is going to be stronger and stronger all the time.”
Prost declined to try to compare Hamilton to the other all-time greats.
“How can you rate the people between ages and generations?” he said. “That’s something I’ve never done, and I don’t want to do it. For sure he’s one of the best.”