Prost: 2007 impossible to predict

Michael Schumacher retired at the end of last season, Kimi Raikkonen moved to Ferrari, and reigning world champion Fernando Alonso has joined the McLaren team, where he will be driving alongside rookie Lewis Hamilton.

World champions Renault have also opted for a rookie, with Heikki Kovalainen teaming with Giancarlo Fisichella.

All those changes lead Prost to believe that the title winner is impossible to predict.

"This will be the first year of a completely new cycle," Prost told Autosprint magazine. "At the moment no one can say who will win, simply because everything has changed.

"Not only (Michael) Schumacher isn't around anymore, but all the top drivers have changed teams."

Prost, who retired from Formula One after winning his fourth title in 1993, believes Alonso, twice a champion with Renault, is very motivated to win a third crown, this time with McLaren.

"I see Alonso doing well at McLaren, especially for psychological reasons," the Frenchman added. "Ron Dennis's team was his childhood dream, and to be able to go there with two titles on his belt will be of great motivation for him. Fernando is young, quick, and motivated.

"He's dreamt about McLaren from the beginning, and the team nowadays need him very much, so they'll do their utmost to please him and put him in with a chance to win the world title."

Prost also reckons that Alonso could benefit from Ferrari's problems, with the former driver and team owner expecting Raikkonen to have a hard time acclimatising to the Italian squad.

"Ferrari for me is a bit of a question mark," Prost said. "The integration of Raikkonen inside the team won't be easy. They have long been used to have just one number one driver, and now they have two, both of them wanting to emerge at all costs. It won't be easy to manage them.

"Technically, by contrast, Ferrari won't have problems, in fact they'll be advantaged by their better knowledge of Bridgestone tyres compared to McLaren and Renault."

With Alonso replaced by rookie Kovalainen, Prost predicts Renault will endure a difficult year, unless they manage a car markedly faster than their rivals'.

"I don't know about Renault. Either they have a markedly faster car than the others', otherwise I can't see it easy for them. It's tough to lose someone like Alonso, and Kovalainen is a big question mark.

"No matter how good he can turn out to be, he is still a rookie. But it's not possible for him to be at the same level as the top guys, especially if he finds himself in the fight near the top end of the championship table."