Prost sees light at the end of the tunnel

In an interview in this week's Autosport magazine (February 15), Prost, 45, is upbeat about his team's chances in 2001 after admitting to some very dark days in the last 12 months. His team scored no points in the Constructors' Championship, while team mates Jean Alesi and Nick Heidfeld had come together on more than one occasion.

"On the human side, I think it was the hardest season of my career," said Prost. "It was very, very tough for many, many races. When I was a racing driver I won races and I won the World Championship. I knew that was difficult, and when I bought the team I knew that it would be difficult. I always had a plan of five years before we could manage to build a decent racing team."

Prost's spiralling fortunes have taken a U-turn, however, with the arrival of former driver Pedro Diniz on the management team. The son of a Brazilian supermarket chain owner has brought much-needed funding at just the right time, allowing the team to splash out on Ferrari engines and gearboxes which has seen them shoot up the testing timesheets, thanks also to its sleeping giant-behind-the-wheel, ex-Ferrari star Jean Alesi.

"We have a good base with the Ferrari engine," added Prost. "The car is performing very, very well. We know it's far from what it could be, and far from maybe what the top teams are going to do. We are not in the same category, but it's a really good start."

Diniz, who drove for the team in its previous guise of Ligier, is determined to make a success of his new role on the other side of the pitwall as Alain's right-hand man.

"Of course my father helped me to do this deal, but it's my business and I'm going to take care of it," said Diniz. "I have a good relationship with my father, and we talk a lot - he's a very good consultant. He's given me some tips on how to run my stuff, and it's very good I can have them for free!"

What didn't come free, however, was Ferrari power. A three-year supply is costing the team a whacking £63.8 million...and the gearboxes are extra.

"Definitely the Ferrari engine is costing us a lot of money," added Diniz. "Our budget is pretty high, so that's why we're still working on selling our packages of sponsorship. We have this sponsorship from PSN that is signed already, which is quite substantial for us, but we're going to present the whole package in Australia."

One thing is for sure: Prost has no excuses to endure another season as bad as the Year 2000. The question is, with Ferrari power, how good can it be?

To read Autosport.com's exclusive Alain Prost Q&A, click here.