When F1's fiercest rivalry first overspilled
Thirty years ago this week, the 1989 Formula 1 title battle was resolved by an infamous Ayrton Senna/Alain Prost collision in Japan. From the Autosport archive, here's the original report on what unfolded that day
As the end of the 1989 Formula 1 season approached, the intra-team situation between Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost at McLaren was clearly beyond redemption, but there had not yet been an outright on-track clash. Just high tension, accusations of favouritism and discord over allegedly broken team orders agreements - enough to make Prost commit to Ferrari for '90 already.
There was one last in-house title battle to settle first, and Suzuka was a chance for Prost to put it beyond Senna's reach.
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