1988 F1 Season ❲Trusted × 2025❳

Senna sat in the gravel, engine dead. Then, impossibly, marshals appeared. They pushed him. The engine caught. He rejoined the track dead last, 20 seconds behind.

On Saturday morning, Prost walked into Senna's driver room. No cameras. No engineers. Just the two men. "Ayrton," Prost said, leaning against the doorframe. "We are going to crash into each other. It's inevitable. But it doesn't have to be here." 1988 f1 season

The start was clean. Senna led into the first corner. Prost tucked behind, waiting, measuring. Lap 1, the Casio Triangle chicane. Senna braked later than physics should allow. Prost, caught off guard, understeered slightly and tapped Senna's rear wheel. The Brazilian's car snapped sideways, then spun into the gravel trap. Prost continued, his front wing askew. Senna sat in the gravel, engine dead

"I mean survival," Prost said. "We are in the same car. If we take each other out, the title goes to…" he gestured vaguely, "…Gerhard Berger. Or God forbid, a Williams." The engine caught

After the race, Senna didn't speak to the press. He sat in the garage, still in his firesuit, staring at the wrecked MP4/4. Prost walked by, sipping water. "Unlucky, Ayrton," he said softly. It was not a comfort. It was a reminder.

On lap 28, approaching the same chicane, Senna did not brake. He dove down the inside, a lunge from half a car length back. Prost, seeing the move, did something uncharacteristic: he flinched. He turned in late. Senna slid past, his right front wheel barely missing Prost's left rear. It was the overtake of the decade.

The race was chaos. Senna led from the start, but his engine began misfiring on lap 35. Prost closed in. Lap 42, the Lesmo corners: Prost pulled alongside. For two corners, they ran side-by-side, wheels almost touching, carbon fiber whispering against carbon fiber. Then Prost backed off. Not because he was afraid. Because he had done the math. If they crashed, he would lose the title, too. Senna held on to win with a dying engine, coasting over the line as smoke poured from the rear.