Alain Prost was 38 when he retired from Formula 1 at the end of 1993. But much like Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton today, he really wasn’t ready to. That’s why he came close to a return following a rapprochement with Ron Dennis. But it turns out a mooted mid-decade comeback with McLaren wasn’t the only option.
“You know, if I have a regret, it is not when I was a driver – it is when I bought Ligier,” he says. “That is my biggest regret. In 1995, I was back at McLaren, I was very happy and I could still be part of this team, in a different way. I shouldn’t have made this stupid decision.”
Prost could have raced the Peugeot-powered McLaren in 1994, but backed away – to the benefit of Martin Brundle. But he made several appearances at tests, even as late as 1996 when he could have returned to the grid in an even more sensational way.