The story began not at the first race in Brazil, but in a cold Honda factory in Tochigi the previous winter. Alain Prost, the Professor, sat calmly as engineers showed him the telemetry. "Fourteen percent more downforce than last year's car," they said. Prost nodded, already calculating. He knew the car was a masterpiece. He also knew that his new teammate, a fierce-eyed Brazilian who prayed before races, would treat it like a weapon, not a tool.
The year was 1988, and the air in Formula 1 smelled of nitro, burnt rubber, and impending war. It was a season of impossible dominance and silent, seething fury. On paper, it was the year of the MP4/4, a white-and-red McLaren that seemed to have been dropped from another planet. But beneath the champagne sprays and the record books, it was the year Ayrton Senna decided he would no longer be the heir. He would be the king.
No one heard him. But everyone felt it: 1988 was over. And the war had only just begun. 1988 f1 season
But in the stewards' office, a different story was being written. Prost protested the overtake, claiming Senna had cut the chicane. The FIA agreed. Senna was disqualified. The win—and the title—was given to Prost.
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. The story began not at the first race
"I will not let him pass," Prost told his engineer. "He will have to kill us both."
"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." Prost nodded, already calculating
Senna stood up without a word. He walked out into the wet Suzuka night, alone. A mechanic handed him a towel. He didn't take it. He just stared at the sky, where the rain had finally stopped, and whispered something in Portuguese.