Motor Racing: Prost's parting shots

THE fanfare for Ayrton Senna's installation as Williams- Renault's senior driver was barely over when the retiring Alain Prost slipped almost unnoticed into England yesterday and claimed he could have kept the Brazilian out of motor racing's most coveted seat.

Prost, on a promotional tour, paused briefly to assert he had had the contractual right to block Senna's signing for next year, just as he had done for the current season. He chose instead to turn his back on Formula One with the comfort of a fourth world championship.

Prost said: 'It would have been easy for me to say I continue and Ayrton is not in the team because of my contract. I could have made my decision as a racing driver and gone for a fifth championship, but I made it as a human being.'

Prost applauded the reappointment of Damon Hill by Williams, yet he felt the British driver might be in for a less agreeable experience next season. 'It will be more difficult for Damon with Senna because we were friends,' Prost said. 'We never had any problems. I was quite happy when he was winning a race. We had the team spirit. I don't know what is going to happen next year, with Senna, but I have my ideas. It may also be more difficult for Damon with the driving. He knows the present car very well, but next year, with all the regulation changes, it will be different. He will have to learn a passive car, and Senna may find it easier to drive.'

Prost declined to respond to a recent verbal attack on him by Bernie Ecclestone, the president of the Formula One Constructors' Association, and vice-president of Fisa, the sport's governing body. Ecclestone claimed that Prost had 'used Formula One like a public convenience', returning when he chose to pick up another title and departing again when he chose. 'I'm still upset by that,' Prost said. 'It hurt me a lot. I have no wish to comment because I am retiring, but those comments he has made prove a lot of things. They speak for themselves. All the drivers must think about what he said.'