F1 team boss reveals how Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost’s ‘drama’ formed his lifelong devotion to the sport

Haas F1 boss Ayao Komatsu got candid about how the Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost rivalry inspired him to join the motorsports world. The Japanese native is in his second year as team principal after replacing Gunther Steiner in 2024.

Senna and Prost began as teammates in McLaren but ended up as rivals after the former clinched the F1 world championship in the 1998 Japanese Grand Prix. As fate would have it, the two drivers competed for the title in the same venue the following year, but misery struck for the Brazilian when he collided with Prost, leading to his disqualification and a title win for the Frenchman.

The resulting fallout led to Prost leaving the team for Ferrari, where once again, he'd face Senna for the 1990 F1 title at Suzuka. This time, however, Senna got the better of him when he intentionally caused a collision in turn 1, leaving the McLaren driver with a title win by points tally.

During an interview with Formula1.com, Komatsu reflected on the rivalry as the catalyst for his interest in motorsports.

"Honestly, just the late-1980s when I came across [F1] on TV, with Senna versus Prost and all the dramas. I always wanted to do something international, so all the things, the sort of ideas I had in my head, when I looked at it I thought, ‘This is what I want to do’," he said.

Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost put their longstanding tensions to rest after the latter's title victory with Williams in 1993. After the final race in Adelaide that season, Senna embraced Prost on the podium, signaling a thaw in their rivalry.

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Relentless online abuse forces Ayrton Senna's former rival to consider quitting social media

Ayrton Senna's arch nemesis Alain Prost, recently revealed that he's considering shutting down his social media after rampant online abuse. Prost alleges that the inaccurate portrayal of his rivalry with Senna in movies and TV series have led to him receiving hate messages online.

In an interview with Planet F1, Prost opened up about facing flak from netizens and said,

“I can’t not think about Ayrton, fortunately or unfortunately. For example, I’m considering turning off my Instagram because I get messages every day, really every day without exception – from time to time there’s a hateful one, that can happen. Indirectly, I’ve been living around this story for 30 years, and it will probably stay that way for the rest of my life."

Ayrton Senna is widely considered as one of the greatest F1 drivers, with his three championships from 1988, 1990, and 1991. His stellar career was tragically cut short by a fatal crash at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix.

As a tribute to Senna's life, a biopic was released in 2010, followed by a recent Netflix series chronicling his career. The Brazilian's family were reportedly involved in the making of the six-part series.