Watch: Ferrari prodigy involved in an intriguing chat with 4x F1 champion Alain Prost during the Goodwood Festival of Speed

Ferrari prodigy Ollie Bearman was involved in a fascinating conversation with 4x F1 world champion Alain Prost at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. The Frenchman stepped into his 1988 McLaren, as Bearman bombarded him with questions about the legendary car.

The legendary Alain Prost was at the center of attention at the 2025 Goodwood Festival of Speed, as he rolled back the years. The 70-year-old drove his iconic McLaren MP4/4 chassis, which he steered to a podium finish in 1988.

Haas drivers Ollie Bearman and Esteban Ocon were also present at Goodwood, driving two GT concept cars of Haas team partner Toyota. But Bearman was at the scene as Prost got ready after having stepped into his McLaren.

The 20-year-old had a fascinating conversation with the 4x world champion about the McLaren.

"It looks so smaller, so tight! You have three pedals? Right-foot break?" questioned Bearman.

"Yes, I have the clutch and the, you know, that is a problem" replied Prost, while fiddling with the gear shift.

Bearman also questioned Prost whether his McLaren used to be fitted with special qualifying engines during the late 1980s.

"Was this the era where you would have qualifying engines, with extra power?" asked Bearman.

"We had qualifying engines, yes. I mean the last part, also in 1993, from, yeah, even early days we always had qualifying engines," replied Prost.

Honda used to create special qualifying-spec engines, which were used in the McLarens, especially in 1988. These power units were optimally tuned to deliver the most power but had a short lifespan.

Alain Prost also described the car as a go-kart due to it's light weight of just 500 kgs, while still delivering 1000 hp of power. This was delivered via the Honda 1.5-liter V6 turbo engine.

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Alain Prost explains the challenge of driving the McLaren MP4/4 compared to modern F1 cars

Alain Prost driving his McLaren MP4/4 at the Goodwood Festival of Speed 2025 - Source: Getty

Alain Prost claimed that driving the McLaren MP4/4 is much harder when compared to modern F1 cars. The former world champion explained that this was largely due to the cars containing manual gearshifts back in the 1980s.

Speaking on the Goodwood live broadcast, Prost also wondered how it was possible for him to drive the cars during his F1 career, as he looks back on it now.

"It's much harder [in comparison to modern F1 cars]. But I knew also the automatic gearbox on the wheel with the Ferrari and the Williams," said Prost.

"But going back to that is, for sure, I mean, very often when you go back, you ask: 'How was it possible to drive these cars with more than 1200 horsepower, more or less, at one stage?'" he added.

Ayrton Senna claimed the first of his three world championships in 1988, as Alain Prost finished second. The McLaren teammates won 15 out of the 16 races that year, marking the start of one of the fiercest intra-team rivalries in F1 history.