The disastrous 1998 season, which ended with just one point scored and a second-to-last place in the Constructors’ Championship, absolutely had to be redeemed in ’99 by the French team Prost Grand Prix. Four-time World Champion Alain Prost drew on all his knowledge accumulated in Formula 1 during his 14 seasons as a driver. Thanks to his good relationship with John Barnard, technical director at McLaren during Prost’s years with the Woking team, Prost managed to convince the British designer to work for his team as an external consultant, a role Barnard had already been performing from his own design facility in Shalford, UK.
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| PROST AP02, Jarno Trulli Hungaroring, Hungarian GP 1999 |
The position of Technical Director remained in the hands of Bernard Dudot, a trusted ally of Prost, as well as an engineer with a long history in Formula 1 and the father of two historic Renault engines that dominated in different eras of the sport: the 1500cc V6 Turbo in the late ’70s and early ’80s, and the 3.5-litre V10 in the early ’90s. The role of Chief Designer, as in the previous season, was still held by Loïc Bigois, who now worked closely with Barnard following the British technician’s guidance. Ben Wood, in his second year with the French team as Head of Aerodynamics, also followed Barnard’s instructions to refine the aerodynamics of the new Prost AP02.
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| PROST AP02, Olivier Panis Hungaroring, Hungarian GP 1999 |
The new single-seater, while retaining the overall lines of the previous AP01, was almost entirely redesigned both aerodynamically and mechanically. The AP02 abandoned the design lines inherited from the old 1997 Ligier JS45, which itself had been a simple evolution of the already capable JS43 from ’96, a car that was in turn almost a copy of the winning Benetton B195. This redesign was more than overdue given the age of the original project. The new Prost now featured a design much more in line with winning cars such as Ferrari and McLaren, with a slightly more curved and less pointed nose, complemented by smoother, more attractive shapes. Beyond the usual flow diverters placed inside the front wheels, the biggest visual change in the AP02 was the sidepods, which abandoned the old high and boxy design for a lower, more harmonious shape with trapezoidal air intakes, rounded on the outer edge where two small fins were added to clean the airflow along the sides. The engine cover and the air intake above the driver’s head remained almost identical to the previous version, while the rear was now slimmer and cleaner, typical of Barnard’s designs. The new chassis, lighter with a lower centre of gravity, featured the popular suspension configuration of the late ’90s, double wishbones with a push-rod setup.
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| PROST AP02, Jarno Trulli Imola, San Marino GP 1999 |
In ’99, Peugeot remained the engine supplier, but they upgraded their V10 to the A18 version, which was slightly lighter and more reliable than the previous A16 that had caused the French team many problems in 1998. Another completely new element was the gearbox which, while still a six-speed, longitudinal, semi-automatic unit built in-house, was completely redesigned by Barnard to fix issues of fragility and rear-end instability caused by the excessive weight of the old transmission. Barnard’s input seemed to pay off, and the AP02 marked a significant step forward in performance compared to recent years. In the hands of returning drivers Olivier Panis (France) and Jarno Trulli (Italy), the new Prost AP02 appeared capable of competing with the best cars on the grid, showing good potential in both qualifying and races. Reliability, however, remained the car’s Achilles’ heel, compounded by a few too many driver errors, forcing the team to retire from several races even when fighting for top positions. In the season opener in Australia, Trulli had to retire after contact with Marc Gené’s Fondmetal while running in third place. In Brazil came the first point of the season with Panis finishing sixth. Another point came from Trulli in Spain, the fifth race of the championship.
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| PROST AP02, Jarno Trulli Hungaroring, Hungarian GP 1999 |
Once minor reliability issues were resolved from the sixth round onwards, both cars managed to finish almost all the races, picking up another point in Germany and coming close to scoring on several other occasions. A standout performance came at the European Grand Prix, held on the revamped Nürburgring circuit, where Trulli finished second, giving the team its first podium in over two years. In the final race of the season in Suzuka, Japan, Panis impressed again, holding onto third place for 18 laps before retiring due to an electrical problem. Taking into account the solid qualifying results, such as third in France, fifth at the Nürburgring, and sixth in Japan, the season for the AP02 can be considered a success, especially since Prost Grand Prix finished seventh in the Constructors’ Championship with 9 points, ahead of Sauber, Arrows, Fondmetal-Minardi, and BAR.
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