The Prost AP01 was the car with which the
Prost team competed in the
1998 Formula One World Championship
The 1998 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 52nd season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1998 Formula One World Championship for Drivers and the 1998 Formula One World Championship for Constructors, which were conteste ...
. It was driven by Frenchman
Olivier Panis
Olivier Panis (; born 2 September 1966) is a French former racing driver. Panis raced in Formula One for ten seasons, earning his first and only win at the 1996 Monaco Grand Prix for the Ligier team.
He is the father of racing driver Aurél ...
, who was in his fifth season with the team (including its time as
Ligier
Ligier (() is a French automobile and minibus maker created by former racing driver and rugby player Guy Ligier (1930–2015), specialized in the manufacturing of microcars.
Ligier is best known for its involvement in the Formula 1 World Champio ...
), and Italian
Jarno Trulli
Jarno Trulli (; born 13 July 1974) is an Italian racing driver. He regularly competed in Formula One from 1997 to 2011, driving for Minardi, Prost, Jordan, Renault, Toyota, Lotus Racing and Team Lotus. His best result in the World Drivers' Cham ...
, who was in his first full season with Prost after deputising for the injured Panis for several races in 1997.
The AP01 was the first-ever
Prost car to utilize
Peugeot
Peugeot (, , ) is a French brand of automobiles owned by Stellantis.
The family business that preceded the current Peugeot companies was founded in 1810, with a steel foundry that soon started making hand tools and kitchen equipment, and the ...
V10 engine factory works deal that started in 1998 season and thus earned direct factory support from Peugeot.
Race history
After the good results of the previous season, 1998 was a disaster for Prost. The AP01's main weakness was its gearbox: it was unreliable and heavy, which prevented the team from finishing races, upset the balance of the car and meant that the team could not optimise the position of its ballast, as many of its rivals could. It was Jarno Trulli who first identified the balance problems with the rear end of the car. The AP01 had a major overhaul before the Canadian Grand Prix, with the rear suspension being completely revised. The team also scraped into the season by a narrow margin after the chassis failed the mandatory
FIA
FIA is the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (English: International Automobile Federation), the world's governing body for all forms of motor sport where four or more wheels are used.
Fia or FIA may also refer to: People
* Fia Backst ...
crash test three times.
With these problems allied with the relocation of the team's factory nearer
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
, the year turned into an exercise in damage limitation. A single point was scored for sixth place, at the chaotic
1998 Belgian Grand Prix
The 1998 Belgian Grand Prix (formally the LVI Foster's Belgian Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held on 30 August 1998, at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps; it was the thirteenth race of the 1998 FIA Formula One World Championship. The ra ...
, giving Prost 9th place in the Constructors' Championship. Only 8 cars finished the Belgian race with the two cars behind Trulli having spent so long in the pits being repaired their drivers were able to get out of the car for some time. In the final 6 laps Trulli lost an entire lap to the front runners with engine problems but still managed to finish.
For the first few races,
X-wings were used, but they were banned after the
San Marino Grand Prix
The San Marino Grand Prix () was a Formula One championship race which was run at the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari in the town of Imola, near the Apennine mountains in Italy, between 1981 and 2006. It was named after nearby San ...
.
Prost AP01B
The modified AP01B car got a new gearbox, a refurbished engine and the weight of the rear axle was reduced. The new car tested by Panis and Trulli at Magny-Cours and Barcelona in October. Trulli appeared for the first time in free practice and qualifying in Japan. The Italian didn't get a new car because he was the team's favorite driver, but because a coin toss decided in Trulli's favor. In qualifying, Trulli could only finish 14th and then asked the team management for permission to switch back to the old AP01, which was refused. In the warm-up, the car was damaged so badly after the accident that it was not ready for the race.
Sponsorship and livery
The base color of the AP01 was the traditional dark blue with black and white accents on the rear and front wing. The team's main sponsor was the French cigarette brand
Gauloises
Gauloises (, "Gaulish" eminine pluralin French; ''cigarette'' is a feminine noun in French) is a brand of cigarette of French origin. It is produced by the company Imperial Tobacco following its acquisition of Altadis in January 2008 in most co ...
, with advertising spaces on the rear wing, airbox and front wing. On the rear side of the rear wing was the brand of the tire supplier
Bridgestone
is a Japanese multinational tire manufacturer founded in 1931 by Shojiro Ishibashi (1889–1976) in the city of Kurume, Fukuoka, Japan. The name Bridgestone comes from a calque translation and transposition of , meaning 'stone bridge' in Japan ...
on a white background. The Japanese electronics group
Sony
, commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...
advertised its
PlayStation
is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a divisi ...
games console on the side boxes, with the names of the engine manufacturer Peugeot and the fuel supplier Total directly above it. Other sponsors were 3M, Alcatel, BIC Group and
Canal+
Canal+ (Canal Plus, , meaning 'Channel Plus'; sometimes abbreviated C+ or Canal) is a French premium television channel launched in 1984. It is 100% owned by the Groupe Canal+, which in turn is owned by Vivendi. The channel broadcasts several ki ...
.
Prost used 'Gauloises' logos, except at the
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
,
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
and
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
Grands Prix. For races with a tobacco advertising ban, the logo was replaced by white dashes.
Complete Formula One results
(
key
Key or The Key may refer to:
Common meanings
* Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm
* Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock
* Key (map ...
) (results in bold indicate pole position)
References
*''
AUTOCOURSE
''Autocourse'' is a series of annuals covering motor racing, and Formula One in particular. The annuals cover a long period of the sport's history, from 1951 to the present day, and, as such, are highly collectible.
History
The first edition o ...
1998-99'', Henry, Alan (ed.), Hazleton Publishing Ltd. (1998)
Prost Formula One cars
1998 Formula One season cars
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