APRIL 28, 2002

Prost in the paddock

Although his team has yet to rise like a phoenix from the ashes, Alain Prost was back in the Formula 1 paddock in Barcelona as a guest of Ferrari.

ALTHOUGH his team has yet to rise like a phoenix from the ashes, Alain Prost was back in the Formula 1 paddock in Barcelona as a guest of Ferrari. The Frenchman's F1 team went out of business at the start of the year with huge debts, leaving more than 100 people out of work, but Prost seemed to be fit and healthy despite the stresses and strains of recent months.

There was a certain irony in the fact that while Prost was hanging out with Michael Schumacher, members of his old staff were either grumbling about money that they are owed or going from team to team looking for work at the other end of the paddock. There is not much hope that the planned Phoenix team will ever materialize as the whole business is now wrapped up in legal action and will remain so for some time to come.