Prost admits to mistakes

Alain Prost's hopes of getting his Grand Prix team to the grid in Melbourne on March 3rd were finally dashed when the company was officially declared bankrupt in January. The former World Champion came in for some criticism from those in motorsport after the team folded, it being suggested he only had himself to blame. Prost has admitted that he made mistakes but was critical of former engine supplier Peugeot and backer Pedro Diniz.

"I was too nice when dealing with Peugeot," He said. "In 1994 McLaren boss Ron Dennis reacted immediately when it didn't work with Peugeot and got out of the contract. Another mistake was changing the name to Prost Grand Prix. I should have convinced Peugeot to acquire a stake in the company. When, in 2000, we had 57 engine failures in one year, everybody pointed to Prost, nobody to Peugeot. Our image suffered by that."

When Prost lost the Peugeot deal the team had to pay for Ferrari customer engines, leading to financial troubles. In an effort to secure the company for the future, Prost sold shares in the team to former F1 driver Pedro Diniz -- but it was a relationship that never really worked.

"Decisions were always made by his (Diniz') father," Prost said. "I don't know why he invested in the team in the first place."

The remains of the assests of Prost Grand Prix have yet to be distributed but it has been recently rumoured that ex-BAR boss Criag Pollock could have an interest.