Prost "frustrated" by fan reception to new F1 engines

The arrival of hybrid turbo power units in F1 has not been universally supported, and teams are already looking at ways to make the engines more powerful and louder over the next few years.

Prost sees a huge contrast between the attractiveness of electric power in Formula E, in which he is a team boss, and the fact that impressive technology in F1 is a turn off.

“In F1, it’s a bit different and what is happening is a bit frustrating,” he told Motorsport.com. 

“We have an engine whose technology is incredibly advanced, but people have not bought into it.

“Maybe people expect something very different from F1. At the end of the day, they don’t really care about the chassis, or about outright pace.

"They want battles on track, because they want it to be interesting; it’s a real drivers’ championship.

“Formula 1 remains a bit distant, and you’re always a bit far away from F1. Yet, this two-year-old engine which is as powerful but consumes 30% to 40% less fuel, you feel like the fans don’t really care about that.

“You also need to understand it according to the series, according to the approach, according to the customer base – and they’re real fans, rather 40 to 60 years old.

“But we in [Formula E] are aiming at another category, notably for younger people. You shouldn’t have the same marketing positioning on both, that’s obvious.”

Interview by Guillaume Navarro