Sunday October 31st, 1999

Prost Bid Farewell to Both Drivers
Prost Press Release

Albeit missing a chance to finish in the points today, The French Prost team ended the year relatively well, now bidding farewell to both its drivers, Jarno Trulli (who leaves for Jordan) and Olivier Panis (who will be McLaren's test driver next year, as well as competing in the German Touring Cars).

Olivier Panis: "We were going for a great race weekend, and I can't feel any other way than very disappointed after retiring. Since the middle of the season, in fact since Didier Cotton and Kéké Rosberg have started to take care of my business, I was able to concentrate on my job as an F1 driver. Finally I could devote 100% on my work with my team and fight to win. For my last GP with the team I really wanted to do something special, and I was on the right track for that. I made a very good start and completed my 18 laps of the race in 3rd position. My car was feeling wonderful and everything was great until an alternator shaft failure just after my first pit-stop. This cut all the electrics on the car including those to the gear box. It's one of those things… I think I have proved during the second half of the season, that I am still a good driver and this will be helpful for my future. I take my hat off to all the team for all the work that has been done. We have progressed a lot in the last two years, which will give encouragement to all during the off-season. But they mustn't rest on their laurels – there is a lot of potential for next year, but also still a lot of work to be done."

Jarno Trulli: "This morning I had a good feeling with my car, which was well balanced. Even though I broke my gear-box, I was 8th in the warm-up with one quick flying lap only. Before the race I did my installation lap and found that all was well with the car. During the formation lap, I made a start and felt immediately a problem with the clutch which gave me a lot of wheel spin. I lost two places and following that the engine seemed to lose power. During the fourth lap I had to stop for a reason we can't determine until we have stripped down the car."

Alain Prost: "In spite of everything we have finished the 1999 Formula One season on a high note. Olivier qualified in 6th, Jarno in 7th place. Olivier made a fantastic start, but sadly our reliability left us. Jarno had a problem that we haven't identified yet and Olivier a problem with the alternator. He can only be very frustrated for this afternoon's race because he could have hoped for a podium finish – I would have been very happy for him. Anyway the team is on the right track, but to combine performance and reliability we still have a lot of work to do. Thank you to all the team for this season of constant progression, even though at times it was not easy…"

Corrado Provera: "Olivier Panis missed the chance of our second podium position this season. His start was incredibly good and he completed a wonderful first part of the race until his alternator drive broke, which cut the signal to the gear box. Jarno Trulli's race was prematurely stopped because of an undetermined problem. The last GP of the season saw both Prost Peugeots qualify excellently on the grid but it ended sadly. Nevertheless with 9 points and a 2nd place in the European GP, the global result of the team is much better than last year. Peugeot Sport sincerely thanks Olivier Panis and Jarno Trulli for the professionalism and determination that they have shown during these last two years of racing, and wish them a lot of success in the future."