Nicolas "Nico" Jean Prost (born 18 August 1981) is a French professional racing driver. He most recently raced in the FIA Formula E Championship before quitting the series. Also, he was a longstanding racer in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Lotus Rebellion Racing. Furthermore, He competes in the Andros Trophy and he was a reserve driver for the now defunct Lotus F1 team. He is a son of four-time Formula One world champion Alain Prost.

Nicolas Prost
NationalityFrance French
BornNicolas Jean Prost
(1981-08-18) 18 August 1981 (age 43)
Saint-Chamond, Loire, France
Related toAlain Prost (father)
FIA World Endurance Championship career
Debut season2012
Current teamRebellion Racing
Racing licence FIA Platinum
Car number12
Starts41
Wins4
Poles1
Fastest laps0
Best finish3rd in 2017
Finished last season3rd
Formula E career
Debut season2014–15
Car number8
Former teamsRenault e.dams
Starts45
Wins3
Podiums5
Poles3
Fastest laps2
Best finish3rd in 2015–16
Finished last season19th
24 Hours of Le Mans career
Years2007, 2009 –
TeamsTeam Oreca, Speedy Racing Team Sebah, Rebellion Racing
Best finish4th (2012, 2014)
Class wins1 (2014)
Previous series
2015
201113
2011–12
2010
200911
2009–10, 2010–11
2008–09
2008
200607
2005
2005
2004–05
2004–05
2004
2003
Stock Car Brasil
American Le Mans Series
Andros Trophy
FIA GT1 World Championship
Le Mans Series
Andros Trophy Électrique
A1 Grand Prix
Euroseries 3000
Spanish Formula Three Championship
Formula Renault 3.5 Series
Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0
FFSA GT Championship
Formula Renault 2000 France
Formula Renault 2000 Germany
Formula Campus France
Championship titles
2009–10, 2010–11
2008
Andros Trophy Électrique
Euroseries 3000

Career

edit

Early years

edit

Born in Saint-Chamond, Loire, and despite being the oldest son of four-time Formula One World Drivers' champion Alain Prost and his wife Anne-Marie,[1] he started his career at the late age of 22 in Formula Campus. He was born 2 days after his father had competed in the 1981 Austrian Grand Prix. Like his father, Prost is a golfer, and has won numerous tournaments during his tenure at Columbia University in New York.

Formula Three

edit

In 2006, he joined Racing Engineering to contest in the Spanish Formula Three Championship. He won one race and had six podiums, which earned him 4th place in the championship as well as the best rookie title.

In 2007, he finished third in the Spanish Formula Three Championship with 2 wins, 1 pole and 7 podiums.

Euro Formula 3000

edit

In 2008, he joined Bull Racing and won the Euroseries 3000 championship in his first year with one win, two poles and seven podiums.[1]

A1 Grand Prix

edit

For A1 GP season 3 (2007–2008), Nicolas was the rookie driver for Team France.

For A1 GP season 4 (2008–2009), Nicolas was still the rookie driver and topped every single rookie sessions. He was promoted to racing driver for the end of the season and showed that he had the pace to fight on top. The team issued in a statement at the end of the seasons that he should be driving the entire 2009–2010 season.

Sports car racing

edit

24 Hours of Le Mans

edit

In 2007, he competed with Team Oreca in a Saleen S7-R with Laurent Groppi and Jean-Philippe Belloc and finished 5th in his category.

In 2009, he raced for the first time in the LMP1 category, with Speedy Racing Team Sebah. He drove a great race, especially on Sunday morning with a stunning quadruple stint which moved the car from 8th to 5th. Unfortunately, a gearbox problem later dropped the car to 14th.

After a difficult year in 2010, where he nonetheless drove the fastest lap of rebellion cars, he had a great race in 2011. Prost and his teammates Jani and Bleekemolen finished 6th and 1st in the unofficial petrol class.

In the 80th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2012, Prost and the Rebellion Racing Team got the fourth place in the LM-P1 class along with his co-drivers Neel Jani and Nick Heidfeld, their Lola B12/60 Coupe Toyota covered a total of 367 laps (3,108.123 miles), in the Circuit de la Sarthe. Prost drove the last stage of the competition.[2]

Le Mans Series

edit

In 2009, he participated in the European Le Mans Series for Speedy Racing Team Sebah alongside Marcel Fässler and Andrea Belicchi. The trio finished 5th in the championship. Since 2010 he is racing in the European Le Mans Series for Rebellion Racing alongside Swiss racing driver Neel Jani.

FIA World Endurance Championship

edit
 
The Lola B12/60 that Prost drove in the 2012 24 Hours of Le Mans.

In 2012 and 2013, Prost competed in the FIA World Endurance Championship with Rebellion Racing in a LMP1-class Lola B12/60 Toyota. With his mate Neel Jani, they won 9 races in these two years in the LMP1 privateer category. He will race the new Rebellion R-One in the 2014 FIA World Endurance Championship season. Prost has won the first four races of 2014 in the LMP1-L Category and has already clinched the title in the category.

American Le Mans Series

edit

Prost clinched back to back victories at Petit Le Mans in 2012 and 2013. He also finished 3rd in the Sebring 12 Hours in 2013.

Andros Trophy

edit

During the 2009–2010 winter, Prost participated to the famous Andros Trophy ice racing series in the electrical car category. He clinched the championship with 5 poles, 6 wins, and 18 podiums out of 21 races. He successfully defended his title during the 2010–2011 winter.

In 2011–2012, he joined his dad in the works Dacia team and claimed the rookie title in the main series.

Formula One

edit
 
Prost testing for Lotus in 2013.

In 2010, he drove a Renault F1 for the first time in Magny-Cours and impressed the team, beating his daily opponent by more than 2 seconds.

In 2011, he joined the gravity management structure and remained a driver for Lotus Renault F1. He drove some test sessions and straight line tests for the team, as well as some commercial roadshows.

In 2012, he remained a part of the Lotus Renault program and on 4 October 2012 it was announced that he would be testing with Lotus Renault Formula One during the young driver test at Abu Dhabi.[3]

In 2013, he was still test and development driver for Lotus. He drove the rookie test in Silverstone where he posted the absolute fastest lap among the rookies and was only three tenths behind Vettel in the Red Bull.

In 2014, he remained test and development driver for Lotus.

Formula E

edit
 
Prost racing in the 2014 Punta del Este ePrix

On 30 June 2014, Prost signed up for the inaugural FIA Formula E Championship with the team e.dams Renault.[4] At the first race in Beijing, Prost became the first man to achieve a pole position in Formula E. He led the race until the last lap in the last corner where he was involved in a heavy crash with Nick Heidfeld. Prost turned into Heidfeld's car when he was being challenged into the last corner, lunging Heidfeld's car into a barrier. He later apologised for the incident.[5] He was subsequently given a ten place grid penalty for the following race in Malaysia.[6] In the second race in Putrajaya, Malaysia, he took pole position again but was given a ten place grid penalty carried from the previous race. He took his first win in Miami, despite a late challenge from Scott Speed. He would end up finishing the season in 6th place in the standings. The following season would be the highlight of his Formula E career, as he had finished 3rd in the final standings of the 2015-16 Formula E championship.

Racing record

edit

Career summary

edit
Season Series Team Races Poles Wins F/Laps Podiums Points Position
2004 Formula Renault 2000 Germany PlayStation Junior Team Oreca 2 0 0 0 0 5 40th
2005 French Formula Renault 2.0 Graff Racing 16 0 0 0 0 43 9th
Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 4 0 0 0 0 0 NC
Formula Renault 3.5 Series DAMS 2 0 0 0 0 0 NC
FFSA GT Championship Exagon Engineering 4 2 0 1 2 NC NC
2006 Spanish Formula 3 Championship Racing Engineering 16 0 1 0 5 83 4th
2007 Spanish Formula 3 Championship Campos Racing 16 1 2 1 6 102 3rd
24 Hours of Le Mans - GT1 Team Oreca 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 5th
2008 Euroseries 3000 Bull Racing 15 2 1 0 6 60 1st
2008–09 A1 Grand Prix A1 Team France 8 0 0 0 0 47 5th
2009 Le Mans Series Speedy Racing 5 0 0 0 1 14 5th
24 Hours of Le Mans 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 12th
2009–10 Andros Trophy - Électrique Class Team Pilot 21 5 6 7 18 250 1st
2010 FIA GT1 World Championship Matech Competition 4 0 0 0 0 0 49th
Le Mans Series Rebellion Racing 5 0 0 0 2 52 5th
24 Hours of Le Mans 1 0 0 0 0 N/A NC
2010–11 Andros Trophy - Électrique Class Team Pilot 28 8 8 7 23 332 1st
2011 Le Mans Series Rebellion Racing 5 2 0 1 2 37 3rd
24 Hours of Le Mans 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 6th
Intercontinental Le Mans Cup 6 0 0 0 0 N/A NC
2012 FIA World Endurance Championship Rebellion Racing 8 0 0 0 1 86.5 4th
24 Hours of Le Mans 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 4th
American Le Mans Series - P1 1 1 1 1 1 N/A NC
2013 Formula One Lotus F1 Team Test driver
FIA World Endurance Championship Rebellion Racing 7 0 0 0 1 60 6th
24 Hours of Le Mans 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 39th
American Le Mans Series - P1 2 1 2 1 2 48 5th
2014 FIA World Endurance Championship Rebellion Racing 8 0 0 0 0 64.5 10th
24 Hours of Le Mans 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 4th
2014–15 Formula E e.dams Renault 11 2 1 1 2 89 6th
2015 FIA World Endurance Championship Rebellion Racing 6 0 0 0 0 14.5 14th
24 Hours of Le Mans 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 23rd
Stock Car Brasil Prati-Donaduzzi 1 0 0 0 0 0 NC†
2015–16 Formula E Renault e.dams 10 1 2 1 3 115 3rd
2016 FIA World Endurance Championship Rebellion Racing 4 0 0 0 0 25.5 14th
24 Hours of Le Mans 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 29th
2016–17 Formula E Renault e.dams 12 0 0 1 0 93 6th
Andros Trophy - Électrique Class Rebellion Racing 7 0 0 0 0 178 8th
2017 FIA World Endurance Championship - LMP2 Vaillante Rebellion 8 4 1 0 7 168 3rd
24 Hours of Le Mans - LMP2 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 14th
2017–18 Formula E Renault e.dams 12 0 0 0 0 8 19th
Andros Trophy - Elite Pro Class DA Racing 4 0 0 0 0 200 14th
Trophée Andros 0 0 0 0 0
2018–19 Andros Trophy - Elite Pro Class Exagon Engineering 11 0 0 2 0 545 7th
2019–20 Andros Trophy - Elite Pro Class DA Racing 10 1 1 1 2 462 5th
2020 French GT4 Cup - Pro-Am CMR 12 2 0 0 6 143 4th
2020–21 Andros Trophy - Elite Pro Class DA Racing 11 0 0 0 4 489 5th
2021 French GT4 Cup - Pro Am CMR 12 2 0 1 4 108 5th
Ultimate Cup Series - Challenge Monoplace 17 6 4 4 17 444 1st
2021–22 Andros Trophy - Elite Pro Class DA Racing 9 0 0 0 1 449 6th
2022 Ultimate Cup Series - Challenge Monoplace CMR 18 10 ? ? 15 479 1st
2023 Ultimate Cup Series - Sprint GT Touring Challenge - C4A CMR 2 1 1 2 2 42 7th
2023–24 Middle East Trophy - GTX Toro Verde GT
2024 Ultimate Cup Series - Proto P3 CMR

As Prost was a guest driver, he was ineligible for championship points.

24 Hours of Le Mans results

edit
Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
2007   Team Oreca   Laurent Groppi
  Jean-Philippe Belloc
Saleen S7-R GT1 337 10th 5th
2009   Speedy Racing Team
  Sebah Automotive
  Andrea Belicchi
  Neel Jani
Lola B08/60-Aston Martin LMP1 342 14th 12th
2010   Rebellion Racing   Neel Jani
  Marco Andretti
Lola B10/60-Rebellion LMP1 175 DNF DNF
2011   Rebellion Racing   Neel Jani
  Jeroen Bleekemolen
Lola B10/60-Toyota LMP1 338 6th 6th
2012   Rebellion Racing   Nick Heidfeld
  Neel Jani
Lola B12/60-Toyota LMP1 367 4th 4th
2013   Rebellion Racing   Nick Heidfeld
  Neel Jani
Lola B12/60-Toyota LMP1 275 39th 7th
2014   Rebellion Racing   Nick Heidfeld
  Mathias Beche
Rebellion R-One-Toyota LMP1-L 360 4th 1st
2015   Rebellion Racing   Nick Heidfeld
  Mathias Beche
Rebellion R-One-AER LMP1 330 23rd 10th
2016   Rebellion Racing   Nick Heidfeld
  Nelson Piquet Jr.
Rebellion R-One-AER LMP1 330 29th 6th
2017   Vaillante Rebellion   Bruno Senna
  Julien Canal
Oreca 07-Gibson LMP2 340 16th 14th

Le Mans Series results

edit
Year Entrant Class Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 Rank Points
2009 Speedy Racing Team
Sebah Automotive
LMP1 Lola B08/60 Aston Martin 6.0 L V12 CAT
7
SPA
8
ALG
Ret
NÜR
6
SIL
2
10th 14
2010 Rebellion Racing LMP1 Lola B10/60 Rebellion (Judd) 5.5 L V10 CAS
7
SPA
Ret
ALG
2
HUN
2
SIL
5
7th 52
2011 Rebellion Racing LMP1 Lola B10/60 Toyota RV8KLM 3.4 L V8 CAS
3
SPA
7
IMO
6
SIL
Ret
EST
3
3rd 37

Intercontinental Le Mans Cup results

edit
Year Entrant Class Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
2011 Rebellion Racing LMP1 Lola B10/60 Toyota RV8KLM 3.4 L V8 SEB
7
SPA
7
LEM
6
IMO
6
SIL
Ret
PET
5
ZHU
4

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

edit
Year Entrant Class Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Rank Points
2012 Rebellion Racing LMP1 Lola B12/60 Toyota (RV8KLM 3.4 L V8) SEB
17
SPA
5
LMS
3
SIL
6
SÃO
4
BHR
4
FUJ
4
SHA
Ret
4th 86.5
2013 Rebellion Racing LMP1 Lola B12/60 Toyota (RV8KLM 3.4 L V8) SIL
5
SPA
5
LMS
20
SÃO
3
COA
4
FUJ SHA
4
BHR
Ret
6th 60
2014 Rebellion Racing LMP1 Lola B12/60 Toyota (RV8KLM 3.4 L V8) SIL
4
SPA
7
LMS
4
COA
7
FUJ
12
SHA
7
BHR
7
SÃO
8
10th 64.5
2015 Rebellion Racing LMP1 Rebellion R-One AER P60 2.4 L Turbo V6 SIL SPA LMS
19
NÜR
16
COA
15
FUJ
7
SHA
7
BHR
14
14th 14.5
2016 Rebellion Racing LMP1 Rebellion R-One AER P60 2.4 L Turbo V6 SIL
4
SPA
4
LMS
13
NÜR
17
MEX COA FUJ SHA BHR 14th 25.5
2017 Vaillante Rebellion LMP2 Oreca 07 Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 SIL
2
SPA
2
LMS
6
NÜR MEX
1
COA
3
FUJ
1
SHA
1
BHR
1
3rd 168

Complete Formula E results

edit

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Team Chassis Powertrain 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Pos Points
2014–15 e.dams Renault Spark SRT01-e SRT01-e BEI
12†
PUT
4
PDE
7
BUE
2
MIA
1
LBH
14
MCO
6
BER
10
MSC
8
LDN
7
LDN
10
6th 88
2015–16 Renault e.dams Spark SRT01-e Renault Z.E 15 BEI
Ret
PUT
10
PDE
5
BUE
5
MEX
3
LBH
11
PAR
4
BER
4
LDN
1
LDN
1
3rd 115
2016–17 Renault e.dams Spark SRT01-e Renault Z.E 16 HKG
4
MRK
4
BUE
4
MEX
5
MCO
9
PAR
5
BER
5
BER
8
NYC
8
NYC
6
MTL
6
MTL
Ret
6th 93
2017–18 Renault e.dams Spark SRT01-e Renault Z.E 17 HKG
9
HKG
8
MRK
13
SCL
10
MEX
Ret
PDE
15
RME
14
PAR
16
BER
14
ZUR
Ret
NYC
10
NYC
11
19th 8

Driver did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.

References

edit
  1. ^ a b "Nicolas Prost eyes F1". SuperSport. 1 December 2008. Retrieved 15 October 2010.
  2. ^ "LeMans TV Live". Live.lemans-tv.com. Archived from the original on 6 June 2012. Retrieved 18 June 2012.
  3. ^ Nicolas Prost to test for Lotus in Abu Dhabi
  4. ^ "Buemi, Prost confirmed as e.dams drivers". GPUpdate.net. JHED Media BV. 30 June 2014. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
  5. ^ "Nicolas Prost accepts fault for crash with Nick Heidfeld". BBC Sport. BBC. 14 September 2014. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
  6. ^ "Prost gets grid penalty for Heidfeld crash". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. 13 September 2014. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
edit
Sporting positions
Preceded by Euroseries 3000
Champion

2008
Succeeded by
Preceded by
Inaugural
Andros Trophy Électrique
Champion

2010–11, 2011–12
Succeeded by
Christophe Ferrier