It had to happen. For the first six Grand Prix races of 1988 Alain Prost has appeared to be content to let his Brazilian team-mate set the pace, with blindingly quick qualifying laps that gave him six consecutive pole-positions. He agreed to Senna having first call on the McLaren-Honda T-car for those events, and when Senna had trouble in the race (as in Brazil) or crashed (as at Monaco) or got elbowed out at the start (as in Mexico) Prost eased serenely into the lead.
The score before the French Grand Prix was three wins each, but more impressive, and more important to the overall scene, was the fact that the McLaren-Honda MP4/4 cars had won six races out of six.
At the flat and featureless Paul Ricard circuit, on the arid plain in the mountains behind the Mediterranean coast-line between Toulon and Marseilles, Prost arrived with his name on the McLaren T-car and a very aggressive will to win at all costs – quite unlike the normally cool and placid Monsieur Prost.
