When Alain Prost took over the French Ligier team at the start of 1997, it was more than a business transaction. Four-time world champion, national hero, and now team boss of the only French team in Formula 1. The cars were painted in the blue of France and carried his own name on the nose. Four years later it was over. Richer by one experience, poorer by one illusion.
For 2001 Prost changed course. The Peugeot engines went and a Ferrari V10 came in their place — the Tipo 049, the same units with which Michael Schumacher had won his first title for Ferrari the year before. On paper that was a huge step forward: 3.0 litres, 825 hp at 17,300 rpm. The AP04 was designed by technical director Henri Durand, chief designer Jean-Paul Gousset and aerodynamicist Loïc Bigois, and it ran on Michelins, which returned to the sport that year.
The problem was not the car. It was the money. The engine deal with Ferrari cost a fortune, sponsorship income fell short, and the season turned into one long game of musical chairs. At the start the drivers were Jean Alesi and the Argentinian Gastón Mazzacane. After four races Mazzacane was gone and Luciano Burti came over from Jaguar. After the British Grand Prix things broke down completely between Alesi and Prost; after Hockenheim Alesi left for Jordan, and Heinz-Harald Frentzen — just sacked there — came the other way. At Monza the Czech Tomáš Enge made his debut as the fifth driver of the year. Five men in one season, in a team that needed two.
Alesi drove twelve races in the AP04 and finished all twelve. For a car from the back of the midfield that is an achievement in itself. Three times he finished in the points: sixth in Monaco, fifth in Canada, and sixth in Germany — his last race for the team. Four points in total, and those were all the points Prost Grand Prix scored that year. It was enough for ninth place in the constructors' championship.
On 28 January 2002 the team was declared bankrupt, with debts of around thirty million dollars. Its assets went under the hammer. Prost Grand Prix never raced in a Grand Prix again, and France has not had its own Formula 1 team since.
The model in my display cabinet is Alesi's car, number 22, in deep Acer blue with the red Adecco nose flank and the PSN logo on the sidepods. A 1:43 Minichamps model, bought in 2020.