Not in the same league?

Not in the same league?

Sir,

In response to Colin Green’s apparent suggestion last month that Alain Prost’s departure could benefit the sport, who does he have in mind to replace the fourtime world champion?

I accept there are some fine young drivers in Formula 3000, and, indeed, in less competitive Fl machines, but to me they appear all to be much of a muchness. Very good, certainly, but as yet the likes of Fittipaldi, Comas, Badoer, Coulthard, Panis, Lamy or de Ferran haven’t convinced me that they are marked with quite the same gifts as Prost, who we could all see was something truly special in his European F3 campaign in 1979, and during his early Fl days with a less than fully competitive McLaren. Much the same is true of Senna, whose efforts in the junior formulae were similarly sensational.

Nowadays, there seems to be a production line of extremely gifted drivers of roughly equal ability coming up through the ranks, but I’ve yet to see one who is likely to assume the mantle of a Prost or a Senna in the near future.

There again, Nigel Mansell looked pretty ordinary in the first couple of years of his Fl career, and I’ll be quite happy should any of the aforementioned young lions prove me wrong in the long-term. N Grange, Didsbury,

Manchester.