Lucky! (2022–…): Season 1, Episode 6 - Four Kings - full transcript

The opportunity to join McLaren
with the Honda together.

It's a great opportunity for me.

Professional,
and as a personal point of view,

I feel very happy
to work together with Alain.

Are we ready?

You're helping
your teammate in this.

Do you think he's learning from you?

I think he doesn't need
to learn anything,

especially on being quick
and qualifying.

I think it's been good
for both of us this year,

and the car has been good.



He has more points, I don't have.

But, still, a lot of race to come.

Ayrton Senna crosses the line
and you can see his exultation.

He's saying to the camera
'I am number one!'

Demonstrated very clearly,
you don't need 20 teams.

You just need one team
and two drivers

that both want to win.

The worst part of that year
was when we lost Enzo Ferrari.

Only six people were told,

and when I had dinner
in the evening

with Silvio Berlusconi, in his house,

I had to tell him,
which was very strange.

So I was honoured that I was one
of the people that was being told.

I was very close to him
in a very funny way.



We never had an argument
and there was a good reason for that.

'Cause I didn't speak Italian
and he didn't speak English.

So it was wonderful.

But we got on really, really...

And trusted each other,
which is more important.

At the end of the year,
Petra was born in London,

and I was living
in London at that time.

I remember going in to the hospital
to see the little one and her mum.

A father is so happy
when the little one's born.

Something brand new in your life.

Petra and Tamara I suppose,
say they're different.

Tamara is a little bit more active.

And a bit more upfront.

She'd give anything a go
that was put in front of her.

Petra is a bit more reserved.

Not so much upfront.

Senna got on really well
with Tamara,

and he used to call
from Brazil and speak to them.

Nigel Mansell
has made the big move

to join Ferrari,
here at Maranello.

To drive for the world's
most famous Grand Prix team.

And Prost leads the way!

Prost made a fabulous start
but Senna is attacking.

And Senna outbreaks Prost.

I was very angry
because we had an agreement

saying that the one
who takes the best start

won't be attacked
by the teammate

before the first corner.

I was very upset because I've always
been very honest with my teammates.

I've done everything I could
for the team and I felt very bad.

Prost made quite a lot
of complaints about Senna...

..and created a very bad
atmosphere at McLaren.

I have decided that I'm not going
to drive for McLaren next year.

It's very important to say today

that, uh, I had
six years, fantastic.

On a racing point of view
and the human point of view,

there will never be a problem
between McLaren and Alain Prost.

I propose more.
You're saying 10,000,

I agree with 10,000. No!

But if you're, if you're saying...

His proposal is the money
that has been paid in fine,

doesn't matter why,
doesn't matter why.

It's just to put the most money,
the biggest money possible together

that can be substantially
valuable for him.

Not only for six months,
but for a longer period.

You understand?

89 really highlighted
how important television was

to Formula 1.

Majority of the cars that year
carried on board cameras

so people really could be part
of the car as a driver.

They could see exactly
what was going on, all the time.

Television really came alive.

A beautiful start by Alain Prost
who goes into the lead.

From the public's point of view,
it was good racing.

It's how racing should be.
Two guys trying to win.

The stage is now set.

This is a sprint
for the chequered flag.

And as we speak,
Alain Prost is in race control

talking to Jean-Marie Balestre,
the president of FISA,

so the politics
have started already.

Jean-Marie disqualified Senna
for missing the chicane.

Why did he take
this attitude against Senna?

Happened to be a French driver
and French president.

Alain, big smile please.

It'd be better for Alain
to win the Championship.

Good for France,

good for Jean-Marie.

Good for the French Federation.

I don't know whether that came
into it at all.

I doubt it.
I don't think people think like that.

Jean-Marie was the President.

And he shouldn't be a judge.
He should be a President.

I did a good race and was very sad
if Ayrton was not disqualified

after what happened.

The problem with Ayrton,
he can't accept not to win,

and he can't accept that somebody
resist an overtaking manoeuvre.

I never caused the accident.

It was never my responsibility

and that you should see in a video,
not by my own words.

We all, not only me,
but we all as you people, press,

everybody that contributes direct
or indirect to motor-racing

have a responsibility, to worldwide,

all the fans
and everyone that follows.

Millions of people that follow
racing on television

because they have passion for it,
they follow it.

It's a show for them.

A really monstrous decision
to call Senna

a dangerous driver and the penalty
is just ridiculous.

I do not see the reasoning.

The reasoning
behind those two actions,

and it obviously casts some
sort of lack of confidence.

Creates lack of confidence
in one's mind

about the way
the governing body runs itself.

Do you really, really need me
to answer that question?

I refuse to walk away
from the fight.

It's my nature
to go right to the end

and that's what I'm going to do.

Jean Marie demanded
to Senna for an apology.

Senna wouldn't apologise.

And Jean-Marie said,
"Well I need, I want an apology."

So Max wrote the letter for Senna

and gave it to Jean-Marie,

and Jean Marie
did what he would normally do,

changed the letter completely.

'Cause he wanted
to give the letter to the press,

showing that Senna
had apologised to him.

And in the end, Ron paid the fine

because we couldn't lose
a superstar like Senna.

I know it can be very nice
with, uh, with Nigel, no problem.

I hope it's strong,
I hope it's nice.

There's going to be
a lot of information

that Alain is going
to bring to the team,

and I personally look forward
to working with Alain.

Both on the race track
and on the golf course.

00:12:55.360 -- 00:12:57.720
Senna gets a brilliant start.

Alain Prost up in to second place.

Oh dear, oh dear.

And it's race leader Ayrton Senna,

he's definitely
lost a left nose wing.

And that means to say that
Alain Prost now is into the lead.

Victory for Alain Prost,

victory for Ferrari
at the Brazilian GP.

(CROWD CHEERING)
Senna, Senna, Senna, Senna!

John, of Benetton, had spoken to me
and said, "We're not winning.

"We're going to get rid
of the team."

I said, "It's obviously
a problem of management."

He said, "I've got a guy that's
now working for us in America.

"He's running one
of our shops there.

"What do you think about that?"

I said, "There's no reason,
if he's a good manager

"and you're confident in him,
he couldn't do the job."

So Luciano put him
in charge of the team.

I liked Flavio when I met him.

He would be the sort of guy

that would make
the right decisions.

I had a very good offer
from Benetton

and it looks like the team
will be very strong.

Nelson Piquet really is driving
like a racing driver again.

People warmed to Flavio.

A lot of very nice looking young
ladies did the same thing.

How's it been working
with Alain, Nigel?

Is it working out well together?

Perhaps some of the information

doesn't come flowing out,

so, from that point of view alone
it's probably disappointing.

He always wants to know
what I'm doing,

but, very reluctant
to tell me what he's doing.

Alain Prost goes over the line
to win the British GP.

For his fourth victory of the year.

Three race wins on the trot.

Yes. I think it's first time
it happened to me.

First time ever?
Yeah.

1990 ended dramatically.

The hot news from Suzuka
is that Ayrton Senna

is starting from the
right hand side of the grid.

The right hand side is pole position
and the track is dirty there.

Senna asked for the pole position
to be changed to the left.

His request was refused
and the result is that Alain Prost,

starting from second
on the grid,

on the left hand side,

is actually going
to have a start advantage.

That pole position in Japan
was a little bit silly

because you were the quickest,
you should be given

the most advantageous part
of the circuit.

Jean Marie decided that Senna

should start
where he was told to start.

Which I thought
was completely wrong.

And Senna sprints away
but Alain Prost takes the lead.

Well, that is amazing, but I fear,
absolutely predictable.

Ayrton Senna,
I've heard that you've recently ran

the world championship.

Have you got something
to say about this?

It's over.

I think for sure
I want to win the race today,

the same way I won in 88,
to win the championship.

Do you think that he
deliberately crashed into you?

Absolutely, 100%.
If there were only 1% chance,

I'd say, "OK, there is a doubt,"

but there is not even 1%.

A lot of people
thought it'd be a good idea

not to have Jean-Marie
as President.

They thought maybe a fresh face,
and with fresh ideas, might be good.

When the election
came the following year,

he expected not to be opposed.

He expected to go sailing
through without any problems.

It was strange to see Frank
going to Renault for engines

and even stranger for Renault
giving engines to him.

Your relationship with Renault,
really seems to have blossomed,

and a lot of people
really didn't think

it was going to work, did they?

If you're referring to the fact
that 10 years ago,

the British teams,
and the French and Italians

took opposite
sides of an argument,

I would just say
that it's only six months ago

the Berlin Wall came down,

I mean, everything
in life changes dramatically

in any period
of time or history.

Nigel almost won
the world championship in 1986,

1987, and we thought
his experience

and his strength, his strength
of character, would be vital

to us in our desire and our need
to win a world championship again.

They have persuaded me that they
do have a package together

which is certainly worthy
of another try.

Morning from New York.

Good evening New York,
calling Moscow.

The EBU,
which was based in Switzerland

used to be the distributors

for all the broadcasters.

They could decide what was broadcast
and what wasn't...

..and pay what they wanted.

They didn't want competition

in the television industry.

The fact is, we're not living
in the 30s and 40s, pre-television,

where it was all played
for the love of the game.

Now it's played
for the love of money.

I decided that we would do a deal

with each
of the broadcasters, individually.

The EBU said,
"If you do that,

"you're gonna lose
all the broadcasters.

You won't see any
live Formula 1 on television."

So we had a little bit
of a discussion about this.

In the end, the BBC were the first
people to say, "Let's do a deal."

And when that happened,
everybody else sort of followed.

Nowhere else can you get
so close to the cars.

Nowhere else is the noise so loud.

And nowhere else
are the colours so bright.

Watch it on BBC television.
20 seconds.

Stand by.

No one has ever won
the first four GPs of the season,

but Ayrton Senna has victory
in the 1991 Monaco GP.

When people managed
to find themselves in problems,

I did whatever I could
to help them.

And this is no different with Eddie.

Poor Eddie gave me a call and said,

"They're going to get
some bailiffs to come along

"and take our cars,
and pound everything they can."

So I said "I tell you
what I can do... "

Schumacher
was available this weekend.

I've seen him in Formula 3
and I had this attitude

to give youth a chance

and to see what the potential
of Schumacher is for the future.

The arrival of Schumacher
in Formula One

was the same as Senna.

Eddie was over the moon to have
found a superstar in the making.

I said to Flavio, "You need to get
this guy, before it's too late.

"Before somebody else gets him,
you need to get him,

"because he's going to be
the number one."

I said, "don't worry about Eddie,

"you can always do
a deal with Eddie."

You can look forward
to Monza now.

If I can drive in Monza,
then yeah, sure.

So I spoke to Michael
and said to him,

"You better come down here,
to the hotel we were staying in,

"I'm going to see you
get to drive in the Benetton."

So this went on all night.
And with conversations with Eddie

and Flavio and me.

And Schumacher
was in his bedroom asking me

how everything was going and I said,
"You just, you, go to sleep!

"Be ready to get up in the morning,

"you're going to be
a Benetton driver."

It's undoubtedly clear
that Jordan and Schumacher

had some sort of written agreement

for the rest of 91, 92, 93
and an option for 94.

The ethics and how we go about
honouring people's contracts.

I mean, we either have
to get drivers to sign contracts,

or we just leave it
free for all.

I'm easy either way
but I think we do have to have

some firm situations.

Eddie had got a few dollars
to help him along the way

so it was a happy weekend.

Michael Schumacher finishes
his first Grand Prix

in a superb,
point-scoring 5th position,

ahead of his teammate Nelson Piquet.

Wheel to wheel stuff, look at this.
They're almost touching.

Mansell gets in there.

00:24:01.200 -- 00:24:05.280
Jean-Marie's task was just to make
sure that he got enough votes

to be re-elected.

Jean-Marie didn't do much lobbying,
but Max did.

The night before the election,

I'd had dinner
with one or two people.

I called Jean-Marie, I said,

"Jean-Marie,
you're not going to win.

"Why don't you stand up
and say that, "I'm sorry,

"I've decided I'm not going
to stand now,

"and I'd like you to support
my friend Max Mosley."

"Urgh," he said. "You should...
Why you say this to me?

"First thing in the morning,
you upset me early in the morning.

"Why you saying that?"

I said, "Jean-Marie,
because I wouldn't want

"to see you not winning."

Mansell harrying Ayrton Senna.

And off! Mansell!

That's him. Mansell out.

At the very corner that claimed
Prost and Senna last year.

Into the chicane goes Ayrton Senna,

on his way to win
the world championship.

89 was a disgraceful championship.

I won the race here
and I was robbed from it

and I will never
forget that.

Then 1990 was the result
of the 89 championship.

We had a disgraceful race
again here

and it was a bad memory
in my career,

a bad memory for Formula 1 for sure.

And this year,
we show that,

without the politicians
being involved,

we can have a sportive and tight
and very competitive championship.

We are upset because
the behaviour of Alain Prost

was not at the level that Ferrari
would like for his top driver.

Ferrari decided to dispense
with Prost's services,

which was a bit
of a shock to Prost.

It's a typical,
really Ferrari ending.

When Luca came back to Ferrari,

it wasn't such a wonderful thing
to be handed.

And it was more
a liability than an asset.

So Luca got hold of Niki
and Niki become special advisor.

I spoke to Luca and explained to him
they needed to have a manager.

So, I thought Jean Todt
would be the ideal person for this.

Mansell crosses the line,
to take the chequered flag

before the delighted
Frank Williams.

We are not as fast as Williams.

We'll be 3rd or 4th
if the two Williams finish

and not much we can
do about it.

You are about to see Nigel Mansell

become the world
champion of 1992.

Still with five races to go.

And, I can't remember
when that last happened.

I always used
to say about Nigel,

"If you don't win
the world championship,

"you should get an Oscar
for acting."

Because he was the greatest.

Nigel, you are world champion,
what is left now?

Win a lot more races
and I hope defend it

with the same team next year.

It's no secret that
I've been trying very hard

to, to get some, some deal
with Williams,

but I don't think Nigel's
position today

or before was the problem
for me going there or not.

The problem is somebody else.

Yeah, it's a non-event, I don't
know why you're here. Excuse me.

Excuse me, out of the way, please.

it's impossible to accept somebody
to come to a team,

February in a year
with a signed contract,

veto myself and himself too,

and eventually they change his side

but stay with the veto
on myself.

And I think if Prost wants
to be called a "so" champion,

3x world champion,

come back in a sportive way
and maybe win another championship.

He should be sportive.

The way he's doing,
he's behavin, like a coward.

Will you all settle down,
otherwise I shall go.

It's up to you.
I have a statement here.

(LOUD FEEDBACK)

It's taken many hours...

It's taken many hours
to put together.

And I haven't, er, I haven't slept.

I've just been given a message,

which I'm not at liberty to tell you

but it's tried to stop me
doing what I'm doing now.

Due to circumstances
beyond my control

I have decided
to retire from Formula 1.

I have made this decision
with some regret.

Of course a team owner,
any team owner

is free to choose whomever
he likes to work for him.

I thought I had a deal,
when clearly I did not.

Ut's always push and shove
in Formula 1,

it's such a brilliantly
competitive sport.

I love it.
I'd be uneasy if it were quiet.

I'd think I was being knifed
in the back,

or about to be knifed
in the back.

Prost had gone to Williams,

Senna was left in McLaren,
but knew the car wasn't up

to beating Williams so he went
to America and tested an Indy car.

When Phillip Morris
heard of all this

and knew exactly
what was going on...

..the only way they could
convince Senna to stay

was to offer him $1million a race.

And this strangely,
had an effect on Senna.

We didn't have too many superstars,

so again, Philip Morris
did a lot for Formula 1.

Ayrton literally had no chance

against Prost in the Williams.

Well I've heard
directly from Max Mosley,

which means it's confirmed
that Prost will be a given

a 10 second penalty
for a jump start.

Well, how about that?

I can't understand because I think
the car was moving a little bit

at the start but I didn't
do anything wrong, I think.

The car was moving
maybe 10 cm, 20 cm

because the clutch was not correct,
but I did a perfect start.

For sure when you do a perfect start
it's always close to the limit.

Ayrton Senna crosses the line
to win the 1993 Monaco GP

with Alain Prost following him home,
a lap adrift in 4th position.

I think the penalty was just to make
the race more interesting,

and I don't think
that is correct.

I want to stop
in the best, best way.

Being on the top on the track,
being happy outside.

I had a very, very good relation
with Frank Williams

and his whole team,
and despite all this year,

we had a fantastic relation
with, er, with Damon.

And everything is perfect.

So some could say, "if it's perfect,
why doesn't it continue?"

and some would say, "and that's the
best moment to stop."

00:37:05.320 -- 00:37:08.080
James Hunt, the former
world motor racing champion

has died suddenly.

He was 45 and suffered
a heart attack at home, in London.

James lost a lot of money, in fact,

a little while before we'd lost him,
he'd come to borrow £2,000.

And he was a bit embarrassed to ask.

And I was embarrassed
that he had to ask.

'Cause he was such a superstar.

We lost something which I thought,
and still believe,

is very important in F1.

That a driver should drive
a car completely unaided.

So he gets in the car.

From then on in,
it's his decisions

whether he wins or loses or has
a crash or whatever happens,

it's up to him.

The Williams suspension
system is brilliant.

It's really really clever
with the things it does.

But in the end, even Frank's
effort becomes self-defeating

because they will then win
by such a huge margin

that no one will want
to watch anymore.

The decision has to be to stop.

We're all a little upset
that the rules are changed

so abruptly from time to time
because racing cars

are very, very complicated machines
and have to be managed correctly.

I'm starting a completely new
partnership with Williams.

This new set of rules will bring
the team closer together.

Williams is not going
to enjoy the same advantage.

I was determined that
we would have the best coverage

of any sport on television.

We controlled

exactly what was
going to be broadcast.

As it was early on in the race,

I was sort of doing what I normally
do during that time

and I'd sort of, I think,
picked up an apple to eat

and I was going
to see somebody.

And then I heard Ayrton
hadn't come round

so I went to the controller
to find out why.

All they knew
was it was an accident.

So I called Sid Watkins
on our radios.

I said, "What happened?"

So Sid said, "Well, it's his head."

And I thought he said he was dead.

So walked down
out of the control tower

and saw Ayrton's brother.

And said to his brother,
"I'm terribly sorry that...

"Sorry he's...he's dead."

Chucked the apple away,

then spoke to one
or two other people.

They said about stopping the race
or not stopping the race.

And eventually it became quite clear

that it would be the worst thing
for the promoter in Italy

for the race to be stopped,
by law it would be bad

if we did that because
we'd be completely responsible,

even if we're not responsible.

And then found out
obviously he had died.

My wife wanted to go to the funeral

because she was quite close
to Ayrton.

I wasn't too popular.

His brother had of reported
to the rest of the family

he thought that I was a bit callous
and didn't give a damn.

I stayed in the hotel
and watched it on television.

Max said to me,
"Now Formula 1 is dead."