F1 rookie blown away by how different vintage race cars are as Alain Prost was reunited with his 1988 McLaren at Goodwood

F1 rookie Ollie Bearman was blown away by how different vintage race cars were after seeing Alain Prost reunited with his 1988 McLaren MP4/4 at Goodwood.

Bearman was at the Goodwood Festival of Speed with his Haas F1 Team, alongside teammate Esteban.

Four-time world champion Alain Prost was also at the event and drove the McLaren MP/4 from 1988 up the hill. A car that Prost’s late teammate Ayrton Senna won that year’s world championship with.

Bearman was stunned at how different old F1 cars were versus his modern Haas, as he chatted with Prost before they both went up the Goodwood hill.

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What car was F1 rookie Bearman in awe of?

The car that F1 rookie Ollie Bearman couldn’t take his eyes off was the 1988 McLaren MP4/4.

This was one of the most successful Formula 1 cars ever built.

The McLaren won 15 of 16 races in 1988 and took 15 pole positions too.

McLaren easily won that year’s constructors’ championship, and Ayrton Senna won his first drivers’ title.

Prost himself won seven races that year and finished no lower than 2nd in a Grand Prix.

Senna won eight races in 1988, edging out Prost for the title due to having the best 11 results of that year.

This was when F1 was trying out a slightly different scoring system.

Regarding the MP4/4’s dominance, Formula 1 has rarely seen a car so successful.

Formula 1 cars are vastly different in 2025

Now, Formula 1 cars are hugely different from the F1 cars of 1988.

The MP4/4 got its power from a turbocharged 1.5-liter Honda V6 engine, which made up to 675hp and 313lb-ft of torque in race trim.

Bearman’s current Haas VF-25 uses a 1.6-liter turbocharged-hybrid V6 engine made by Ferrari.

Modern F1 cars are now chucking out close to 1,000hp, and the technology involved is on another level.

Back in the 1980s, F1 teams also had engines reserved exclusively for qualifying.

Ollie Bearman was obsessed with Alain Prost's McLaren MP4/4

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