PROST AP01-06

The Prost AP01 was the car with which the Prost team competed in the 1998 Formula One World Championship.

It was driven by Frenchman Olivier Panis, who was in his fifth season with the team (including its time as Ligier), and Italian Jarno Trulli, who was in his first full season with Prost after deputising for the injured Panis for several races in 1997.

The AP01 was the first-ever Prost car to utilize Peugeot V10 engine factory works deal that started in 1998 season and thus earned direct factory support from Peugeot.

After the good results of the previous season, 1998 was a disaster for Prost.

The AP01's main weakness was its gearbox: it was unreliable and heavy, which prevented the team from finishing races, upset the balance of the car and meant that the team could not optimise the position of its ballast, as many of its rivals could.
It was Jarno Trulli who first identified the balance problems with the rear end of the car.

The AP01 had a major overhaul before the Canadian Grand Prix, with the rear suspension being completely revised.
The team also scraped into the season by a narrow margin after the chassis failed the mandatory FIA crash test three times.

With these problems allied with the relocation of the team's factory nearer Paris, the year turned into an exercise in damage limitation.
A single point was scored for sixth place, at the chaotic 1998 Belgian Grand Prix, giving Prost 9th place in the Constructors' Championship.
Only 8 cars finished the Belgian race with the two cars behind Trulli having spent so long in the pits being repaired their drivers were able to get out of the car for some time.
In the final 6 laps Trulli lost an entire lap to the front runners with engine problems but still managed to finish.