Alain Prost tries to push his fuel-starved McLaren to the finish

Alain Prost’s attempt to push his McLaren across the Hockenheim finish line was hopeless, entirely understandable and perfectly suited to Formula 1’s fuel-restricted turbo era. After 44 laps of calculated consumption, the championship contender ran dry within sight of a podium.

The 1986 regulations limited each car to 195 litres of fuel, forcing drivers to balance the enormous power of their turbocharged engines against the risk of stopping before the finish. At Hockenheim, with its long straights and sustained full-throttle running, the calculation became especially severe.

Keke Rosberg started from pole for McLaren, with Prost alongside him. Ayrton Senna launched his Lotus between the two McLarens and led briefly, but Nelson Piquet’s Williams-Honda had the best combination of speed and fuel efficiency. Piquet could make two tyre stops, attack on fresh rubber and still regain the lead.

The McLaren drivers had no such freedom. Their cockpit displays warned that the cars were consuming fuel too quickly, so Rosberg and Prost spent much of the race driving below the pace the engines could theoretically provide.

The last lap becomes an economy run

Piquet began the final lap securely ahead, but the positions behind him remained unsettled. Rosberg was running second when his McLaren spluttered to a halt on the back section of the circuit. Senna, himself desperately short of fuel, moved through to claim second place.

Prost was next in line for the podium. As he entered the stadium section, the TAG-Porsche engine cut out. The McLaren still had momentum, and Prost initially tried to coax it forward from the cockpit. When the car slowed further, he released his belts, climbed out and began pushing.

The crowd encouraged him, but a Formula 1 car was not built to be moved at running pace by one increasingly tired driver. Nigel Mansell passed to take third, while René Arnoux and the stationary Rosberg were also classified ahead of Prost.

Prost abandoned the attempt a few metres short of the line and wheeled the car away from the racing surface. He was classified sixth because he had completed 43 of the 44 laps.

Senna’s Lotus also ran out of fuel immediately after crossing the line, while the two Williams drivers completed an additional lap without trouble. The contrast was difficult to miss. Piquet won through speed and efficiency; Prost ended the afternoon on foot, pushing a McLaren that had completed every part of the race except the final few metres.