Alain Prost said nine of the 10 Formula 1 teams are "in crisis" this season as he voiced his criticism of everyone on the grid except for Aston Martin.
Red Bull currently lead the championship by a comfortable margin having won all three races so far – their drivers finishing first and second in two of them. But even the Milton Keynes-based outfit have something to be concerned about, in the view of the Frenchman.
Prost clearly does not have a positive attitude when it comes to his views on the current state of the grid. Writing for French sports newspaper L'Equipe prior to the Australian Grand Prix, only Aston Martin avoided a scathing review of their current situation.
"It's a weird start to the season," wrote the four-time world champion. "Wherever you look, you can see that it's not going well and that, in a way, it's already a crisis. And a crisis on all levels, whether you are a big or a small.
"There are, of course, the factory or historic teams which are suffering, such as McLaren, which is not only not rebuilding but, year after year, is plunging. There is Alpine, whose recovery is still slow in coming. There is Mercedes, which persists in its admittedly innovative concept but which obviously does not work."
Prost then turned his pen on one of his former teams. " Ferrari, by deciding to bring in new blood and a new head, a foreign one at that, does not have today the results that we would have liked for it. And they won't arrive immediately," he wrote.
Even Red Bull, for all their dominance, have something to worry about if Prost is accurate in his beliefs. "Its system of favouring a single driver, Max Verstappen, which has worked so well, is showing its first signs of failure," the Frenchman asserted, referring to strong statement's from the Dutchman's team-mate in recent weeks.
" Sergio Perez, now settled in the team, is discovering that he can win and is no longer willing to compromise to stay. Even if Red Bull's domination continues, the next few weeks will be crucial for the reigning world champions. It's clear that anything can quickly throw a spanner in the works and that, even at the top, a crisis is never far away."
But he was much more positive about Aston Martin, writing: "Last year, it decided to draw a line under its 2022 car and agreed to reinvent itself. First, it changed drivers, without a second thought, from Vettel to Alonso. It took the time to understand what it was doing and is now at the top, far from the crisis that the others are going through. A lesson for all the other teams."
