Top 5 most intense individual rivalries in the history of professional sports

#2 Alain Prost vs Ayrton Senna (Formula One)

Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna

During the 1980s and early 1990s, two men stood tall above others as the faces of Formula One around the world.

Alain Prost is a four-time Formula One champion and previously held the record for most Grand Prix victories from 1987 to 2001 when his total of 51 victories was finally surpassed by Michael Schumacher.

Across his racing career, the Frenchman raced for some of the biggest names in the world of Formula One including McLaren, Renault, Williams and Ferrari and is widely considered by many to be one of the greatest F1 racers in history.

Prost earned the nickname 'The Professor; for his calm demeanour and intellectual approach to racing and one of his race secrets was to reserve his brakes and tyres early in a race to keep them fresh for the latter assault.

Ayrton Senna was a Brazilian driver who is also considered by many to be the greatest and most influential racer in the history of the sport.

He won a total of three Formula One world titles in his career and raced for the likes of Toleman, Lotus, McLaren and William.

Senna was renowned for his performance in wet conditions, as well as qualifying speed over one lap and from 1989 until 2006 held the record for most pole positions.

Unfortunately, Senna passed on at the 1994 Monaco Grand Prix while leading the race for Williams.

Both Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna were the biggest figures in the sport during their time and the origin of their friction can be dated back to 1988 when Senna joined Prost at McLaren.

Their first major incident occurred during the season when Senna attempted to block Prost from taking the lead by forcing him to run close to the pit at a high speed at the Portuguese Grand Prix.

Even though Prost was able to manoeuvre and regain his lead, he was angered by his Brazilian teammate's antics.

Ahead of the start of the 1989 season, both men had an agreement not to get in each other's ways heading into corners.

But once again, Senna broke their agreement which angered Prost so much that he decided to leave McLaren-Honda and sign for Ferrari at the end of the season over the company's seeming deference towards Ayrton Senna.

The most controversial incident in their rivalry occurred at the final clash of the 1989 season when the winner of the world title was to be decided at the Japanese Grand Prix.

The two teammates once again collided, with Prost walking away from the track while Senna stayed on to win the race.

However, his victory was overruled by the Formula One governing body meaning that Prost was named the winner of the 1989 World title (as he had a sizable points lead on Senna heading into the final race) while the Brazilian was also fined $100,000 and suspended for six months with Senna accusing FIA president Jean-Marie Balestre of bias and favoring his compatriot.

There were two further collisions in the next year while Prost was with Ferrari, with Senna admitting that the first was pre-medidated and Senna's antics almost forced Prost to retire from the sport, calling the McLaren driver 'disgusting and a man without value'.

This was however not the end of their rivalry, as after Alan Prost was fired from Ferrari for criticizing the manufacturers in 1992, he signed for Williams (who were the most competitive at the time).

Senna had wanted to join the racing team but was not allowed to, as Prost had signed a clause in his contract with the British team forbidding them from signing Senna while he was contracted to them.

Expectedly, this did not sit well with Ayrton Senna who accused the Frenchman of being 'a coward' and Alain Prost had to be escorted by police onto the circuit at the 1993 Brazilian Grand Prix due to the hostility of Brazilians towards him.

Alain Prost retired at the end of the 1993 season and both men appeared to have buried their hatchet, with Senna embracing his long-term rival at the end of his last race at the Australian Grand Prix.

Unfortunately, Senna passed on in 1994 and footage emerged of Senna greeting Prost (who was then a pundit and reporter for a Formula One channel) stating " A special hello to my dear friend ... the sport misses you very much' only few days prior to his death."

Despite their rivalry, the two men maintained a deep respect for each other with Senna stating to a friend upon Prost's retirement that a large part of his motivation had come from his battles with his former teammate.

The Frenchman said that when Senna died, a part of him died also as their careers had been so intertwined and he was a pallbearer at Senna's funeral.