Watch: Alain Prost giving the cup to the Ferrari fans despite still being a McLaren driver | 1989 Italian GP. Alain was heading to Ferrari the following year.

Yes, it really does exist – well, in replica form anyway! Arguably the most famous trophy in McLaren’s history was won by Alain Prost at the 1989 Italian GP. The Frenchman was just coming to the end of his massively successful six-year stint at McLaren, and was heading to Ferrari the following year. Caught up in the emotion of the moment, Alain dropped his trophy into the crowd. “He was giving away something which belonged to McLaren,” Ron recalls, “and I was furious!”

Jo Ramirez saw it happen. “They were calling out, ‘Copa, Copa’. Alain thought this is my public from next year, so he came over and just let the cup go. As soon as it hit the crowd it was ripped into a million pieces – one took one handle, someone took the base, someone took the middle bit…” Jo was touched when several Ferrari fans later offered to pay for a replacement, but he’d already decided to follow his normal procedure and ordered a replica. When it arrived he decided to wait for an appropriate moment to give it to Ron – it would spend some six years in a cupboard in his office! The chance finally came at the company’s Christmas party at the Science Museum in 1995. Prost, back at the team as a consultant, presented Ron with the replica. “I appreciated the gesture,” says Ron, “but it wasn’t quite the same!”