Jean Alesi

Jean Alesi

Born	11 June 1964 (1964-06-11)
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality	French
Active years	1989–2001
Teams	Tyrrell, Ferrari, Benetton, Sauber, Prost, Jordan
Races	202 (201 starts)
Championships	0
Wins	1
Podiums	32
Career points	241
Pole positions	2
Fastest laps	4
First race	1989 French Grand Prix
First win	1995 Canadian Grand Prix
Last win	1995 Canadian Grand Prix
Last race	2001 Japanese Grand Prix

24 Hours of Le Mans career
Participating years	1989, 2010
Teams	Team Schuppan AF Corse
Best finish	4th in LMGT2 (2010)
Class wins	0

Jean Alesi (born Giovanni Alesi; June 11, 1964) is a French racing driver of Italian origin. His Formula One career included spells at Tyrrell, Benetton, Sauber, Prost, Jordan and most notably Ferrari where he proved very popular among the tifosi. In 2006 Alesi was awarded Chevalier de la Legion d’honneur.

Early career

Alesi was born to Sicilian parents in Avignon, Vaucluse. Starting his career with a passion for rallying rather than racing, he graduated to single seaters through the French Renault 5 championship. In the late 1980s he was very much a coming man in motor racing, winning the 1987 French Formula 3 title before moving up to International Formula 3000 in 1988. In 1989, his second season in International F3000, he won the championship. Both crowns were after duels with his rival Érik Comas. In 1989 Alesi tied on points for the F3000 title with Comas but won the titled based on the fact Alesi had three wins to Comas' two.

Formula One

Alesi at the 1991 US GP, driving for Ferrari

Alesi debuted in the 1989 French Grand Prix at Paul Ricard in a Tyrrell-Cosworth, finishing fourth. He drove most of the rest of the season for Tyrrell while continuing his successful Formula 3000 campaign, (occasionally giving the car up in favour of Johnny Herbert when Formula 3000 clashed), scoring points again at the Italian and Spanish Grands Prix.

1990 was his first full year in Grand Prix racing, with the underfunded Tyrrell team. At the first event, the United States Grand Prix at Phoenix, he was a sensation, leading for 25 laps in front of Ayrton Senna with a car considered as inferior, and also re-passing Senna after the Brazilian had first overtaken for the lead. Second place in the Monaco Grand Prix followed the second place gained in Phoenix, and by mid-season, top teams were clamouring for his services in 1991. A very confused situation erupted, with Tyrrell, Williams, and Ferrari all claiming to have signed the driver within a very short period.

Jean Alesi took his only Grand Prix win at the 1995 Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal.

Ferrari were championship contenders at the time, and there he would be driving with fellow countryman Alain Prost, at that time the most successful driver in Formula One history. Alesi signed with Ferrari, making the choice that not only appeared to maximize his chances for winning the championship and for learning from an experienced and successful teammate, but that fulfilled his childhood dream of driving for the Italian team.

Alesi driving for Sauber at the 1999 Canadian Grand Prix.

Alesi driving for Prost at the 2001 French Grand Prix.

Ferrari, however, experienced a disastrous downturn in form in 1991, while the Williams team experienced a resurgence which would lead them to win five constructor's titles between 1992 and 1997, thus becoming the most successful team of the 1990s. Alesi's choice of Ferrari over Williams seemed the most logical at the time, but turned out to be very unfortunate. One of the reasons for this failure was because Ferrari's famous V12 engine was no longer competitive against the smaller, lighter and more fuel efficient V10s of their competitors. Having a dismal 1991 season, Prost left the team describing the car as a "truck" and took a sabbatical.

Alesi was partnered by Ivan Capelli the following year, before being joined by Austrian Gerhard Berger in 1993. Alesi injured his back after the first race of the 1994 season (Brazil) and was replaced in the Pacific Grand Prix and the infamous San Marino Grand Prix (round 3) by Nicola Larini. In five years at the Italian marque Alesi gained little, except the passionate devotion of the tifosi, who loved his aggressive style. That style, and his use of the number 27 on his car, led many to associate him with Gilles Villeneuve, a beloved and still-popular Ferrari driver from 1977–1982. Alesi and Berger won only one race each during this period at Ferrari. Following Alesi's first and only GP win in the 1995 Canadian Grand Prix (on his 31st birthday), his Ferrari ran out of fuel as he waved to fans on the backstraight and he was given a lift back to the pits by Michael Schumacher.

When Benetton's Michael Schumacher joined Ferrari in 1996, Alesi and teammate Gerhard Berger swapped places with him. Though Benetton was the defending constructors' champions, they were about to experience a lull in form like Ferrari in 1991. Schumacher went on to rejuvenate Ferrari, while Alesi and Berger spent two seasons at a declining Benetton riddled with bad luck and internal politics. While Berger had a reasonable run at Benetton, winning the 1997 German Grand Prix after having come two laps from victory at the same race the previous year when his engine blew while he was leading within sight of the flag, Alesi's Benetton career proved more turbulent, not helped by an embarrassing retirement in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix in 1997 when he ignored several radio messages from the pit mechanics to come in for his pit stop, and continued for five laps until running out of fuel. His form became increasingly erratic that season, including incidents at the French Grand Prix when he needlessly pushed David Coulthard off the track, and the Austrian Grand Prix, where his attempt to outbrake Eddie Irvine from nearly eight lengths behind caused a spectacular collision that saw Alesi placed under investigation for dangerous driving after the race. A pole position and eventual second place at the Italian Grand Prix were not enough to salvage his drive at Benetton, and the team released Alesi at the end of the 1997 season.

Alesi at the 2001 United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis.

Alesi moved on, initially to Sauber and later Prost, the latter which was owned by his former Ferrari teammate Alain Prost. With Prost, Alesi was consistent, finishing every race, occasionally in points scoring positions, his best finish being at Canada. A fallout after the British Grand Prix, however saw Alesi walk out after the German Grand Prix, where he scored a point.

Alesi ended his open-wheel career in 2001 with Jordan, bookending his career nicely: Alesi had driven for Jordan in Formula 3000 when he won the championship in 1989.

Legacy

Alesi was often regarded as flamboyant, emotional and aggressive, but after his spectacular performance at Phoenix in 1990, his career was notable more for its "bad luck" and longevity than for its final results. In 2001, he became only the fifth driver to start 200 Grand Prix races, and he achieved thirty-two podiums, yet he only gained one victory. It could be suggested that Alesi's potential was unfulfilled – some say he spent his peak years during the uncompetitive period at Ferrari – retiring while in the lead or in 2nd place in no less than 9 races (1991: Spain (10 seconds stop penalty and still finishing 23 seconds behind the winner) and Belgium (1st), 1994: Belgium (2nd) and Italy (1st), 1995: Spain, Monaco, Japan (all in 2nd place), Belgium and Italy (both in 1st) – but somehow he was unlucky when driving for Benetton too, losing the lead of the Italian GP both in 1996 and 1997 after relatively slow pitstops and Monaco 1996 retiring with suspension failure.

His sole win was an emotional triumph at the 1995 Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal on his 31st birthday. Although he had inherited the lead when Michael Schumacher pitted with electrical problems and Damon Hill's hydraulics prevented a challenge, the victory was a popular one, particularly after several excellent but ultimately unrewarded drives for years at Ferrari, notably in Italy. Alesi's win at Montreal was voted the most popular race victory of the season by many, as it was the scarlet red number 27 Ferrari – once belonging to the famous Gilles Villeneuve at his much loved home Grand Prix. Memorably, Schumacher gave Alesi a lift back to the pits after Alesi's car ran out of fuel just before the Pits Hairpin.

Alesi would never win another Formula One Grand Prix, although later in 1995 at Monza his right-rear wheel bearing failed while he was leading with 9 laps to go, then at the Nürburgring severely worn tyres broke his defence of the lead with two laps remaining and he was passed by Michael Schumacher. In 1996 suspension failure with ten laps left prevented him from taking victory at Monaco (although he had led this race only after Damon Hill, who had held a commanding lead for the first half of the race, was forced to retire on lap 40 when his Renault engine blew up in the Tunnel) while in 1997 he led the Italian Grand Prix from pole before relinquishing the lead to David Coulthard courtesy of a slow pit stop in the middle stages of the race.

Post-Formula One career

Alesi driving for Mercedes-Benz (Persson Motorsport) in the 2006 DTM season.

Jean Alesi in his 2006 DTM-Mercedes racecar

DTM 2002-2006

After Formula One, Alesi was a popular and successful driver in the DTM (German Touring Car Championship), where he placed fifth in the 2002 championship for Mercedes with one victory. He repeated this in 2003 but this time scoring two victories. In 2004 he finished seventh in the championship scoring no victories. In 2005 he won the opening race and went on to take seventh place in the standings once more. He retired from the DTM after finishing the 2006 season in 9th place.

• 2002 – 5th in the championship, 1 victory,
• 2003 – 5th, 2 victories,
• 2004 – 7th,
• 2005 – 7th, 1 victory,
• 2006 – 9th

Speedcar Series 2008-2009

Alesi joined a number of other ex-Formula One drivers (Christian Danner, Johnny Herbert, Stefan Johansson, Ukyo Katayama, JJ Lehto, Gianni Morbidelli, Jacques Villeneuve and Alex Yoong) in the inaugural season of the Far & Middle Eastern Speedcar Series. He won two races and finished 4th in the championship. He finished fifth in the second and last season of Speedcar Series after taking two wins in 2009.

• 2008 - 4th, 2 victories
• 2009 - 5th, 2 victories

Le Mans Series 2010-

On October 13, 2009, Alesi tested an AF Corse Ferrari F430 GT2 at Maranello, on the same day that Felipe Massa drove an F1 car for the first time after his accident in Hungary earlier in the year. After the test, which lasted just 65 laps, Alesi was enthusiastic and Amato Ferrari talked about Alesi's possible involvement in the 2010 programme.

Early in 2010 it was announced that Alesi would be the team-mate of another ex-F1 Ferrari driver, Giancarlo Fisichella, in the Le Mans Series GT2 class in Ferrari's AF Corse team. In the first two races Alesi and his team-mates Fisichella and Finn Toni Vilander finished on the podium. Alesi, Fisichella and Vilander raced in the Le Mans 24 h race for AF Corse and finished 4th in their class. In the third race of the season in Algarve the trio finished in second position and at the Hungaroring they finished in fourth place. They finished second in the championship.

Lotus Renault GP (2011– )

In January 2011, along with the launch of their new car, Lotus Renault GP announced that they had hired Alesi as an ambassador for the team and test driver for the T125 single-seater project. In September, Alesi announced that he will attempt to qualify for the 2012 Indianapolis 500, in a car powered by a Lotus-badged engine.

On Series Seventeen, Episode 5 of BBC TV show Top Gear, Alesi helped current host Jeremy Clarkson to test drive one of the T125 single seaters.

i1 Super Series

In the last quarter of 2011, Alesi joined the inaugural i1 Super Series as an International class driver.

Direxiv

Alesi was an active spokesman for the Direxiv team in their bid for entry to the 2008 Formula 1 series. It was planned as a McLaren B Team with backing and engines from Mercedes. However, the proposal was beaten to the final grid place by Prodrive.

Helmet

His helmet is white with black and red lines going down on the front side of the helmet with his name written, being an homage to Elio de Angelis, in addition to a deep blue top section which contains smaller, light blue "raindrops". From 2000 his helmet has changed from white to silver (owing to one of Sauber's sponsors being Red Bull).

Personal life

Alesi is a wine connoisseur and has a vineyard near his hometown of Avignon, where he resides with his wife, Japanese model, actress, and pop singer Kumiko Goto (後藤久美子), and their four children.

Racing record

Complete International Formula 3000 results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	Tyres	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	DC	Points
1988	Oreca	March 87B	Ford Cosworth	A	JER 11	VAL 9										10th	11
		Reynard 88D					PAU 2	SIL 5	MNZ Ret	PER 6	BRH Ret	BIR Ret	BUG Ret	ZOL 9	DIJ 5
1989	Eddie Jordan Racing	Reynard 89D	Mugen Honda	A	SIL 4	VAL Ret	PAU 1	JER 5	PER Ret	BRH 2	BIR 1	SPA 1	BUG 6	DIJ		1st*	39

* – Alesi won the 1989 title on countback, winning three races to Érik Comas' two.

Complete Formula One results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	WDC	Points
1989	Tyrrell Racing Organisation	Tyrrell 018	Cosworth V8	BRA	SMR	MON	MEX	USA	CAN	FRA 4	GBR Ret	GER 10	HUN 9	BEL	ITA 5	POR	ESP 4	JPN Ret	AUS Ret		9th	8
1990	Tyrrell Racing Organisation	Tyrrell 018	Cosworth V8	USA 2	BRA 7																9th	13
		Tyrrell 019				SMR 6	MON 2	CAN Ret	MEX 7	FRA Ret	GBR 8	GER 11	HUN Ret	BEL 8	ITA Ret	POR 8	ESP Ret	JPN DNS	AUS 8
1991	Scuderia Ferrari SpA	Ferrari 642/2	Ferrari V12	USA 12	BRA 6	SMR Ret	MON 3	CAN Ret													7th	21
		Ferrari 643							MEX Ret	FRA 4	GBR Ret	GER 3	HUN 5	BEL Ret	ITA Ret	POR 3	ESP 4	JPN Ret	AUS Ret
1992	Scuderia Ferrari SpA	Ferrari F92A	Ferrari V12	RSA Ret	MEX Ret	BRA 4	ESP 3	SMR Ret	MON Ret	CAN 3	FRA Ret	GBR Ret	GER 5	HUN Ret							7th	18
		Ferrari F92AT													BEL Ret	ITA Ret	POR Ret	JPN 5	AUS 4
1993	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari F93A	Ferrari V12	RSA Ret	BRA 8	EUR Ret	SMR Ret	ESP Ret	MON 3	CAN Ret	FRA Ret	GBR 9	GER 7	HUN Ret	BEL Ret	ITA 2	POR 4	JPN Ret	AUS 4		6th	16
1994	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari 412T1	Ferrari V12	BRA 3	PAC	SMR	MON 5	ESP 4	CAN 3												5th	24
		Ferrari 412T1B								FRA Ret	GBR 2	GER Ret	HUN Ret	BEL Ret	ITA Ret	POR Ret	EUR 10	JPN 3	AUS 6
1995	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari 412T2	Ferrari V12	BRA 5	ARG 2	SMR 2	ESP Ret	MON Ret	CAN 1	FRA 5	GBR 2	GER Ret	HUN Ret	BEL Ret	ITA Ret	POR 5	EUR 2	PAC 5	JPN Ret	AUS Ret	5th	42
1996	Mild Seven Benetton Renault	Benetton B196	Renault V10	AUS Ret	BRA 2	ARG 3	EUR Ret	SMR 6	MON Ret	ESP 2	CAN 3	FRA 3	GBR Ret	GER 2	HUN 3	BEL 4	ITA 2	POR 4	JPN Ret		4th	47
1997	Mild Seven Benetton Renault	Benetton B197	Renault V10	AUS Ret	BRA 6	ARG 7	SMR 5	MON Ret	ESP 3	CAN 2	FRA 5	GBR 2	GER 6	HUN 11	BEL 8	ITA 2	AUT Ret	LUX 2	JPN 5	EUR 13	4th	36
1998	Red Bull Sauber Petronas	Sauber C17	Petronas V10	AUS Ret	BRA 9	ARG 5	SMR 6	ESP 10	MON 12	CAN Ret	FRA 7	GBR Ret	AUT Ret	GER 10	HUN 7	BEL 3	ITA 5	LUX 10	JPN 7		11th	9
1999	Red Bull Sauber Petronas	Sauber C18	Petronas V10	AUS Ret	BRA Ret	SMR 6	MON Ret	ESP Ret	CAN Ret	FRA Ret	GBR 14	AUT Ret	GER 8	HUN 16	BEL 9	ITA 9	EUR Ret	MAL 7	JPN 6		16th	2
2000	Gauloises Prost Peugeot	Prost AP03	Peugeot V10	AUS Ret	BRA Ret	SMR Ret	GBR 10	ESP Ret	EUR 9	MON Ret	CAN Ret	FRA 14	AUT Ret	GER Ret	HUN Ret	BEL Ret	ITA 12	USA Ret	JPN Ret	MAL 11	22nd	0
2001	Prost Acer	Prost AP04	Acer V10	AUS 9	MAL 9	BRA 8	SMR 9	ESP 10	AUT 10	MON 6	CAN 5	EUR 15	FRA 12	GBR 11	GER 6						15th	5
	B&H Jordan Honda	Jordan EJ11	Honda V10													HUN 10	BEL 6	ITA 8	USA 7	JPN Ret

Complete DTM results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	Car	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Pos	Points
2002	HWA Team	AMG-Mercedes CLK-DTM	HOC1 3	ZOL 10	DON 1	SAC Ret	NOR 4	LAU 8	NÜR Ret	A1R 3	ZAN 8	HOC2 Ret		5th	24
2003	HWA Team	AMG-Mercedes CLK 2003	HOC1 4	ADR 7	NÜR1 Ret	LAU 5	NOR 5	DON 1	NÜR2 6	A1R Ret	ZAN 5	HOC2 1		5th	42
2004	HWA Team	AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse 2004	HOC1 19	EST 7	ADR 3	LAU 5	NOR 10	SHA1 4	NÜR 7	OSC 10	ZAN 11	BRN 8	HOC2 5	7th	19
2005	HWA Team	AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse 2005	HOC1 1	LAU1 7	SPA 4	BRN 9	OSC 13	NOR Ret	NÜR 7	ZAN Ret	LAU2 8	IST 7	HOC2 13	7th	22
2006	Persson Motorsport	AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse 2005	HOC1 6	LAU 7	OSC 8	BRH 6	NOR Ret	NÜR 4	ZAN Ret	CAT 14	BUG 11	HOC2 8		9th	15

¹ - Shanghai was a non-championship round.

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year	Class	No	Tyres	Car	Team	Co-Drivers	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
1989	C1	33	D	Porsche 962C Porsche Type-935 3.0L Turbo Flat-6	Team Schuppan	Will Hoy Dominic Dobson	69	DNF	DNF
2010	GT2	95	M	Ferrari F430 GT2 Ferrari 4.0L V8	AF Corse SRL	Giancarlo Fisichella Toni Vilander	323	16th	4th

External links

• Jean Alesi Official website(French)
• Jean ALESI - Vin Côte du Rhône "Clos du de l'Hermitage" un vin d'exception Jean Alesi's vineyard website (French)
• Jean Alesi official Fans Club "Italia" (Italian) (English)
• F1 Rejects article

Sporting positions
Preceded by Yannick Dalmas	French Formula Three Champion 1987	Succeeded by Érik Comas
Preceded by Roberto Moreno	International Formula 3000 Champion 1989	Succeeded by Érik Comas
Preceded by Cristiano da Matta Fonsi Nieto Gilles Panizzi	Race of Champions Nations' Cup 2004 with: Sébastien Loeb	Succeeded by Mattias Ekström Tom Kristensen
Awards and achievements
Preceded by Ayrton Senna	Autosport International Racing Driver Award 1989	Succeeded by Ayrton Senna