Jean Alesi

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Jean Alesi (born Giovanni Alesi; 11 June 1964) is a French racing driver of Italian origin.

His father, Franco, was a mechanic from Alcamo, Sicily, and his mother was from Riesi. After successes in the minor categories, notably winning the 1989 Formula 3000 Championship, his Formula One career included spells at Tyrrell, Benetton, Sauber, Prost, Jordan and Ferrari, where he proved very popular among the tifosi.

During his spell at Ferrari from 1991 to 1995, his aggressive driving style, combined with the use of the number 27 on his car, led some journalists, and the tifosi, to compare him to Gilles Villeneuve and he won the 1995 Canadian Grand Prix, but this proved to be the only win of his Formula One career.

During his time in Formula One, Alesi was particularly good in the wet, and was a mercurial and passionate racer, whose emotions sometimes got the better of him.After leaving Formula One, from 2002 to 2006 Alesi raced in the DTM championship, winning some races, and his best result was a fifth place in the drivers' championship.

He raced in the Speedcar Series in 2008 and 2009, and raced at Le Mans in 2010.

He raced in the Indianapolis 500 in 2012 and became the oldest professional driver to perform the rookie test for admission to the competition.

For several years he was also a commentator for the Italian TV show Pole Position.

In 2006 Alesi was awarded Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur.

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, and their three children, including daughter Helena, who is studying in London. His son Giuliano Alesi competed in the 2019 FIA Formula 2 Championship with Trident Racing.

Alesi is a fan of Italian football team Juventus.

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Early career

Alesi was born in Avignon, Vaucluse, France, and he lived in Montpellier and Marseille to Sicilian parents. Franco's father, who was born in Alcamo, Sicily, was from Alcamo, Sicily, and his mother was from Riesi. In the town, where Alesi spent much of his formative years and developed a passion for cars, his father owned an auto bodywork shop. Alesi's father gave his first taste of motorsport by spending time in the family's garage, as well as being a keen amateur racer in rallying and hillclimbing competitions. On weekends when he was unable to participate, he would often loan his rally cars to a family friend and the future Monte Carlo Rally-winning professional rally driver Jean Ragnotti, who would often return them "destroyed."

He began karting at the age of 16 and then moved to cars in 1983, where he competed for two seasons. He won the 1987 French Formula 3 championship before advancing to International Formula 3000 in 1988. The 1988 season was a disappointment, finishing tenth in the championship with two podium finishes, not helped by internal team inefficiency. However, in 1989, he joined the Jordan Formula 3000 team and captured the championship. Both queens were named after feud with his rival Érik Comas. Alesi finished third in 1989 on points for the F3000 championship with Comas, but the team won the competition on a number of victories, with three scoring three to Comas' two. In Laguna Seca, Spain's IMSA GTO race, got off to a promising start with a street Ferrari F40 LM. Surprisingly led for six laps and finished third overall, ahead of the most experienced racers in race-spec cars. In the same year, he competed in the Le Mans 24 hours, but a fire forced him to pull out in the fourth hour of the race.

Formula One career

Alesi made his début in the 1989 French Grand Prix at Paul Ricard, replacing Michele Alboreto and finishing fourth, having run as high as second during the competition. Ken Tyrrell was so impressed with his eighteen-month contract that he had to be released. Tyrrell's most successful Formula 3000 campaign was driven by him, with Johnny Herbert occasionally giving the car up in favour of Johnny Herbert when Formula 3000 clashed), earning him more points at the Italian and Spanish Grand Prix.

Alesi was regarded as a future talent, but his first act as a Formula One racer was curious. Ken Tyrrell had signed a deal to operate Camel cigarette sponsorship on his previously unsponsored cars prior to the 1989 French Grand Prix. However, Michele Alboreto, who was financially sponsored by rival cigarettes firm Marlboro, ran into difficulties as a result. Tyrrell was forced to abandon Alboreto and find another driver, and Alesi was signed as his replacement (ironically, Alboreto lost his Marlboro sponsorship shortly after and would continue driving for the Larrousse team, who also had Camel sponsorship on their cars).

Alesi retired from racing at the end of 1989 and a new teammate in Satoru Nakajima, Alesi amazingly became Tyrrell's lead driver in 1990 for his first full year in Formula One (prior to the 1990 season, there were eight race starts in Formula One). He led for 25 laps in front of Ayrton Senna's McLaren's F40, despite the Brazilian's previous claim of second place. He gained second place in the Monaco Grand Prix, and by mid-season top teams were clamoring for his services. Tyrrell, Williams, and Ferrari all appeared to have signed the driver within a short time, prompting a tumultuous situation. Alesi finished ninth in the championship, despite being slowed during the remainder of the 1990 season, with 13 points.

Alesi's talent was evident in the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, where he qualified the underpowered Tyrrell in 5th place less than a second behind Senna's pole time. Alesi rode a more agile V12 Ferrari of reigning World Champion Alain Prost for 3rd place and 2nd in a lap, with McLaren's Gerhard Berger taking second for 2nd and 3rd respectively at both the original and restart (caused by Derek Warwick's Lotus crashing heavily). On lap 5, however, he spun into the Rettifilo chicane's barriers.

Alesi first signed a 1991 deal with Williams. However, Williams delaying the announcement of his signature with the reasoning that ensued, Alesi eventually became dissatisfied with the endless delays, and Ferrari had to fine Williams a fine of four million dollars. From a results standpoint, the move to Ferrari seemed to be a logical choice, particularly because Alain Prost had a tough world championship challenge, but 1991 Ferrari recorded good lap times in winter testing.

He had third-place finishes in Monaco, Germany, and Portugal, and finished in the top six at Brazil, France, Hungary, and Spain (despite a stop-and-goal penalty for a jump start in the Spanish Grand Prix). The 1991 Ferrari also turned out to be unreliable, and he had nine retirements during the season, including one from a mechanical breakdown while leading the Belgian Grand Prix. Alesi's teammate Prost was fired after the Japanese Grand Prix when he openly described the car as a "truck" and took a year away from racing, and Alesi became the team's number one driver for 1992. Alesi scored 21 points and finished seventh in the championship.

Alesi was partnered by Ivan Capelli in 1992, when the Ferrari F92A was even faster than the 1991 Ferrari's. Capelli had a bad season and was replaced by Nicola Larini for the last two races. Alesi had no intention of winning a race and died with engine failure in the first two races of the season, but he finished fourth in the third race of the season, behind Williams drivers and Michael Schumacher. Despite being in touch with Gerhard Berger and Mika Hakkinen during the run, he came in third third in the Spanish Grand Prix after a good wet weather run. He came in third at the San Marino Grand Prix but was forced to cancel after a collision with Gerhard Berger. Alesi's next race saw a string of retirements, but Alesi had a solid third-place finish at Canada and turned in another outstanding wet-weather drive in France, achieving lap times on slicks that were comparable to those of Nigel Mansell's Williams before retiring with another engine failure. He was given the F92A/T, an improvement over the previous model, but he was forced to cancel due to a collision with Nigel Mansell's Williams. At Monza, he came in third, but he was forced to leave early in the season due to a fuel pump failure early in the race. He finished in the points in the first two races of the season, finishing seventh in the championship with 18 points.

Alesi was first brought to Maranello by Austrian Gerhard Berger in 1993, when the two brothers were back to Maranello after three seasons with McLaren. During pre-season testing, the Ferrari F93A was extremely sluggish. Mainly due to the unreliability of the F93A's suspension, four people died in the first five races of the season and an eighth-place finish in Brazil, prompting Alesi to consider leaving Ferrari. However, he came in third place in the Monaco Grand Prix, and in July, he signed a new two-year contract with Ferrari. However, subsequent races saw a variety of retirements and finishes outside of the point. He had a collision with Christian Fittipaldi that resulted in a leg contusion, and he was close to having a brawl with him afterwards. The Ferrari increased towards the end of the season, and Alesi finished second at Monza and then led the way in Portugal, finishing fourth. Alesi finished sixth in the championship with 16 points.

In 1994, the Ferrari had been much more competitive, but unreliability was marred, and teammate Berger was appointed as the team's leader. Alesi sustained his back after finishing third in the first race of the season (Brazil) and was replaced by Nicola Larini in the Pacific Grand Prix and the San Marino Grand Prix. He returned to Monaco in fifth place and finished a strong third in Canada, but he almost dropped out of the race due to a gearbox malfunction. He missed out in the French Grand Prix due to a crash with Rubens Barrichello, but he came in second in the British Grand Prix, but his engine was expected to put out a good show in the German Grand Prix, qualifying second behind teammate Fernando Berger. A string of retirements marked subordinate races. At Monza, he took his first pole position and led until his first pit stop, when his gearbox broke in the pitlane, and he returned to Avignon at a speed of over 200 km/hr. This streak came to an end in Japan, when he came third after a duel with Nigel Mansell's Williams, and then finished sixth in Australia. Alesi finished fifth in the championship with 24 points.

The Ferrari increased in 1995 and Alesi achieved better results, but the Ferrari's momentum slowed in the second half of the season. He came in fifth place in Brazil, followed by second places in Argentina and Imola. He came from second place in second place in the Spanish Grand Prix due to an engine failure, and when competing second, Martin Brundle's Ligier spun in front of him, leaving him nowhere to go and causing him to crash. However, he won his first and only race at the Canadian Grand Prix on his 31st birthday, aided by Michael Schumacher's electronic glitches. After crossing the finish line, his Ferrari ran out of fuel and so Michael Schumacher gave him a lift back to the pits. This was the first race for a Ferrari driver without a win (67), which was then surpassed by Felipe Massa in 2013. He came in second second at the British Grand Prix, but he later suffered four years, and was devastated after learning that he had lost his Ferrari drive to Michael Schumacher prior to the Hungarian Grand Prix. He came from leading four laps into the Belgian Grand Prix due to a suspension suspension issue and pulled out of the lead again at the Italian Grand Prix, seven laps from the end, owing to a rear wheel problem. Despite receiving more points in the championship, Jean Todt had a tense debate after the Portuguese Grand Prix due to refusing to comply with team orders to defer to teammate Gerhard Berger. Alesi led the way in the race despite the fact that fast laps on slick tyres in damp conditions, but Michael Schumacher came to a stop two laps from the end, limiting fuel and traffic progress through laps. He earned an outstanding wet-weather run in Japan, getting off to a great comeback after being angered by a stop-goal penalty for a jump start that he didn't commit, but then crashed into Michael Schumacher in his final race for Ferrari in Australia. With 42 points, he came in fifth in the drivers' championship.

When Michael Schumacher joined Ferrari in 1996, Alesi and teammate Gerhard Berger exchanged places with him, with Berger not content to be the number two to Schumacher at Ferrari. Despite the fact that Benetton were the reigning constructors' champions, they were going to face Ferrari in 1991. Many team members had decided to leave Ferrari with Michael Schumacher, and chief designer Rory Byrne decided to wait a year out. The 1996 Benetton was reasonably successful but slower than the Williams, and lost competitiveness early in the season due to inadequate upgrades to the car, but Schumacher's improved as the season progressed, with Schumacher overtaking Alesi in the drivers' championship. He started his season off with a collision with the Ferrari of Eddie Irvine, but two podiums followed. He and teammate Berger were summoned by team manager Flavio Briatore after a rough start to the car's brake system, and the pair were told, 'No more mistakes', which sparked controversy within the team. He was leading the Monaco Grand Prix after winning his sixth position at Imola, but he had to call off due to a missed callout. He finished fifth in second place after coming back from retirement at the British Grand Prix. Following Damon Hill's retirement, he led until the pit stops, when Michael Schumacher took over the Italian Grand Prix, who had a more effective race plan. Alesi finished fourth in the drivers' championship with 47 points after a fourth place in Portugal and retirement in the last race, his highest result of his career.

Alesi was sent an ultimatum by Flavio Briatore at the start of the 1997 season, promising that 1997 would be his last chance to produce good results. Ross Brawn, Nigel Stepney, and Rory Byrne all performed well in pre-season testing, but the Benetton's form in the season was erratic. His cause was not aided by his sad retirement in the Australian Grand Prix in 1997, when he ignored many radio calls from the pit mechanics to come in for his pit stop and went for five laps before being booed by Briatore, who felt he had wasted his chances of a podium finish. He only scored three points in the following four races, but after a good run with some podiums, he climbed to third place in the drivers' championship. However, there were other worrying incidents, including the one in the French Grand Prix where he purposefully pulled David Coulthard off track, and the Austrian Grand Prix, where his attempt to outbrake Eddie Irvine from nearly eight lengths behind resulted in a collision that resulted in Alesi being banned from driving after the race. Despite the fact that he no longer drove for Ferrari and led early in the race, he took pole position at the Italian Grand Prix, which brought the fans into raptures, but he lost out to David Coulthard's McLaren due to a slow pit stop. With 36 points, he came in fourth in the championship, thanks to Michael Schumacher's disqualification at the end of the season. Alesi's image was tarnished during his time at Benetton, when he appeared to lose a Grand Prix despite having a sport, and struggling to win a Grand Prix despite being compared to Schumacher at Ferrari. Alesi's deal with Benetton was not renewed at the end of the season, and he has signed a two-year deal with Sauber.

Alesi joined the Swiss company Sauber and was paired with Johnny Herbert, establishing the most experienced driver lineup for the 1998 season. The car was built with Ferrari engines from 1997, which were modified from Petronas. Although Alesi's results in comparison to previous years, his name rose a smidgeon as he put in several good performances that obscured the Sauber's shortcomings. He had a bad start to the season in Melbourne, which culminated in an engine failure, and his ninth position in Brazil, but he showed his strength in the 1998 Grand Prix of Argentina, finishing fifth despite a pit stop issue early in the race. He finished sixth at Imola, but was plagued by inability during the middle of the season, including a retirement from fourth place near the end of the Monaco Grand Prix and being struck by Heinz-Harald Frentzen while running in sixth position, as a result of his fifth appearance during the British Grand Prix, forced him to retire after running fourth. He started on the front row of the Austrian Grand Prix, but Giancarlo Fisichella forced him to leave, forcing him to resign. At the rain-soaked Belgian Grand Prix, he reached his last podium of his career, behind the Jordans of Damon Hill and Ralf Schumacher. He also scored points at the Italian Grand Prix and finished in eleventh place in the drivers' championship with nine points, defeating teammate Johnny Herbert.

In the first Grand Prix of the season, the 1999 Sauber was slower and less reliable than the previous year, and he had to pull out immediately after being promoted to 5th place in the Brazilian Grand Prix, despite not having worked his way up to 5th position from 21st on the grid. With a sixth-place finish in the third race of the season, his first points came in the third race of the season. He was enraged by an incident with Jarno Trulli, and, despite the strong rapport between the two drivers, he accused Trulli of not behaving as a professional driver at the Canadian Grand Prix. Following some good qualifying results, including a front row seat to the French Grand Prix, he had a number of retirements, including a front row seat, thanks to a wet qualifying session. During the summer, he was announced as a potential replacement for Eddie Irvine as the team's number two Ferrari driver alongside Michael Schumacher, and Schumacher said he would be able to have Alesi in the team, closing the door on a possible return to Alesi. He eventually signed for Prost Grand Prix, accusing Sauber's engineers of not designing the car or following the drivers' instructions. Alesi suffered bruises to his right leg shortly before the Hungarian Grand Prix, prompting him to avoid the competition, but he did participate. He finished sixth in the season's last race, putting him 16th in the standings, with two points.

Alesi joined Prost, which was owned by his former Ferrari teammate and four-time World Drivers' champion Alain Prost, after Prost bought the Ligier team in early 1997 and renamed it. However, the car was old and unreliable. In qualifying for the Brazilian Grand Prix, a billboard was struck by a billboard resulting in an accident, but he came out unscathed. For the first time in his career, he didn't score a single point during the season. He blasted the car and the Peugeot engines late in the season, so much so that the Transalpine technicians went on strike for five minutes in the French Grand Prix. He was unable to qualify in the subsequent Grand Prix in Hungary due to a bad crash in the German Grand Prix, but he was able to participate.

The Prost car was reliable in 2001 and he finished every race that he rode for the Prost team. He climbed to a points-scoring position at the wet Brazilian Grand Prix, but his tyres were missing, and he dropped to eighth place. Alesi earned his first points since the 1999 Grand Prix in the Bahamas, winning his sixth position and then finishing fifth in the Canadian Grand Prix. Alesi walked out after the German Grand Prix, where he earned a point, despite a controversy following the British Grand Prix. This was because Heinz-Harald Frentzen, the German driver, was immediately fired by Jordan after the British Grand Prix and needed a ride. Alesi joined Jordan and joined the Prost team, and Prost joined the Prost team. Prost had disciplined Alesi, who had been given a two-year deal and did not want to lose his number one driver.

Alesi began his open-wheel career with Jordan in 2001. When Alesi first won the championship in 1989, he had been racing for Jordan in Formula 3000. Jordan scored his last Formula One points in Belgium by placing sixth in the remaining five races of 2001. Alesi made his 200th Formula One appearance in 2001 and concluded his F1 career with a podium finish in the 2001 Japanese Grand Prix, where he retired after colliding with Kimi Räikkönen on lap 5 after colliding with Kimi Räikkönen. However, Jarno Trulli, his coworker, was generally outpaced, and the team decided to face Takuma Sato rather than 2002. Although Alesi was given a ride with Arrows, he did not want to compete for another season in an uncompetitive car and therefore decided to retire from Formula One.

Post-Formula One career

Alesi, who was due to drive for Mercedes at the time in DTM, was recruited by McLaren to work on tyre development, completing 224 laps in a 2001-spec McLaren-Mercedes MP4-16B before continuing to compete in the new Merc CLK-DTM series.

Alesi had been testing for McLaren at Mugello in April the same year, totaling 90 laps, and he was considering becoming the team's official test pilot. It never happened, with Alesi going on to spend five years in the DTM with Mercedes instead and then holding F1-related ambassadorial positions with both Lotus and Pirelli.

Alesi competed in the German Touring Car Championship, placing fifth in the 2002 championship for Mercedes with a win. He did this before in 2003, but this time he won two titles. In 2004, he came in seventh in the championship scoring no victories. He won the first race in 2005 and then went on to take seventh place in the standings once more. After finishing the 2006 season in 9th place, he resigned from the DTM.

Alesi was a vocal spokesperson for the Direxiv team in their attempts to qualify for the 2008 Formula 1 championship series. It was designed as a McLaren B Team with Mercedes' support and engines. The plan, on the other hand, was beaten to the final grid location by Prodrive.

In the inaugural season of the Far & Middle Eastern Speedcar Series, Alesi joined a number of other ex-Formula One racers (Christian Danner, Johnny Herbert, Stefan Johansson, Ukyo Katayama, JJ Lehto, Gianni Morbidelli, Jacques Villeneuve, and Alex Yoong). He won two races and finished fourth in the championship. After winning two races in 2009, he finished fifth in the second and last seasons of the Speedcar Series.

Alesi successfully tested an AF Corse Ferrari F430 GT2 in Maranello on the same day that Felipe Massa drove an F1 car for the first time after his accident in Hungary earlier this year. Alesi was upbeat after the test, which lasted just 65 laps, and Amato Ferrari talked about Alesi's potential participation in the 2010 program.

Alesi would be the teammate of another ex-F1 Ferrari driver, Giancarlo Fisichella, in Ferrari's Le Mans Series GT2 class, beginning in 2010. Alesi, his coworkers Fisichella and Finn Toni Vilander finished on the podium in the first two races. Alesi, Fisichella, and Vilander competed in the Le Mans 24 h race for AF Corse, finishing 4th in their class. The trio finished second in the third race of the season in Algarve, and they finished in fourth place at the Hungarian National Guards. They came in second place in the championship.

Lotus Renault GP revealed that Alesi had been hired as an ambassador for the team and test pilot for the T125 single-seater project in January 2011. Alesi revealed in September that he will attempt to qualify for the 2012 Indianapolis 500 in a Lotus-badged sedan.

Alesi helped with the introduction of a Lotus T125 single seaters on an episode during season 17 of BBC TV show Top Gear.

Alesi revealed in April 2012 that he intends to compete in the 2012 Indianapolis 500 using a Lotus engine. Former IZOD IndyCar Series team Newman/Haas Racing went broke, and HVM Racing founder Keith Wiggins said that his team didn't have the funds to run Alesi in the 500. However, Firestone Indy Lights team Fan Force United agreed to field Alesi in the 500, where he placed 33rd. His Lotus-powered car, as well as fellow Lotus driver Simona de Silvestro, was so underpowered, that they were unable to maintain enough speed in the run, and both cars were forced to park their cars after less than a dozen laps.

Alesi officially announced his intention to leave racing in an interview with L'Equipe on December 18th. He also confirmed that he had given up on finding the sponsorship needed for a second attempt last year.

Alesi became an ambassador for Pirelli in 2013.

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