Jean Alesi

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Jean Alesi
Nationality	French
World Championship Career
Active years	1989 - 2001
Team(s)	Tyrrell, Ferrari, Benetton, Sauber, Prost, Jordan
Races	202
Championships	0
Wins	1
Podium finishes	32
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

Jean Alesi (born Giovanni Alesi June 11, 1964) is a French racing driver of Italian origins. His Formula One career included spells at Tyrrell, Benetton, Sauber, Prost, Jordan and most notably Ferrari where he proved very popular among the tifosi (Italian fanbase).

Contents 1 Early career 2 Formula One 3 Post-Formula One career 4 DTM results 5 Direxiv 6 Complete Formula One results 7 Trivia 8 External links

[edit] 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 1988 French Formula 3 title, and following it up in 1989 with the International Formula 3000 crown, both after duels with his rival Érik Comas. In 1989 Alesi actually tied on points for the F3000 title with Comas but won on the basis of better points finishes.

[edit] Formula One

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 and scoring points again at the Italian and Spanish Grands Prix.

1990 was his first full year in Grand Prix racing, with the underfunded, unfancied Tyrrell team. At the first race in America he caused a sensation, leading the first 30 laps in front of Ayrton Senna with a car considered as inferior and re-passing him after he had been demoted. Second place in Grand Prix of Monaco was added to his second place in Phoenix, and by the middle of the season all the 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.

Ferrari were championship contenders at the time, and at Ferrari he would be driving with French teammate 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 filled his childhood dream of driving for the Italian team.

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. Alesi's choice of Ferrari over Williams seemed the most logical at the time, but turned out to be very unfortunate. In 5 years at the Italian marque he 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. When Michael Schumacher joined Ferrari in 1996, Alesi and teammate Gerhard Berger swapped places with him, joining the champion Benetton team, who, again, were about to experience a lull in form. After 2 seasons and internal politics, Alesi left. In his final years in the sport, Alesi drove for midfield teams Sauber and Prost gaining the odd podium, often in the wet where he excelled. Alesi ended his open-wheel career in 2001 with Jordan, bookending his open-wheel career nicely: Alesi had been in the Jordan Formula 3000 team when he won his title there.

Alesi was often regarded as flamboyant and emotional, but after his spectacular performance at Phoenix in 1990, his career was notable more for its longevity than for its results. In 2001, he became only the fifth driver to start 200 Grand Prix races, yet from his 201 starts, he only gained one victory - an emotional triumph at the 1995 Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal, Quebec on his 31st birthday. Although he had inherited the lead when Michael Schumacher pitted with electrical problems, the victory was a popular one, particularly after several excellent but ultimately unrewarded drives the year before, namely in Italy.

[edit] Post-Formula One career

After Formula One, Alesi was a popular and successful driver in the DTM (German Touring Car Championship), where he and his Mercedes finished in fifth place in the 2002 championship 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 DTM after finishing the 2006 season in 9th place.

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.

[edit] DTM results

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

[edit] 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.

[edit] Complete Formula One results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Team	WDC	Points
1989	Tyrrell	BRA	SMR	MON	MEX	USA	CAN	FRA 4	GBR Ret	GER 10	HUN 9	BEL	ITA 5	POR	ESP 4	JPN Ret	AUS Ret		Tyrrell	9th	8
1990	Tyrrell	USA 2	BRA 7	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		Tyrrell	9th	13
1991	Ferrari	USA 12	BRA 6	SMR Ret	MON 3	CAN Ret	MEX Ret	FRA 4	GBR Ret	GER 3	HUN 5	BEL Ret	ITA Ret	POR 3	ESP 4	JPN Ret	AUS Ret		Ferrari	7th	21
1992	Ferrari	RSA Ret	MEX Ret	BRA 4	ESP 3	SMR Ret	MON Ret	CAN 3	FRA Ret	GBR Ret	GER 5	HUN Ret	BEL Ret	ITA Ret	POR Ret	JPN 5	AUS 4		Ferrari	7th	18
1993	Ferrari	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		Ferrari	6th	16
1994	Ferrari	BRA 3	PFC Inj	SMR Inj	MON 5	ESP 4	CAN 3	FRA Ret	GBR 2	GER Ret	HUN Ret	BEL Ret	ITA Ret	POR Ret	EUR 10	JPN 3	AUS 6		Ferrari	5th	24
1995	Ferrari	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	PFC 5	JPN Ret	AUS Ret	Ferrari	5th	42
1996	Benetton	AUS Ret	BRA 2	EUR 3	ARG 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		Benetton	4th	47
1997	Benetton	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	Benetton	4th	36
1998	Sauber	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		Sauber	11th	9
1999	Sauber	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	MYS 7	JPN 6		Sauber	16th	2
2000	Prost	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	MYS 11	Prost	-	0
2001	Prost	AUS 9	MYS 9	BRA 7	SMR 9	ESP 10	AUT 10	MON 6	CAN 5	EUR 15	FRA 12	GBR 11	GER 6	HUN 10	BEL 6	ITA 8	USA 7	JPN Ret	Jordan	15th	5

[edit] Trivia

• Alesi injured his back after the first race of the 1994 season (Brazil) and was replaced in the Pacific Grand Prix and the San Marino Grand Prix (round 3) by Nicola Larini.

• Following Alesi's first and only GP win in the 1995 Canadian Grand Prix, his Ferrari stalled as he waved to fans on the backstraight and he was given a lift back to the pits by Michael Schumacher.

• Alesi had a cameo role as himself in the Sylvester Stallone movie Driven.

[edit] External links

• Jean Alesi Official website

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