Jean Alesi

Alesi was born in France to Sicilian parents. Like many of his contemporaries he began his career in karts but at the relatively late age of 17. He won two regional titles and moved on to the Renault 5 Cup in 1983 finishing 7th with 1 win. 1984 and '85 saw Alesi in Formula Renault finishing 10th and 5th respectively. In '86 he competed in the French F3 championship finishing 2nd in '86 and 1st in '87. The next two years were in F3000 with Oreca in 88, finishing 10th, and Eddie Jordan in '89 finishing 1st.

In addition to the F3000 championship, Alesi also made his F1 debut in '89 with Tyrrell. He finished 4th in his first GP (France) and went onto score a total of 8 points for 9th place from just 8 races. He was retained by Tyrrell for the 1990 season and finished in 9th place with 13 points. In 1991 Alesi was signed by Ferrari where he has remained for 5 seasons with rather disappointing results due no doubt to the unreliable and/or uncompetitive cars that Ferrari has put out in the last few years.

Between 1991 and 1994 Alesi has scored 13, 21, 18 and 16 points respectively placing him 7th, 7th, 6th and 5th in the championship. Ferrari was much improved in 95 and Alesi finished the season with 42 points placing him 5th in the championship. '95 also saw Alesi's first ever GP win in Canada. In an emotional finish, Alesi brought the #27 Ferrari across the line first before an adoring French-Canadian crowd in Montreal. Many thought that 96 would be a break-out year for Alesi with reigning champions Benetton, but a disappointing car, lack-lustre driving performances, some bad luck and a few instances of classic Alesi brain fade, meant no wins and only fourth place in the drivers championship.