Jean Alesi was born on Giovanni Alesi, 11 June 1964 and is a French professional racing driver of Italian origin.
81 Facts About Jean Alesi
2.
Jean Alesi competed in Formula One between 1989 and 2001, including spells at Tyrrell, Benetton, Sauber, Prost, Jordan and Ferrari, where he proved very popular among the Tifosi.
3.
Jean Alesi won the 1995 Canadian Grand Prix, but this proved to be the only win of his Formula One career.
4.
Jean Alesi progressed to open-wheel car racing in 1983, participating in French Renault 5 Turbo.
5.
Jean Alesi eventually won the International Formula 3000 championship with three race wins, edging out his title rival with the same amount of points, Erik Comas.
6.
Jean Alesi raced in the Speedcar Series in 2008 and 2009 and raced at Le Mans in 2010.
7.
Jean Alesi raced in the Indianapolis 500 in 2012 and became the oldest professional driver to perform the rookie test for admission to the competition.
8.
Jean Alesi became a Knight of the Legion of Honour in 2006.
9.
Jean Alesi was born in the southern French town of Avignon, Vaucluse, between Montpellier and Marseille to Sicilian parents.
10.
Jean Alesi's father ran an automotive bodywork repair garage in the town, where Alesi spent much of his formative years and developed a love of cars.
11.
Jean Alesi won the 1987 French Formula 3 title before moving up to International Formula 3000 in 1988.
12.
In 1989 Jean Alesi tied on points for the F3000 title with Comas, but won the title on number of wins, having scored three to Comas' two.
13.
Jean Alesi raced in the Le Mans 24 hours in the same year, but a fire forced him to retire in the fourth hour of the race.
14.
Jean Alesi debuted in the 1989 French Grand Prix at Paul Ricard in a Tyrrell-Ford and finished fourth, having run as high as second during the race.
15.
The results dropped away during the rest of the 1990 season, and Jean Alesi finished ninth in the championship, with 13 points.
16.
At both the original and restart, Jean Alesi passed the more powerful V12 Ferrari of reigning World Champion Alain Prost for 3rd place and within a lap would be harrying McLaren's Gerhard Berger for 2nd.
17.
Jean Alesi initially signed a contract with Williams for the 1991 season.
18.
However due to Williams delaying the announcement of his signature with the reasoning eventually given they were pursuing Ayrton Senna, Jean Alesi eventually grew tired of the constant delays, as a result he then opted instead to sign for Ferrari as the second driver alongside fellow countryman Alain Prost, and the Ferrari team had to pay Williams a fine of four million dollars.
19.
Jean Alesi had third-place finishes at Monaco, Germany and Portugal, and finished in the top six at Brazil, France, Hungary and Spain.
20.
Jean Alesi scored 21 points and finished seventh in the championship.
21.
Jean Alesi was partnered by Ivan Capelli in 1992, when the Ferrari F92A was even further from the pace than the 1991 Ferrari.
22.
Jean Alesi had no realistic hope of winning a race, and retired with engine failure in the first two races of the season, but he finished fourth in the third race of the season, behind the Williams drivers and Michael Schumacher.
23.
Jean Alesi finished third in the Spanish Grand Prix, after a strong wet-weather drive, in spite of making contact with Gerhard Berger and Mika Hakkinen during the race.
24.
Jean Alesi ran third at the San Marino Grand Prix, but retired following a collision with Gerhard Berger.
25.
The subsequent races brought a series of retirements, although Jean Alesi had a strong third-place finish at Canada and produced another outstanding wet-weather drive in France, producing lap times on slicks that were comparable to those of Nigel Mansell's Williams, before retiring with another engine failure.
26.
Jean Alesi finished in the points during the last two races of the season, leaving him seventh in the championship with 18 points.
27.
Jean Alesi was joined by Austrian Gerhard Berger in 1993 who was returning to Maranello after three seasons with McLaren.
28.
The Ferrari improved towards the end of the season, and Jean Alesi finished second at Monza and then led early in the race at Portugal, eventually finishing fourth.
29.
Jean Alesi returned with a fifth place in Monaco and finished a strong third in Canada, but almost lost the position at the end of the race due to a gearbox problem.
30.
Jean Alesi retired in the French Grand Prix due to a collision with Rubens Barrichello, but finished second in the British Grand Prix, thanks to the disqualification of Michael Schumacher, and was looking set for a strong result in the German Grand Prix, qualifying second behind team-mate Berger, but his engine failed on the first lap.
31.
The Ferrari improved further in 1995 and Jean Alesi achieved better results, although the pace of the Ferrari fell back during the second half of the season.
32.
Jean Alesi finished fifth at Brazil, followed by second places at Argentina and Imola.
33.
Jean Alesi retired from second place at the Spanish Grand Prix due to an engine failure, and at the Monaco Grand Prix, again while running second, Martin Brundle's Ligier spun in front of him, leaving him nowhere to go and causing him to crash.
34.
Jean Alesi was unaware that he was in the lead for some time, as the mechanics didn't have enough time to put out his new position.
35.
Jean Alesi realized what happened after he saw people getting up in the stands.
36.
Overwhelmed by emotions, when Jean Alesi was braking into Turn 1, he had tears in his eyes, making it difficult to drive in the right line.
37.
Jean Alesi's Ferrari ran out of fuel after crossing the finish line and so got a lift back to the pits off Michael Schumacher.
38.
Jean Alesi finished second at the British Grand Prix, but then suffered four consecutive retirements, and was devastated prior to the Hungarian Grand Prix when hearing that he had lost his Ferrari drive to Michael Schumacher.
39.
Jean Alesi retired from the lead four laps into the Belgian Grand Prix due to a suspension failure, and retired from the lead again at the Italian Grand Prix, seven laps from the end, due to a rear wheel problem.
40.
Jean Alesi had a heated argument with Jean Todt after the Portuguese Grand Prix due to refusing to obey team orders to defer to team-mate Gerhard Berger in spite of having more points in the championship.
41.
At the European Grand Prix Jean Alesi led for most of the race due to fast laps on slick tyres in damp conditions, but was passed by Michael Schumacher two laps from the end, hindered by low fuel and trouble progressing through lapped traffic.
42.
Jean Alesi finished fifth in the drivers' championship, with 42 points.
43.
Jean Alesi's season began with a collision with the Ferrari of Eddie Irvine, but two podiums followed.
44.
Jean Alesi then had five podium finishes, sandwiching a retirement at the British Grand Prix after having run in second place.
45.
At the start of the 1997 season, Jean Alesi was given an ultimatum from Flavio Briatore, warning him that 1997 would be his last chance to get good results.
46.
Jean Alesi's cause was 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 and was criticised by Briatore, who felt he had wasted a chance of a podium finish.
47.
Jean Alesi only scored three points in the following four races, but then had a strong run with some podiums, moving up into third place in the drivers' championship.
48.
However, there were further embarrassing incidents, such as 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 collision that saw Jean Alesi placed under investigation for dangerous driving after the race.
49.
Jean Alesi took pole position at the Italian Grand Prix which sent the fans into raptures despite the fact that he no longer drove for Ferrari and led early in the race but lost out to David Coulthard's McLaren due to a slow pit stop.
50.
Jean Alesi finished fourth in the championship with 36 points, thanks to the disqualification of Michael Schumacher at the end of the season.
51.
Jean Alesi's reputation was damaged during his spell at Benetton, having failed to win a Grand Prix despite having had a competitive car, and suffered by comparison with Schumacher at Ferrari.
52.
Jean Alesi moved on to the Swiss team Sauber, and was paired with Johnny Herbert and they went on to form the most experienced driver line-up for the 1998 season.
53.
Jean Alesi had a poor first race of the season in Melbourne, which ended in an engine failure, and a ninth place in Brazil, but he showed good form in the 1998 Grand Prix of Argentina, finishing fifth despite a pit stop problem early in the race.
54.
Jean Alesi finished sixth at Imola, but then was plagued by unreliability during the middle part of the season, despite often running in points-scoring positions, including a retirement from fourth place near the end of the Monaco Grand Prix, and being hit by Heinz-Harald Frentzen while running in sixth during the French Grand Prix, and a hydraulic failure forced him to retire after running fourth during the British Grand Prix.
55.
Jean Alesi achieved the last podium of his career at the rain-soaked Belgian Grand Prix, behind the Jordans of Damon Hill and Ralf Schumacher.
56.
Jean Alesi scored points at the Italian Grand Prix, and finished in eleventh place in the drivers' championship with nine points, comprehensively beating team-mate Johnny Herbert.
57.
Jean Alesi had several other retirements following some good qualifying performances including a front row position at the French Grand Prix, thanks to a wet qualifying session.
58.
Shortly before the Hungarian Grand Prix, Jean Alesi had an accident that caused bruises to his right leg and almost caused him to miss the race, but he did take part.
59.
Jean Alesi had another sixth place at the last race of the season, leaving him sixteenth in the championship with two points.
60.
Jean Alesi was hit by a billboard in qualifying for the Brazilian Grand Prix, resulting in an accident, but came out unscathed.
61.
Jean Alesi failed to score a single point during the season, for the first time in his career.
62.
Jean Alesi got into a points-scoring position at the wet Brazilian Grand Prix but his tyres went off and consequently he dropped to eighth place.
63.
Jean Alesi scored his first points since the 1999 season at the Monaco Grand Prix, with a sixth place, and then finished fifth at the Canadian Grand Prix.
64.
Jean Alesi joined the Prost team, and Alesi joined Jordan.
65.
Jean Alesi was fined and criticised by Prost, who had given him a two-year contract and did not want to lose his number one driver.
66.
Jean Alesi had driven for Jordan in Formula 3000 when he won the championship in 1989.
67.
Jean Alesi drove the remaining five races of 2001 for Jordan, scoring his last Formula one points in Belgium by finishing sixth.
68.
Jean Alesi made his 200th Formula One start in 2001 United States Grand Prix and finished his F1 career at the 2001 Japanese Grand Prix, where he retired after colliding with Kimi Raikkonen on lap 5.
69.
Jean Alesi repeated this in 2003 but this time scoring two victories.
70.
Jean Alesi retired from the DTM after finishing the 2006 season in 9th place.
71.
Jean Alesi was an active spokesman for the Direxiv team in their bid for entry to the 2008 Formula 1 series.
72.
Jean Alesi won two races and finished 4th in the championship.
73.
Jean Alesi finished fifth in the second and last season of Speedcar Series after taking two wins in 2009.
74.
On 13 October 2009, Jean 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.
75.
Early in 2010 it was announced that Jean 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.
76.
In September, Jean Alesi announced that he will attempt to qualify for the 2012 Indianapolis 500, in a car powered by a Lotus-badged engine.
77.
Jean Alesi's Lotus-powered car, along with that of fellow Lotus driver Simona de Silvestro, was so severely underpowered as to be unable to maintain sufficient pace in the race, and both were forced to park their cars after less than a dozen completed laps.
78.
On 18 December 2012, Jean Alesi unofficially announced his intention to quit racing when, in an interview with L'Equipe, he conceded that for next year he had given up on finding the sponsorship required for a second attempt.
79.
Jean Alesi's 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.
80.
Jean 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.
81.
In 2006, Jean Alesi was awarded Knight in France's Legion of Honour.