Jean Alesi

Interesting facts

Jean Alesi was born in Avignon to Sicilian parents; his father ran a car repair garage. His fiery, aggressive driving style and his car number 27 drew constant comparisons to Gilles Villeneuve, and his brilliance in wet conditions made him a fan favourite. He holds the joint record for the most podium finishes before a first win - fifteen - before finally tasting victory. His sole win came on his 31st birthday, June 11, 1995, at the Canadian Grand Prix, after Schumacher retired with a mechanical failure; he entered Turn 1 in tears, barely able to see the racing line, before running out of fuel just after the finish. Despite competitive cars at Ferrari (1991-1995) he never won a championship, hampered by reliability issues and bad luck; his career is remembered in F1 lore as that of a hugely talented, passionate driver whose promise never translated into a title. Jean Alesi raced in Formula 1 from 1989 to 2001, across 13 seasons as a French driver. He scored a total of 241 championship points over his career.