Jean Alesi sliding through Monaco with Tyrrell

[HotttyXx]

He got an offer from williams to drive alongside mansell and maybe become a world champion, but he chose for ferrari instead.

[beetleman64]

I think the closest we have to Alesi now is Kamui Kobayashi. Like all fan favourites, he's flawed, but he always gives his best and is really, really exciting to watch as well.

[X8X8X8X8X8X8X8X8X8X]

@beetleman64

Yeah, he has a great natural car control, the wish to overtake everytime, I hope so much he´ll have better luck than Alesi (or many other drivers of this driving style like Peterson, Gilles Villeneuve, Mansell and Montoya) !!!

[MrGF95]

alesi a fait que des mauvais choix d'ecurie durant sa carriere, dommage il aurait du avoir un meilleur palmares s'il avait signé chez williams au lieu de ferrari a l'epoque

[starlionblue]

Such an unfairly underrated driver. I was overjoyed to see him finally win in Canada. He OWNED everyone in Monza the same year but the damn car had to blow up when a surefire win was in sight. I know he would have won that race too. Ironically, he damn near won Monaco the following year but the bad luck gods must really hate him: his Benetton's suspension failed several laps from victory as he was leading and had fastest lap of the race.

[racebends]

If there is anyone who got screwed with lowsy equipment it was Ivan Capelli at Ferrari. And how they treated him and blamed all the cars faults on him was chickenshit. I never liked them after that!

[eyelesskiller8]

damm vettel did that lap in 1:12. Thats a huge improvement over the years.

[McLarenMercedes]

@eyelesskiller8

Read way better grip from the tyres, better downforce , better brakes, bettter chassis and better suspension. In 20 years a lot of progress has been made in Formula 1, despite the fact that they used 3,5 litre engines back in 1990, and only 2,4 litre engines today.

[njcrox]

Raw car your seeing there. back in the day where there were no computers onboard.

[webberwins]

Alesi was a Fucking idiot that drove with too much anger.

Hence the sliding, hence the tyre degradation, hence the lack of Championships !

Might look like fun, but it's basically the slowest way to drive a F1 car.

Loved his passion, but he had no brains.

[lcville]

@webberwins You don't need to be offensive about him. He drove as fast as he could, I don't think that's idiotic. You do as best as you can with the equipment you've been given. Be it the car you drive or the arms you use to it.

[webberwins]

@lcville Fair call. But if he had EVER connected his BRAIN to the car, maybe his arms would have been a bit kinder with steering input etc ? If the bloke wasn't so hard on tyres and machinery he could have been a Legend !

[racebends]

@webberwins Alesi was a fucking idiot? wow I think someone needs a nap. You might have as much anger as him. I hear what you are saying tho, maby that is why Ferrarri wanted him at first.

[fueldragster]

At :43 you can see him sea-sawing the wheel left and right

[knightm27]

poetry to watch.

[balsingh1]

what a legend. they just dont drive like that nowadays!!

in my opinion, alesi was one of the all time f1 greats .... but 2 bad decsions meant he only ever won 1 race ... picking Ferrari over Williams just as the Williams came good and ferrari lost it ... and then leaving Ferrari just before they started to take over f1.

i can't imagine how many world titles would have been possible if he had picked Williams to begin and then moved to Ferrari afterwards!!

[AntonioF104]

great Jean GREAAAATT

[TheAlexMah]

@AntonioF104 e itt proprio buon antò..

[AntonioF104]

@TheAlexMah eheh

[Barnakos]

Alesi was also a master in rain conditions.... I was at the MTL grand prix when he scored his only victory, people were jumping from the stands onto the track, with cars still going by.... that was scary

[balsingh1]

@Barnakos i envy you my friend ... you were there during one of the most historic f1 moments!!!

[Scott03871]

This was when F1 was spectaculer!

[MrThreshold2009]

@Scott03871 Pffft. I was at Spa last year watching them all come through Eau Rouge. So F1 isn't spectacular anymore? You're missing out.

[r66chs]

Now this people.. is true F1... love to see the cars sliding! todays F1 has not enough power and too much mechanical grip

[staalhaan87]

Alesi is a master at correcting oversteer

[EmphaticItalic]

The Tyrell is number 4 of course!

[red5isalive2]

Jean and Mansell where the most spectacular to watch.

I hope in 2011 they'd run together in Le Mans !!!

[hammr25]

damn!

[jraybay]

wow the chassis is not the best but he is wheelin and dealin  :D

[hazzamfc22]

he still got it alsei grand prix masters shud come back a charity kart race once a year all current drivers plus ex race winners/world champions and have murry to commentate b amasing

[BorlandRIP7]

His best year in formula one..

[Montreal95]

@BorlandRIP7

I think 1995 was his best year but 1990 was also very good

[starlionblue]

@BorlandRIP7 I agree but I feel he did better at Benetton in '96 even though the damn car broke down when he was leading at Monaco. The Benetton didn't look like an easy car to drive - teammate Berger lost control of it and crashed when they were first introduced to it. Interestingly, Jean sometimes preferred a full steering wheel so he could keep his hands at the 2 and 10 o'clock positions while most of the others had those funny looking square "wheels".

[Pompyroftw]

Excellent car control, but the guy is more like a hobbyist and not a person who can lead and improve a car/team. If he would've developed more technical knowledge and strategy he could've grown into championship material.

[hazzamfc22]

alsei was the most unlucky driver ever in f1 other than nigel mansell fact if he had gone to willams in 1990 with mansell he would have been 93 world champion not prost and probly would have beaten schuy in 1994 as well

[DAH210774]

@hazzamfc22 Maybe... Could he lead a team and develop the car though?? He did have awful luck at Ferrari but then other drivers have shown you can make your own luck and convert cars that aren't competitive into winners. Jean was one of my favourites, and this kind of car control at Monaco is an exceptional example of his outstanding skill.. But when you slide you're overdriving the car and losing time..

[Montreal95]

@DAH210774

1)very few people showed the kind of skill you're talking about in changing team fortunes 3 to be exact: Stewart, Lauda, Shumacher and no one else of even the great champions.

2) when you slide you're overdriving yes, trying to overcome the shrotcomings of your car but NOT ALWAYS YOU LOSE TIME. for example the fastest way to take the old Rascasse was exactly the way Jean did. I saw his onboard lap from 95' and he did it exactly the same way! reason only he did so- it's very risky!

[jwdogfst]

I agree Montreal95. Alesi's overdriving may look like it costs time, but he's keeping his foot on the gas the entire time while he's correcting the car. All season he was about 1 - 1 1/2 seconds faster than his Tyrrell teammate, but he was 2 1/2 seconds faster at Monaco

Monaco is a real driver's track, which is why Alesi was able to be so competitive in an inferior car.

[starlionblue]

@jwdogfst 1.5 seconds faster?! Unbelievable! Remember, this is the same Frenchman who shocked Senna at the US GP with a Tyrrell-Cosworth and LED for 15-20 laps! Even Ken Tyrrell was shocked. This is like using a Yugo to beat a Corvette. Unfuckingbelievable. Jean Alesi is still one of the greatest of the underrated drivers F1 has ever seen.

[weallfollowmanutd]

mallamoozoo - I agree with all of your points, however I don't judge rally drivers as a second category. There have been many outstanding rally drivers in the past that would've shone in F1. Henri Toivonen was as good as the best F1 drivers.

[adicolour75]

not to mention makkinen

[mallamoozoo]

Unfortunately - despite his awesome car control 9as seen here) Alesi didnt have the brains to ever develop technique - he continued driving like this his whole career - whereas Senna, Prost and Schumacher,all became very clean.

Alesi was all about having fun not winning - fair enough for an amateur hobbyist but not acceptable when an F1 team spends millions on your car. He should have been a rally driver instead - he had the control for that but the complexity of F1 technique was beyond him

[lucianoestivill]

In regard to Monaco 90, I still remember the Villeneuve-style overtaking move on Prost, in lap 1, where Alesi managed to control de car absolutely on the limit...... and even sliding on cold tyres, went for a small gap and overtook Prost in a fantastic move, really superb......

But even when Alesi had a supreme car control, that's not enough for being consistently fast. I'd like to know the time He set on this lap and compare it with the rest of the car..........

[Montreal95]

sure. right. didnt develop technique. nothing to do surely with driving difficult cars that needed to be driven at 110 percent in order to be remotely fast. while driving the 92' Williams even Mansell can drive with precise technique like he's on rails. when Alesi won F3000 in 1989 he was driving very cleanly most of the time because he had a good car for the cathegory, he still had oversteery style that was his by nature but so had Schumi and Senna throughout their careers e.g. Senna 93-4

[Montreal95]

and btw rally requires far more brains than F1 because of the pace notes and is also more difficult to drive as well. imagine powersliding near a cliff wall at 150km/h. serious balls

[zabraoota]

true! However, F1 is more of accuracy and quick reflexes. u do have to memorise corners and what gear to take that corner initially, but then u know them instictively u don't have to think about it. there is no overtaking in rallying though n that what F1 greatest ADv. over rallying.

[mallamoozoo]

This is actually over-driving - however it's still immensely skilful and requires top-level car control - its just that he didn't know anything about technique, which is common in young drivers. But its always better to start out like this because it means at least the young driver has car control and later can develop the technique that together makes a FAST driver. If a driver has no car control and drives way under the limit - then he wont be fast even when he develops proper technique.

[lucianoestivill]

Maybe the time He got on the practise was on top for some time, OK, but if your only way to drive fast on a race is like this (sliding, destroying tyres and brakes, overcompsumtion of fuel, mechanical stress, etc.), that skill finally ends..... in nothing relevant..... A pity: a talent that was really wasted....

[swistral1]

Yep. And to add salt to the wound he could not manage to win with Benneton, but Schumacher could win 9 races with them in 95 and 3 races with Ferrari in 96. All they did was swap teams. Now Alesi and Schumacher were not on the same level, but just ONE win. He continually got out classed by everyone...... except on a wet surface.

[Montreal95]

your point being? benetton wasnt the same in 96' as it was in 95. still he got 8 podiums and outqualified Berger 12-4 and scored more than twice his points. ferrari won only 2 races more in 96'(Schumacher) than 95'(Alesi)- consistent upward curve in performance of the car. what all that has to do with Alesi? outclassed by everyone? whom? you have problems with facts as some others here as well.

[lcville]

Only Prost on 91 and Berger on 94 did "outclassed" Alesi by means of POINTS scored. Alesi was even on qual with berger and was less than 0.5 secs slower than Prost on most circuits. Final results don't always show who was better.

[starlionblue]

@swistral1 Agreed. Alesi seemed to be the only one who could fight Schumacher in the rain. He did pretty well at Spain in '96 by finishing second (Schumi won and Hill crashed!).

[AlejjSi]

@starlionblue Actually in the FIA 1995 review Alesi is called to be the rainmaster (mostly for his drive at European and Japanese GP) and Schumacher was marked as the only one to be able to compete

[weallfollowmanutd]

Looking at the stats, it was actually embarrasing how close in time Naka was to Alesi, when you compare how he performed against Senna. I admit, I jumped the gun on how Nakajima qualified, but 1987 was the turbo era, so its understandable him qualifying further up the grid, but the time gap to Senna was in a different planet.

[Montreal95]

your argument on the turbo era works both ways: if you look at the stats from 87' season ALL gaps there are bigger, as because of the way the turbo works all mistakes are magnified. and 1 more thing: 87' we're talking Senna F1's all tiume gretest qualifier, who has sometimes beaten Prost by more than a second in the same car with 3 full seasons behind him against a rookie Naka. in 90' its Naka after 3 seasons behind him while Alesi has done only 8 races.

[weallfollowmanutd]

1990 qualifying stats -

USA - Naka 11th - 0.7 slower than Alesi

Brazil - Naka 19th - 1.7 slower than Alesi

San Marino - Naka 19th - 2.3 slower.

[weallfollowmanutd]

1987 qualifying stats -

Brazil - Naka 12th - 3.9 secs slower than Senna

San Marino - Naka 12th - 3.8 secs slower than Senna

Belgium - Naka 15th - 5.2 secs slower

[mallamoozoo]

FARK! Thats HUGE!

Even allowing for the fact Senna was the all time fastest driver - one has to say that Nakajima wasn't a driver at all.

[weallfollowmanutd]

Senna was around 1 second faster than Alesi was, in every qualifying session to Nakajima.

[weallfollowmanutd]

Oh yeah, and who finished in 6th place at Monza with the same car, no other than Nakajima for gods sake! - NakaJima usually qualified midfield in a Tyrrell which spoke wonders of the car! - And he was hopeless! - far closer to Jean Alesi than he was to Senna. Nakajima even in a very good Lotus couldnt do better most of the time than 18th-20th on the grid!

[Montreal95]

why aren't you checking the facts first before posting this crap? there are plenty of websites where u can get them. Nakajima qualified only twice all season in 18th place in 1987. only once he was lower coz of changing weather. mostly in 1987 he qualified midfield 12-16. inMonza 1987 he qualified 14th, the same as 1990. Senna was 4th, just 1 place higher than Alesi in 1990. compare all races from 87' to 90' and you'll see that Alesi beaten Naka by comparable margin to Senna, just slightly less.

[weallfollowmanutd]

Montreal95 - Yes that Tyrrell of 90' was one of the best chassis, a lot of the time the best. It was at power tracks where the car couldnt shine at times. At circuits like Monaco and Phoenix where the very slow speed and the nimbleness needed from the chassis is where that car shone.

[Montreal95]

Monaco was the only place where the chassis was really competitive(at phoenix, if you forgot, they still used last year's unchanged chassis!) but still not the best as Mclaren and Ferrari were better. Alesi's driving however made it competitive at all places really, where is shouldn't have been. at power tracks of imola and monza of all places he qualified 7th and 5th, and was running 5th and 3rd respectively at end of lap 1. at interlagos, with the 89' chassis still qualy 7th as well etc. etc.

[weallfollowmanutd]

I agree. He was by far no Nuvolari. He did at times have great cars also. I personally thought he overdriven the car too much. It was never a case of putting a car where it shouldnt be on the grid. That Tyrrell of 1990 had the best chassis period.

[Montreal95]

didn't have great cars. overdriven at times cause his cars were so bad, had to give 110% to get any result out of them. never a case of putting the car where it shouidn't be? didn't do your homework properly it seems. Tyrrell best chassis of 1990? you're quite funny. its chassis was by far better than its engine but the best?? No expert at the time thought its the best, by far, and no one still does, apart from you. maybe you know some things no one else does? if so, share them please.

[giugiu13]

He is a driver like F1 needs..

[roverlux]

@giugiu13

He was terrific, even John Watson was impressed. What a pity he wasted so many years driving a little red van

[2zorro3]

never thought Alesi would live long enough to see a chequered flag never mind grow vines and fine wine!!!

Merci Jean pour tout

[eraserblueblazer]

things could have been so different for him if he went to williams instead of ferrari. amazing driving

[Escosia08]

Very very fast.

But not the smartest driver ever seen.

[Torres2276]

Alesi is a good driver....

[ashacrasha]

Un. Be. Liev. Able.

Alesi was the modern Nuvolari...so unlucky in his career though...but gave Ferrari something to smile about through some of their worst years!

[McLarenMercedes]

Alesi had great talent no doubt. But he was kind of moody.

A modern Nuvolari? I think not. Nuvolari's win in Nurburgring 1935 in an underpowered ancient Alfa, versus Rosemeyer, Caracciola in Mercedes and Auto Union cars which were superior in every aspect is the miracle win of the 20'th century.

[ashacrasha]

Actually, I very much agree there :P Well stated!

I remember hearing stories my grandpa told me, about Nuvolari; apparently my great grandpa worked for Auto Union's team in their glory days. Interesting stuff.

[rich1701]

Alesi was so fast, faster than Prost IMO. He was just not good at giving feedback and working with his engineers on setup.

[mollup64]

John watson aint the best commentator... Murray walker all the way!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[YouaresoCrap]

80s 90s f1 still the best

[callum122]

Love seeing the sparks coming from the front wing! Thats how it should be!!

[Michaelingolfhansen]

Wasent the 1990 Tyrrell the first with the "High nose", thereby setting a standard which others would follow?!

I believe it allowed better airflow underneath the car = more downforce!

Jean Alesi was an underrated driver...very unlucky!

[watanabehefuml]

yup.. i remember when they launched the tyrell it looked quite cool. bennetton followed with the 'shark nose' a few seasons later.

[06kohlert]

makes you wonder why with the new regulations they dont use this Anhedral design rather than having the obstructive central section

[mickeynismocat]

omg that is great footage of a great driver doing his best!

[gustavozanfra]

That's the good old Jean Alesi. Great video.

[YouaresoCrap]

my god... what a natural talent

[groomercab]

He may have been french/scicilian but i didnt care,he was always exciting and gave 110%.form 1 was great back then.

[Dropspine]

when his hero is GILLES i wouldn"t expect anything less

[dantofoz11]

This is awesome. You dont see them squirming around like that anymore. Damn shame. Jean Alesi is one the all time underachievers. Had the skills to match anyone, but to his undoing, his heart belonged to Ferrari.

[22j77]

@dantofoz11 You can't see it because the technology won't allow it today. The mechanical grip is on a different level now. Which is sad.

[sinnae404]

I remember seeing this footage! At the time, it seemed like Alesi had the world at his feet. If only he'd chosen Williams and not Ferrari. I still can't believe he won only one race. But think of Spa '91, Monza '94, Monza '95, Europe '95, Monaco '96...so many unlucky races.

[tonton6969]

so truem sinnae404

[flipeg50]

hell, he did slid at like 10 inches from the fence

this is what you call skills

[jbradbury2]

those were the days! :)

[iestyn16]

too right john! wow, first time i've seen this video.. amazing!

[dadonga26]

This was in 1990 because Alesi was running for Ferrari in 1991

[gallardogt]

Thanks, I changed it.

[kfs025]

GO JEAN GO! that was inspired i remember that first time round,what a driver!