Stuck on Alesi's DTM switch
Seventies Grand Prix racer and sportscar ace Hans Stuck turned his hand to the German DTM series with great success, winning the title for Audi in 1990. Stuck, who continues to race a BMW in the American Le Mans Series, tells Autosport.com that he thinks retired Grand Prix hero Jean Alesi will make the grade in the DTM this year
"I would say that Alesi will be right there with the other guys when he starts racing in the series. We all know that he has the talent to go fast in anything he drives and I think he is an extremely adaptable driver, even more so than drivers like Michael or Ralf Schumacher."
"I would say that I would liken the difference to driving a Porsche Turbo and driving a Mercedes 500. A Formula 1 car is very stiff in its set up, much like a kart, and a touring car has much more roll which you need to make the tyres work properly so Jean will have to adapt to this. Michael Schumacher is very set in his ways and I think he would find it more difficult than Jean."
"Other formulae actually enhance your ability to drive a Formula 1 car well but I would actually say that the DTM cars that Jean will be driving are more difficult than Formula 1 because there are so many more variables, less downforce and much more to adjust. As Jean said himself, electronic driver aids are taking so much skill out of driving the cars these days, and this is not the case in DTM."
"Jean will have to watch out for drivers like Bernd Schneider [champion in 2000 and 2001] who have so much experience and racecraft in the series. The other guys are out there to beat him and he has quite a bit to learn. He is the kind of guy who can adapt quickly though and I think he would even be fast on a bicycle!"
"Absolutely. You reach a time in your career when you have to move on - you cannot stay in F1 forever and I think he has picked a good time to leave. He will also really enjoy it because he has the right attitude and racing is in his blood, so if you have this mentality you will always have fun. If he landed a drive for McLaren or Williams he would still win in F1 but he knew that the chances of this happening were slim."
"I think he will be the huge star that this series needs and everyone will love him. His appearance will also raise the standard because everyone will want to beat him. It was the same for me when I stopped racing in Formula 1 and I was one of the guys who everyone wanted to beat."
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