Jean Alesi's breakout year

Breakout years, the kind that define a top-level driver's career and can shake up an entire generation, come along only rarely. Last year Daniel Ricciardo had that kind of season. But a quarter of a century ago, with legendary talent spotters Eddie Jordan and Ken Tyrrell behind him, Jean Alesi became the hottest prospect on the grand prix grid.

But does it really feel like a quarter of a century ago to Alesi? "I can believe it was 25 years ago, because today my kid is racing and I am the one who is doing all the watching!" he laughs today. "But when you have a chance, you just have to take it. In 1989 I had the chance, in F3000 and then in F1, and I just said to myself, 'Go for it'."

And this is how.

LAST NIGHT AN EJ SAVED MY LIFE

Alesi rebounded after a difficult 1988 season - thanks to Eddie Jordan © LAT

Alesi's amazing 1989 story really began in Macau at the end of '88. He was trying to salvage his career after a woeful FIA Formula 3000 debut season with ORECA, where he scored one podium (in Pau).

The season ended with a dispute between him and his miffed race engineer (who suggested that whoever worked with Alesi in future would require a psychology degree - in AUTOSPORT's letters pages!).

Alesi, who had pulverised the French Formula 3 opposition with ORECA in 1987, says of '88: "It was a very bad moment for me. And Macau was going very well until I got a puncture. I was so upset, because I was leading the race and ended up finishing 11th on three wheels.

"Fortunately, Eddie Jordan was there and was pretty impressed with what I had done, so he went to my brother [Jose, who was also Jean's manager] and asked if I was free for next year. We made the deal, and basically he saved my life."

F3000 CHAMPION

Title-winning campaign was built on drives like Birmingham victory © LAT

The history books tell us that Alesi tied on points for the 1989 FIA F3000 title with Erik Comas. In reality, it was only because of Comas's win in the season finale at Dijon that he equalled the tally of the absent Alesi, who was contesting the Japanese Grand Prix at the time and whose three victories for Eddie Jordan Racing meant he couldn't be surpassed.

"But, you know, I don't care," he says of the outcome. "I achieved the championship and I did it for Eddie as well as myself. For one of the two races Comas won, I wasn't even there."

His season didn't begin in Europe, but in Japan. Loaned out to Team Kygnus Konen for the opening rounds of the All-Japan F3000 series, but running on uncompetitive Yokohama rubber, it was here that he began to form a great relationship with race engineer Paul Crosby, the sort he had so lacked the year before.

"Paul was a big part of that success, he was very close to me and really understood me and the way I was driving the car," he says. "Even though we were uncompetitive on those tyres, it was our first experience of working together and we built our relationship straight away.

"It definitely helped for why we were so quick straight away in Europe."

And what a European season it was: three race wins, two on the streets in Pau and Birmingham, and one on the fast, flowing sweeps of Spa-Francorchamps.

"I always drove on instinct, rather than making lots of laps to learn tracks, and I had a passion for what I did - I loved racing, I could be quick everywhere.

"Being behind the steering wheel was what I was living for, whether it was Spa, Silverstone, Monza - wherever. I was getting so much feedback from this car, so whenever I produced my best, I was quick."

THE BIG F1 BREAK

Alesi was a last-minute signing to race for Tyrrell at Paul Ricard © LAT

In a scenario that's unlikely to happen today, Alesi made his F1 debut at the drop of a hat - or, at least, after an argument about cigarette sponsorship.

Erstwhile incumbent Michele Alboreto fell out with Ken Tyrrell on the eve of the French Grand Prix because his personal Marlboro sponsorship clashed with Uncle Ken's new Camel deal.

Despite an excellent third place in Mexico earlier that season, proving the Tyrrell 018's huge potential, Alboreto walked out.

Having already placed Martin Donnelly with Arrows for this race, replacing the injured Derek Warwick, Jordan was required to turn F1 super-sub wheeler-dealer again...

"It was certainly not planned, put it that way," says Alesi. "I was testing the 3000 car at Monza. There were no mobile phones in those days, and I got a message from Eddie: 'Hurry up, you need to be at the Tyrrell factory today.'

"I called him and said, 'Eddie, are you joking? Physically I have no time to get there.' He said, 'Do anything, just get there!' So I jumped in my road car and drove from Monza to Avignon. I picked up my brother and the next day, the Wednesday, we were in the Tyrrell factory, signing the deal."

That led to his first embarrassing moment, when Tyrrell technical aces Jean-Claude Migeot and Harvey Postlethwaite didn't quite know who this chap was chatting to the mechanics on the factory floor: "Harvey said, 'Might you be Jean Alesi?' And when I said yes, he said, 'Well, we'd better get you comfortable then.' They were so nice, I felt at home straight away."

So the one-off race contract was signed with Tyrrell (with Jordan present) that day, and just 24 hours later Alesi would be making his F1 race-weekend debut, having never sat in an F1 car before making his seat.

He was "too shy" to ask for any alterations from Alboreto's set-up, but there were more embarrassments to come...

"Eddie was as crazy then as he is now, you know? He was telling Ken so many things: 'He's going to be quick, he's going to be right at the front...' and, for me, I was saying, 'Eddie, you have to shut up, it's embarrassing, after all this is Ken Tyrrell you are talking to here!' Remember, Ken was very popular in France, because of his long Elf links. I knew exactly how important he was.

"Then on the race weekend Eddie bet with Ken that I would finish higher than my team-mate, Jonathan Palmer. Again, that was embarrassing - Eddie did it right in front of Jonathan."

So the man whose helmet is a tribute to Elio de Angelis would make his F1 debut at the circuit that claimed his childhood hero's life.

Late deal did not throw Alesi off his stride - it did the opposite © LAT

His first task was a series of short, five-lap runs to learn the car. But when he did a 10-lap run, he realised Alboreto's seat gave him severe back pains, which led to adjustments that made him feel "perfect" for his grand prix debut.

Before qualifying, Migeot warned Alesi to beware that some drivers won't qualify for the race, and that if he was one of them, not to worry about his future chances with the team.

"I said, 'Jean-Claude, we don't know each other very well, but I will show you what I am able to do'," he remembers. "So I went out on the afternoon and set the seventh-fastest lap, and everybody was really happy."

Traffic in Saturday's second qualifying demoted him to 16th for his first F1 start, but it kept him out of the firing line for the huge crash at the first corner, where Mauricio Gugelmin famously flew through the air, causing chaos and a red flag.

Was Alesi worried? "I wasn't shocked at all. In F3000 it happened all the time! A restart was nothing for me, I was more surprised when nothing happened at the restart." After a small repair was made to a steering-wheel bracket, which had been damaged in his evasive action through the debris field, Alesi made one of the most dramatic F1 debuts of all time.

"The car was fantastic, the balance was perfect," he says of the race. "I concentrated lap by lap, not making any mistakes, and I was very careful to use the tyres in the best way possible. Everybody else seemed to struggle with the wear of the tyre, but mine were very good.

"I ran a long first stint, that was why I was able to run second to Alain Prost's McLaren. Everything went well, and I finished P4 in my first grand prix with zero testing. The way it all happened was great.

"It was also my first ever pitstop - it was difficult with no speed limit, so the braking point, while aiming at the mechanics, was interesting."

Suddenly Alesi went from an unknown, who'd walked into the paddock quite unrecognised on Thursday, to a national hero and future F1 star: "The garage was full of journalists when I got back, so many people, and I understood at this moment that I had arrived in motorsport. I enjoyed the moment."

FINISHING THE SEASON IN STYLE

Alesi finished the season with Tyrrell and bagged points at Monza © LAT

Alesi couldn't celebrate too much because the British Grand Prix was only seven days away. There was also another small hitch...

"I had no contract and Eddie was, er, pushing for one!" he chuckles. "It was so funny to watch him, and it was great for me because he got me a contract with Ken to finish the championship and a full season for the following year."

His British Grand Prix ended with a crash trying to take Club Corner flat-out while lining up Philippe Alliot for a pass, but points finishes followed at Monza and Jerez.

"The car was amazing, technically the best of the year, but obviously the [Cosworth V8] engine's power was poor," says Alesi. "I always felt we could finish in the top six wherever we went.

"The balance was great for the tyre, much better than the V10s and V12s which had to run much more fuel. So, even at Monza, being economical was as quick as being able to do fast laptimes."

He finished ninth in the points in 1989, despite starting only eight races, and missing the Belgian and Portuguese GPs to finish his F3000 campaign.

"I told Eddie: 'Thank you so much for everything you've done for me, now I'm in F1 so thank you.' He said, 'No, no, no. You need to finish the 3000 championship and you have to win. Otherwise, you'll never race in F1'.

"I argued, 'But I'm at Tyrrell now, I don't care about F3000.' But he wouldn't let me, so I had to finish my job with him."

TOUGH TIME AT LE MANS IN A PORSCHE

Porsche at Le Mans didn't give Alesi the thrill or experience he'd hoped for © LAT

As if an FIA F3000 campaign (plus selected All-Japan F3000 races) and eight grands prix weren't enough, Alesi also contested his first Le Mans 24 Hours and a round of the IMSA GT series in the US in 1989.

Alesi drove a Team Schuppan-run Porsche 962 at Le Mans, sharing with British ace Will Hoy and IndyCar racer Dominic Dobson.

"It was not a good memory," he says. "This car on the long straights, with such high speed, was very difficult to control. I never got any good feeling with the car; I got so little feedback."

Alesi's car would retire dramatically with a turbo fire on Saturday evening with Dobson at the wheel: "All the Porsches had this defect, and caught fire one by one."

A machine Alesi preferred was the Ferrari France-entered F40 he drove in IMSA at Laguna Seca. He led for six laps against the all-conquering Audis of Hurley Haywood and Hans Joachim Stuck. But tyre trouble hampered his efforts in the three-litre, twin-turbo machine in the one-hour race.

"I loved driving it; it was all wheelspin and oversteer - just my style!"

HOW ALESI SIGNED FOR WILLIAMS - BUT NEVER DROVE ONE

Alesi's '90 efforts with Tyrrell almost bagged him a Williams drive © LAT

It will be one of grand prix racing's great unknowns. Had Williams confirmed Jean Alesi as its driver for 1991, instead of him joining Alain Prost at Ferrari, might he have become world champion in '92 instead of Nigel Mansell?

"Williams was going up, getting stronger at exactly the same time that I was," he says. "I so wanted to drive for them, to keep learning the job. In my head, everything was set: I had 1990 at Tyrrell and then I was a Williams driver from '91. I had no pressure in my mind, it was all perfect.

"I signed the contract with Williams for three years. The announcement was supposed to come at Paul Ricard, in July [1990]. And after this, if the announcement was not made, it reverted to being an option until September.

"Williams didn't do the announcement there, so I pushed them for Silverstone because Ferrari was by now pushing very hard for me. I said to Frank, 'If you don't announce my drive at Silverstone then I will sign for Ferrari.'

"Frank wanted to wait, to see if he could get [Ayrton] Senna. We talked together with Frank, and it's a long story, but everything would have been perfect if I'd driven for him. It's easy now to say what might have happened..."