Alesi earns 'best present' for 10th anniversary
Jean Alesi celebrated his 10th anniversary with his best-ever grid position for a French Grand Prix and said it was the best present he could have been handed
The Frenchman, like poleholder Rubens Barrichello, picked the ideal time to be out on a wet circuit and set the second fastest time of the day.
He made his debut at the previous French Grand Prix venue, Paul Ricard, in 1989 with Tyrrell.
'I feel extremely happy,' said Alesi. 'It is the biggest present I can get.'
The Frenchman, who crashed heavily yesterday, has been underfire for his wild driving style and even admitted he felt out of place among modern drivers when the technical side of car set up is taking over from pure driving talent.
'I am looking forward to having a party with team - especially after my accident yesterday because they worked all night to rebuild the car.
'I hope we can improve the car's reliability for the race and reach the finish. I am confident for tomorrow.'
Be part of the Autosport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
Friday favourite: The long-standing F1 team-mates who crashed Todt's car
Ranking the top 10 Benetton F1 drivers
F1 driver mid-season swaps - Schumacher, De Vries, Verstappen and more
How real-time scrutineering ensures fair and consistent competition in motorsport
How MotoGP brakes work: Secrets of stopping a 220mph bike
Hyundai enacts contingency plan after WRC Kenya fuel issue
Vanwall working on 2025 WEC comeback with heavily-revised Hypercar
Why F1 2026 worst case fears could be key to new rules success
How the F1 driver market situation sits for each team with 2025 openings
What's been going wrong for Leclerc in F1's tiny margins qualifying game
What the Chinese GP's highlights reveal about its first F1 race for five years
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments