Alesi Hopes to Go Out as He Started

Jean Alesi intends to finish his Formula One career at the Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday showing the same spirit and passion he demonstrated when he started.

"I will try, because I am not young any more, but I will try to drive in the last race as I was driving in '89," the 37-year-old Frenchman said on Thursday. He told a news conference in Tokyo on Wednesday that he was calling it a day after his 201st race after being replaced at Jordan in 2002 by Japan's Takuma Sato.

"Formula One is obviously changing slowly and you need to accept it, especially when you love the sport," Alesi told another news conference at Suzuka. "After 200 races, it's not difficult to understand how our sport changes and I understand it is time for me to stop.

"Sometimes it's not a question of ability but in this business you can't wait until the moment when you can't drive anymore because you really look ridiculous. So I will enjoy my race from tomorrow to Sunday."

Alesi made his Formula One debut at Tyrrell in 1989 when Eddie Jordan persuaded the team boss to take him on as a one-race replacement for Italian Michele Alboreto. The young driver made an instant impression, qualifying 16th and finishing fourth.

Alesi said he did not know what he would do after Sunday but he was "talking seriously" with Eddie Jordan about a future role with him as the Irishman attempts to restructure his team. He said he knew he risked losing his seat when he joined Jordan from Prost in August but took the chance because it offered him an opportunity "to finish in the best way possible and actually that's what's happened."

"It's time to stop," said the Frenchman. "After 200 Grands Prix you need to give the place to the young drivers. When you love something you never think about stopping. But we have to be realistic. There is a start, there is an end.

"Sunday night is going to be the end of my Formula One life as a driver, as a fighter."

Alesi said he would not content just to stay at home with his Japanese wife and children and was not excluding anything with wheels and a steering wheel.

Sicilian Passion

"I have so many things to say," added the Frenchman, whose Sicilian parentage and five years at Ferrari endeared him to a generation of Italian fans. "It's very difficult to explain everything in such a short time. In one sentence I would like to say that I have loved everything, the people who I work with in the good and bad moments."

Alesi described signing for Ferrari in 1990 as the high point of his career and the deaths of Brazilian Ayrton Senna and Austrian Roland Ratzenberger at Imola in 1994 as the lowest ebb. The move to Ferrari brought just one win in Canada in 1995 and he turned down Williams to take the drive just as that team was embarking on a period of dominance.

But like a famous compatriot, he had no regrets.

"When I started in Formula One, I wasn't thinking about it as a plan," he said. "It's like a game. When I signed for Ferrari, Ferrari was going to win the World Championship. It's like when you go to Lotto, you have the numbers, you play and when the numbers are out maybe you think it's a shame I didn't put the right numbers.

"I did it with a true belief and tried my best with what I had," he said.