Alesi: Trulli can be Grand Prix great

Speaking at the AUTOSPORT International Show at the Birmingham NEC today (Friday), Alesi says Trulli has all the attributes to join F1's elite.

"I was very impressed with my time alongside Jarno Trulli," he said. "He's very quick, he has very good fitness levels. I'm sure he's going to become one of the new stars of Grand Prix racing. He's going to the top, for sure."

Alesi also reminisced about his team-mates of the past, and cited Gerhard Berger as his favourite F1 partner of all-time.

"We enjoyed our time together at Ferrari and Benetton and have a lot of great stories," he said. "I would say he was the best team-mate I ever had. He's eight years older than me, and he has now got a dream job [as BMW's motorsport director] for a retired driver. He's doing a great job there, too."

Alesi, who won his only Grand Prix for Ferrari in Canada in 1995, surprisingly revealed he doesn't want the Prancing Horse to win the world title again in 2002.

"I hope McLaren can beat Ferrari, because it's better for the fans if there are different winners. David Coulthard is in better shape than ever, and showed what he could do last year with his pole position lap at Monaco," he added.