Delighted Alesi Blames Excitement for Error

A delighted Jean Alesi admitted after today's practice for the Hungarian Grand Prix the excitement of driving for the Jordan team made him push too hard in the morning session, which cost him going off the track and losing most of it.

The veteran Frenchman, making his debut with the Silverstone-based outfit after replacing German Heinz-Harald Frentzen, spun off the Hungaroring 17 minutes into the morning session and had to watch from the pits the remaining part. However, after a good recovery in the afternoon, Alesi was able to set a promising sixth fastest time, six places ahead of his new teammate Jarno Trulli.

The former Prost driver was delighted with his performance and claimed the excitement to drive for the Honda-powered team have made him push too hard.

"I had a very exciting morning," admitted Alesi. "I think I need to take some sleeping pills tonight because I was too excited to drive the car! I spun off after a few laps this morning and it cost me valuable learning time. I was pushing too hard considering the little I know about the car.

"It wasn't a very smart move because my emotion was a bit too high. Obviously, the day finished very well. This is my first time in the car and I don't know what is needed to make the necessary changes to improve the car.

"Despite my mistake this morning, everything went very, very well and I'm really happy. I'm really pleased and very happy to be in the team."