Cars Taking Over from Drivers' Skills, Says Alesi

Prost driver Jean Alesi fears increasingly sophisticated cars are making drivers' skills redundant in Formula One.

"What I'm really sad about is that there is a lot less space for the driver now," Alesi, at 36 the oldest Grand Prix driver, said in an interview in the British weekly Motoring News.

"We're often asked how much of the impact is the cars and how much the drivers. I don't want to say the driver is not important anymore, but it's very close.

"Sometimes I drive the car and I can't believe it. You cannot do anything. It's impossible. Because after one lap you understand your level and it's finished. That's it for the weekend. It was not like that in 1989."

Frenchman Alesi and his troubled Prost team failed to score a point in 17 races last season.

Formula One authorities are expected to sanction the return of traction control, currently banned, at a meeting next month after teams recently backed its reintroduction.

Traction control, an automatic system which reduces wheelspin and improves grip at race starts, was banned in 1993 because of fears that it was making cars easier to manage and penalising the more talented drivers.

Alesi said he did not think young drivers had as much fun now as they did when he started out because they had many more sponsorship commitments.

But he said top drivers were still getting through. "The best drivers still make it to Formula One and I don't see a worse level than in the past," he said.