Jean Alesi's career if he joined Williams

crazydude1992 · #1

In 1991,Jean Alesi,who amazed many in Tyrrell,had been asked by 2 teams to sign him up in 1991.Ferrari and Williams.Ferrari was the team Alesi's heart wanted,as his childhood idol Gilles Villeneuve raced there.But Williams were a team rising to dominate F1 in the early and mid 90's.Now we all know if Jean moved to Williams,he would have certaintly had better achievements than he has,but how much we talkin'?How many wins?A possibilty for a title?How would have Jean's career turned out if he joined Williams in 1991?

#2

To be honest, I think he would have crashed away his chances. He was a huge talent, but he didn't really mature until he joined Benetton in 1996.

crazydude1992 · #3

I think myself he was better until 96.He was faster,after 96 he started to drive kind of blank,not showing anything as spectacular as 90pheonix,or 93estoril,or 95suzuka

#4

crazydude1992 wrote:I think myself he was better until 96.He was faster,after 96 he started to drive kind of blank,not showing anything as spectacular as 90pheonix,or 93estoril,or 95suzuka

In '96 and '97 he was very consistent, for some reason. Racked up lots of podium places those years. But I don't think he ever lost his touch when he still was in F1. He did some sterling drives even for Prost and Jordan in 2001. It wasn't until his DTM days when he was noticeably frustrated over the teamorders when you could see that he had lost some of his driving skill, but none of his crashing habits.

Anyway, Jean Alesi remains the driver from the 90's that I miss the most in racing.

crazydude1992 · #5

Me too,modern f1's Gilles Villeneuve...

futuretiger9 · #6

If Alesi had joined Williams for '91, presumably he would have partnered Patrese, as Mansell signed fairly late in the day, after threatening to retire.

It is one of the great "what might have been" scenarios in racing. Surely he would have at least won 8-10 GPs at Williams, if you consider that they had the fastest car from mid-1991 to early 1994.

ReneLotus · #7

Sir Frank would probably have kicked him out of the team in '93 to make way for tester Hill and The Professor. After that came Senna, who unfortunately only drove a few races for the team. He might have had a chance to be called back, instead of 'spin-happy' DC. But I don't think Jean had the talent to challenge for a title. He was a driver in the Montoya mould: quick, but inconsistent and prone to the occasional lapse in concentration if things weren't going his way.

#8

It would certainly have changed the face of F1 in the 1990s. It's very difficult to imagine how good (or not so good) Alesi could have been.

futuretiger9 · #9

I wonder how Alesi's temperament would have been suited to the ethos at Williams, as promoted by Frank and Patrick. Some, like Jones and Rosberg, thrived in that environment. Jean, a complex individual, might have struggled.

#10

Nigel Roebuck was asked on Autosport.com to rate Alesi. He mentioned that he only had 1 win from 201 starts, but that the stats don't say anything as Jean was a truly great driver.

After all, he actually led 19 Grand Prix, but bad luck always seemed to cause him to finish 2nd, 3rd, 4th, or retirement. All of his retirements from the lead were due to mechanical failures. Going by the lap charts, he could have won at least 8 of those races. He led over 50 laps of the 1995 European GP, until his tyres went off and Schumacher got past him. He was also destined to win the 1996 Monaco GP until his suspension broke.

crazydude1992 · #11

Dont forget 91 Belgium,90 US,93 Portugal,94 Italy,95 Japan,and a few others

futuretiger9 · #12

Monza '94 was possibly the most disappointing. The car failed whilst Jean was making a pitstop.

jpalesi · #13

Ferrari was the choice from the heart, but in 1990, Ferrari was fighting for the title, and Williams, only for 3rd with Benetton...

And who could imagine that Ferrari who was fighting for the title, would build some crap cars for the next years, and Williams would be the team to beat ?

But I agree, I don't think he could become champion. Like Montoya, he could have been close to the title for a year, but not much more.

futuretiger9 · #14

jpalesi wrote:Ferrari was the choice from the heart, but in 1990, Ferrari was fighting for the title, and Williams, only for 3rd with Benetton...

And who could imagine that Ferrari who was fighting for the title, would build some crap cars for the next years, and Williams would be the team to beat ?

But I agree, I don't think he could become champion. Like Montoya, he could have been close to the title for a year, but not much more.

Those are very good points. When Jean made his decision (mid-1990?), the logical decision would have been to join Ferrari, as they were the pace-setters along with McLaren. At the time, Williams were slightly lacklustre by comparison.

xavier28 · #15

i have just watched the 1991 season full race coverage.
and it seems that prost out drove him almost everywhere