Enchanted 'GP Historique' in Monaco for Jean Alesi

Words and pictures: Roman Klemm

Grand Prix Historique de Monaco - so far this has not been a successful chapter in the career of Jean Alesi. This year, the former F1 driver wanted to make up for a lot - and again he did not succeed…

Do you remember the 'flu-like' GP de Monaco Historique in 2021? Jean Alesi was fighting for the win there with Marco Werner, until he missed a gear while accelerating out of the Variante Noghes, and the closely following Le Mans winner rammed him from behind. The 'evil German' was disqualified for it, even though Werner to this day swears that it was entirely the Frenchman's mistake. Unfortunately, Jean did not have the stature five years ago to go to the race control and set things straight… Werner is still furious about this matter to this day: 'Alesi was my great idol and I had his racing suit hanging on my wall at home. After this incident, however, I took it down. On a human level, he deeply disappointed me…'

This year, Alesi dared to participate in the 'Historique' again after 5 years - to be sure in a different class than the one in which he would have encountered Werner. The restorer Metuzalem Racing prepared a Ferrari 312 for him, which Chris Amon had raced in Monaco in 1969. From Alesi's perspective, the weekend started poorly with Friday's free practice: Following the example of Charles Leclerc (who destroyed a historic Ferrari here 4 years ago), he made himself the 'fool of the day' when he made a mistake on his fourth timed lap before the harbor chicane. He braked too aggressively on the right curb, which caused the car to spin, and Jean damaged the front of his car on the left guardrail...
Metuzalem Racing immediately took the car to the workshop and got it 'back on its wheels' overnight, so that Alesi could qualify sixth on Saturday, 3.2 seconds behind pole-setter Lyons his Surtees TS9.

So on Sunday, the predominantly Italian-French audience was supposed to get to see what they had come for: Alesi in the cockpit of the Ferrari 312. But it turned out differently… The unlucky fellow came from the paddock and 'only got as far as to me' - and I was standing at the beginning of the pit lane… There his engine went silent, and the mechanics of Metuzalemcould not get it to roar up again before the start. 

So, 'See you in 2028, Monseigneur Alesi?'

 Jean Al