INDIANAPOLIS Lotus confirmed Tuesday that it will back former Formula One driver Jean Alesi in his attempt to race in the Indianapolis 500. Wow!
Too bad the Lotus engines are garbage and he doesn't stand a chance. Interesting, though. I always liked Alesi.
well, in all fairness, Schumacher was obviously the best driver to sit in a Ferrari...but i'm an unabashed Alesi myself...it's was a shame that the car let him down so many times. i loved watching Alesi in a Ferrari...never felt quite the same about it since...
He could have come close to winning the WDC in 95 if his car didn't break so many times. He definitely deserved more then 1 win, IMO.
You understand me perfectly....perhaps shumy was bet...but it was not the same, to see Alesi W.C would have been 10 times greater than to see Shummi....not that i deslike the german but, Alesi had a different heart...he was a bit like Gilles.
I have been a big Lotus fan since seeing Jimmy & Graham race Lotus 49s at Silverstone (1967), but their engine is way underdeveloped. Combine that with JA's 10 or so years of rust and ZERO experience on ovals, and we have the worst racing move in years ... maybe a decade. Hope I'm wrong.
Alesi's entry at Indy is confounding given the learning curve Barrichello is on, months removed from F-1. Alesi is a generation and a half removed from F-1 doing one-offs in sports cars and ROC events, jumping into an Indy car with no real world testing and an inexperienced team with Lotus engine on Indy Car's biggest stage isn't a recipe for success. As Mario Andretti says, "This place can bite you, then it can bite you again". As good as Alesi was, if he emerges through qualifying and finishes the race, it may be considered a minor miracle. BHW
Awesome PR stunt with the watch manufacturer he still has personal contracts with. Sounds like a success!
I think that you are spot on. I am a huge Alesi fan but coming to Indy as a rookie with a marginal team is not a recipe for success. It's not like he is going to be driving at Penske with Rick Mears as a coach. I pray that he competes without incident. Might even go to qualifying/race just to see him in action again. Last time I saw him race was USGP at Indy. At least Eddie Jordan gave him a proper ride to let him complete his F1 career with some dignity.
I think he has a shot at finishing the race (even talentless people like Milka Duno have been able to do that) but a competitive position is out of the question. Even if he wasn't extremely rusty and driving a different kind of car, the Lotus powerplants are outclassed by the Honda and Chevys.
I have to wonder if she tapped into those talents for Hugo Chavez in order to get that Citgo money...
Certainly a bold statement. I don't think anyone would have a hard time arguing Schumacher, Raikkonen, Alonso, and maybe even pre accident Massa have all surpassed Alesi stepping into Ferrari's, let alone Berger... That said, even though I do like Alesi, I doubt he will have a very strong showing at Indy. I sure will be keeping an eye on his results though.
I've always been an Alesi fan..Unfortuneately he didn't even get out for todays practice. He has turned over 100 laps and can't get over 211mph. To be fair part of it has to be the crappy Lotus engine as Simona has turned a best of only 210. The small team running Alesi does have some good experienced personel and if Alesi had a Chevy or Honda I'm sure he would be doing better, but he doesn't. If this was any other year at Indy they probably both wouldn't qualify, but that's not the case this year. This is what's really scary to me. Simona at least has alot of recent experience...Alesi doesn't at these high speeds on a super speedway. I know everyone back there wants to fill the field with 33 cars, but if he doesn't start finding more speed over the next few days and he makes the race he will be driving in his mirrors all afternoon. I'm afraid he will be a moving chicane the entire race
I've been following practice speeds too and I think he's doing a good job but with that boat anchor in the back of the car it's hopeless. Too bad, maybe he can come back next year with a different powerplant.
It´s your opinion and you have every right to it, but from all those you just mentioned, the only one a would consider better tan alesi is Shummi..the others are miles behind him. Just a minor example, Berger was his team mate for 5 years and only once he finished ahead of Alesi, it was in 94 and why? because alesi had an accident that made him miss a couple grand prixs, and also a broken car when leading the italian g.p for some 10s and another one when starting the german gp from the front road in the company of berger....and if you look at the qualifying positions in those 5 years Alesi is clearly in front...so i wask you, why is berger better than him when he was beaten 4 to 1 with the same equipment? Alesi and MIka where the only 2 drivers to match Shumi in a fight, diference was Alesi never had a car to really do it....look at Suzuka 2005 and watch Alesi Chewing 3secs per lap on shumacher in the wet before thar acr broke (as usually) people say Alonso is doing a good job with this year car..yes he is, now look at the crap alesi drove in 92/93, 10 times worse, and look at some races what he was able to do!! Look at his races in Mónaco or most of the time when it was raining....i have no problem admiting that in the rain, he was better than shumi or Senna, the only one better than him in these conditions was Gilles and perhaps Ickx.....and, if in 2010 in the last race it was Alesi in that ferrari instead of alonso, he wouldn´t have sat there waiting for a miracle, he would have simply passed Petrov, one way or the other.
I suppose I can't argue the results when compared to Berger when they were driving the same machine. Yes in the 5 years they were teammates Alesi out qualified Berger 3 of those years and were equal once (though Berger missed 3 races that season). Berger also had more wins, fastest laps and poles than Alesi during the same time period. While Alesi was definitely more aggressive, Berger was more consistent. You are obviously a very big fan of Alesi and I enjoy the enthusiasm in your post. You have several good points (great work with inferior equipment), and, of course a couple that I disagree with (better than Senna in the rain?...?, and I think the last sentence is a bit far fetched), but that's all part of the fun in being a fan of motor racing. As for the initial thread topic, well, that's not gone well.
