Can you remember Jean Alesi? The passionate Frenchman in the red Ferrari, whose fearless style often evoked memories of Gilles Villeneuve, was seen – especially in the early years of his career – as a sure-fire future Formula 1 world champion. Who could forget Phoenix 1990, when he took the fight to the great Ayrton Senna in an inferior Tyrrell, ultimately finishing second in just the first race of his second season in Formula 1?
For years, F1 insiders were unanimous: Alesi would become a world champion, and sooner rather than later. In the summer of 1990, two of the biggest teams, Ferrari and Williams, were vying for his services. Alesi, in fact, signed with both. In the end, the lawyers decided he would go to Ferrari. To this day, people still wonder what might have happened if he had been in the Williams instead of Nigel Mansell in 1992, Alain Prost in 1993 or Ayrton Senna in 1994. Perhaps he’d be a three-time world champion today.
