Speed and frustration
In his fourth season with the Scuderia Ferrari, French driver Jean Alesi was hoping to finally have a competitive car, that would enable him to fight for podiums and victories.
Picture above : Jean Alesi driving the Ferrari 412T1 to the limit, during the 1994 Monaco Grand Prix where he finished fifth.
In 1994, the new Ferrari 412T1 was far more competitive, but marred by unreliability, and team-mate Gerhard Berger gradually established himself as the team leader.
After finishing third in the opening race of the season in Brazil, Alesi injured his back in a testing accident at the Mugello circuit in Italy and was replaced for two races by reserve driver Nicola Larini.
Alesi, never giving up, returned with a fifth place at Monaco and a strong third in Canada. Subsequent races were marked by a series of retirements, but at Monza, he took his first pole position and led until his first pit stop, when his gearbox failed in the pitlane, and in anger, he drove back to Avignon at speeds, it is said, in excess of 200 km/h!
