Jean Alesi, who is a former Formula One racer spoke about the current situation of the Grand Prix racing. He said that the access is now limited to sons of billionaires or to those young drivers handled by specific managers during an interview with Italy’s La Gazzetta dello Sport.
Jean Alesi criticizes the current scenario of F1
Jean Alesi is the 1995 Canadian GP winner and is the father of Guiluano who recently made F1 debut with Ferrari at Fiorano earlier this week.
There is a very little chance the 21-year-old and now former Ferrari Driver Academy member could step up to the bigger leagues.
It is because Guiliano had a couple of disappointing years in the FIA Formula 2 Championship and he would head east to Japan.
He will continue his motorsport career this season in the Super Formula Lights series with TOM’s and also in the Asian GT300 series with Toyota Team Thailand.
Jean Alesi is apparently glad to know that his son has been given an opportunity to race in Japan. He admitted being disillusioned with the roadblock in Europe which his son Giuliano had to face.
He is not the only to experience such thing as many other young drivers has faced the same.
Jean Alesi had sold his personal Ferrari F40 to fund his son’s F1 season in 2020.
He said: “If you look at what’s going on in our part of the world in Europe, nothing is a meritocracy.“
He added: “All you need to do is pay, pay and pay. I think it’s crazy, it’s the only sport in the world where you need to pay to play. I think it’s a lot fairer in Japan.”
Interestingly, Giuliano Alesi holds a Japanese passport through his mother, Kumiko Goto and he’ll also be able to apply his skills free of charge.
Jean Alesi: Today, you need to be a billionaire
Jean Alesi said that his son will be racing almost every weekend and it is something that is no longer possible in Europe, unless one pays a lot of money.
He said: “Today, you need to be a billionaire to buy a Formula 1 team for your son, or you won’t make it to F1. Many seats are blocked by drivers managed by [Frederic] Vasseur and [Toto] Wolff.“
He said that fortunately there is Ferrari and it supplies engines to some F1 teams so they can also supply drivers.
Alesi also claimed that Mick Schumacher got his seat in Formula 1 also with his Formula 2 title, but “without the support of Maranello it would not have been possible.”
Alesi has made some bold statements during the interview and it is to be seen if it is been looked into in the upcoming days.