Paul Jeffrey
Premium
Murray Walker once famously said 'if' is 'F1' spelt backwards...
... and while that isn't strictly true, we can forgive our Murray as the sentiment is pretty much bang on the nose when it comes to the sport we love.
Those of us with long memories might recall a young French Sicilian named Jean Alesi bursting onto the Grand Prix scene with Tyrrell back in 1989, and despite giving racing fans plenty of thrills and excitement over the years, the emotional driver never quite lived up to that early career promise in the following seasons, but it could have been a very different story indeed.
With the youngster proving himself aboard the now struggling Tyrrell team in the later part of 1989 and his first full season in 1990, competition for his signature ahead of '91 was intense within the Grand Prix paddock. Alesi rapidly made a name for himself as a brave and lightening fast driver during his brief time in the sport, famously passing and then re-passing the master of F1 himself, Ayrton Senna, at the 1990 Phoenix Grand Prix on the way to a spectacular second place finish - by far the best result for Tyrrell in several years.
During the mid-year F1 silly season, former World Champion team Williams would be led to believe they had agreed a multi-year contract with the Tyrrell driver from the start of the 1991 season, joining up with Ricardo Patrese in what the team hoped would be a good mix of youth and experience as they looked to rebound from a couple of years in the doldrums after losing Honda turbo power at the end of 1987.
With an agreement reached between the two parties, Ferrari would coming calling in a last minute attempt to encourage the driver into the seat vacated by the retiring Nigel Mansell, partnering up with three-time World Champion Alain Prost at the Italian squad.
On paper, Ferrari looked to be the stronger prospect for the year ahead, with Prost in the midst of a fierce fight with McLaren rival Aryton Senna for the duration of the 1990 season. Meanwhile Williams, despite showing some improvements in form over a disappointing 1989, still remained a long way from proving themselves to have consistent race winning potential.
As history would show, Alesi would be unable to resist the lure of signing for the magical red team, spending the prime years of his career in a car and manufacturer that never looked far away from disaster with poor cars, confused technical leadership and basic disarray following the death of their founder, Enzo Ferrari, in late 1988.
Just a single race victory at the 1995 Canadian Grand Prix would be all Alesi had to show for his time in red, with the driver leaving the Prancing Horse just as they returned to form in 1996, joining the formally dominant Benetton team as they began a rapid decline into obscurity..
But what could have been had Alesi stuck with his Williams deal for 1991?
The most obvious one would have been a lack of room at the inn for Nigel Mansell. Having decided to leave Grand Prix racing at the end of 1990, Williams would throw the Englishman a lifeline in a last minute deal to see him return to the Grove squad - a gamble that paid off mightily for team and driver as they went on to numerous race victories and the 1992 World Championship success.
Had Alesi signed for Williams, with Riccardo Patrese already locked into a contract, that could well have been the end of Mansell's Grand Prix career. Not to mention, Alesi would have been walking into one of the most competitive cars on the grid for 1991.
Despite Mansell having a golden end to his F1 career, teammate Riccardo Patrese still managed to pick up an impressive three victories and a further eight second place finishes over the 91-92 seasons, proving that the cars produced by Williams were indeed at the top of the field during this period.
Subsequent seasons would prove that Alesi was at the very least a match in pace for Patrese at this stage of their careers, arguably quite a bit faster in fact, so it would be fair to say the driver stood a very good chance of repeating the success of the man he would have kept out of the seat - Nigel Mansell.
Mansell would win 13 races during the same period, with a further seven runners up spots to his credit, leading to the reasonable conclusion that all things being equal, Alesi probably would have taken the 1992 World Championship had he been driving the FW14B that year.
Considerably younger than Mansell, who elected to switch to IndyCar in 1993, Alesi would likely have remained at the Grove squad for 1993, either remaining alongside Patrese who Williams were keen to keep on board, or partnering the returning Alain Prost.
I would argue that with a young Alesi as reigning World Champion, Williams will not have needed to take a big money risk on bringing Prost out of his sabbatical, and would likely have retained the consistency of their 1992 partnership - leaving the door open for Alesi to take championship honours once again in 1993.
With many race wins and a double World Championship under his belt, 1994 could have been an interesting year in our hypothetical scenario.
Wholesale changes in Formula One would see the banning of driver aids for the new season, and Williams would likely have continued to sign Ayrton Senna for the year ahead. Alesi, current top dog in Formula One, would be left with the choice of fighting one of the biggest names in the sport within his own team, or maybe the timing would be right to migrate to his favourite squad at Ferrari, and begin the slow process of rebuilding the once great brand back to a level where consistent race wins are once again a possibility. All with the added confidence as the most successful driver of the last three years.
As we know, Ferrari didn't really hit their stride until Schumacher came on board in 1996, but with a confident Alesi, the prestige of a double World Champion, and a bit of luck, maybe the Tifosi would have had a little more to shout about in 1994 and beyond.
Sadly, these answers we will never know.. but it's been a fun distraction to think about it for a while at least...
... and while that isn't strictly true, we can forgive our Murray as the sentiment is pretty much bang on the nose when it comes to the sport we love.
Those of us with long memories might recall a young French Sicilian named Jean Alesi bursting onto the Grand Prix scene with Tyrrell back in 1989, and despite giving racing fans plenty of thrills and excitement over the years, the emotional driver never quite lived up to that early career promise in the following seasons, but it could have been a very different story indeed.
With the youngster proving himself aboard the now struggling Tyrrell team in the later part of 1989 and his first full season in 1990, competition for his signature ahead of '91 was intense within the Grand Prix paddock. Alesi rapidly made a name for himself as a brave and lightening fast driver during his brief time in the sport, famously passing and then re-passing the master of F1 himself, Ayrton Senna, at the 1990 Phoenix Grand Prix on the way to a spectacular second place finish - by far the best result for Tyrrell in several years.
During the mid-year F1 silly season, former World Champion team Williams would be led to believe they had agreed a multi-year contract with the Tyrrell driver from the start of the 1991 season, joining up with Ricardo Patrese in what the team hoped would be a good mix of youth and experience as they looked to rebound from a couple of years in the doldrums after losing Honda turbo power at the end of 1987.
With an agreement reached between the two parties, Ferrari would coming calling in a last minute attempt to encourage the driver into the seat vacated by the retiring Nigel Mansell, partnering up with three-time World Champion Alain Prost at the Italian squad.
On paper, Ferrari looked to be the stronger prospect for the year ahead, with Prost in the midst of a fierce fight with McLaren rival Aryton Senna for the duration of the 1990 season. Meanwhile Williams, despite showing some improvements in form over a disappointing 1989, still remained a long way from proving themselves to have consistent race winning potential.
As history would show, Alesi would be unable to resist the lure of signing for the magical red team, spending the prime years of his career in a car and manufacturer that never looked far away from disaster with poor cars, confused technical leadership and basic disarray following the death of their founder, Enzo Ferrari, in late 1988.
Just a single race victory at the 1995 Canadian Grand Prix would be all Alesi had to show for his time in red, with the driver leaving the Prancing Horse just as they returned to form in 1996, joining the formally dominant Benetton team as they began a rapid decline into obscurity..
But what could have been had Alesi stuck with his Williams deal for 1991?
The most obvious one would have been a lack of room at the inn for Nigel Mansell. Having decided to leave Grand Prix racing at the end of 1990, Williams would throw the Englishman a lifeline in a last minute deal to see him return to the Grove squad - a gamble that paid off mightily for team and driver as they went on to numerous race victories and the 1992 World Championship success.
Had Alesi signed for Williams, with Riccardo Patrese already locked into a contract, that could well have been the end of Mansell's Grand Prix career. Not to mention, Alesi would have been walking into one of the most competitive cars on the grid for 1991.
Despite Mansell having a golden end to his F1 career, teammate Riccardo Patrese still managed to pick up an impressive three victories and a further eight second place finishes over the 91-92 seasons, proving that the cars produced by Williams were indeed at the top of the field during this period.
Subsequent seasons would prove that Alesi was at the very least a match in pace for Patrese at this stage of their careers, arguably quite a bit faster in fact, so it would be fair to say the driver stood a very good chance of repeating the success of the man he would have kept out of the seat - Nigel Mansell.
Mansell would win 13 races during the same period, with a further seven runners up spots to his credit, leading to the reasonable conclusion that all things being equal, Alesi probably would have taken the 1992 World Championship had he been driving the FW14B that year.
Considerably younger than Mansell, who elected to switch to IndyCar in 1993, Alesi would likely have remained at the Grove squad for 1993, either remaining alongside Patrese who Williams were keen to keep on board, or partnering the returning Alain Prost.
I would argue that with a young Alesi as reigning World Champion, Williams will not have needed to take a big money risk on bringing Prost out of his sabbatical, and would likely have retained the consistency of their 1992 partnership - leaving the door open for Alesi to take championship honours once again in 1993.
With many race wins and a double World Championship under his belt, 1994 could have been an interesting year in our hypothetical scenario.
Wholesale changes in Formula One would see the banning of driver aids for the new season, and Williams would likely have continued to sign Ayrton Senna for the year ahead. Alesi, current top dog in Formula One, would be left with the choice of fighting one of the biggest names in the sport within his own team, or maybe the timing would be right to migrate to his favourite squad at Ferrari, and begin the slow process of rebuilding the once great brand back to a level where consistent race wins are once again a possibility. All with the added confidence as the most successful driver of the last three years.
As we know, Ferrari didn't really hit their stride until Schumacher came on board in 1996, but with a confident Alesi, the prestige of a double World Champion, and a bit of luck, maybe the Tifosi would have had a little more to shout about in 1994 and beyond.
Sadly, these answers we will never know.. but it's been a fun distraction to think about it for a while at least...
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I remember well when Alesi arrived, it was impressive to see this little Tyrell fly and fight with the big name, despite the team being on the edge of bankrupt!
