J ean Alesi had a spectacular Formula One career that lasted for more than 12 years. At the beginning he won the French Formula Three title, then graduated to Formula 3000 with the French ORECA team in 1988.

It was a difficult year. The team had left him sidelined and facing an uncertain future when Oxford resident, Eddie Jordan, stepped in to offer Jean a drive with his F3000 racing team.

In doing so, this made history for both team and driver in one inspired move. In Eddie Jordan's biography (Timothy Collings, Virgin Books 2002, ISBN 185227 9680) Alesi recalled his euphoria at the time.

"For me it was very tough then, and I was worried that my chance had gone. It was hard to believe it . . . then Eddie came and rescued me. This sport is one where you don't get too many chances, and of course I was scared that mine had all gone . . . but Eddie gave me that chance and I shall always be grateful to him for that."

Jean Alesi lived with the Jordans in North Oxford as part of the family, later moving into lodgings with another family in Oxford. With his brother José acting as his personal manager, his command of the English language soon improved as a result of his stay in the city.

In 1989 he ended the season as F3000 World Champion. He said at the time that winning that title was one of the best and happiest achievements of his entire career. His break into Formula 1 was under Eddie Jordan's management when a vacancy arrived at Tyrrell Ford. Their driver, Michele Alboreto, had left after a dispute over sponsorship, and Alesi was given the opportunity to drive for Tyrrell in the French Grand Prix at the Circuit Paul Ricard.

Conveniently, this venue was near to Alesi's home at La Castellet. He took fourth place in this, his debut F1 Grand Prix, going on to drive for Ferrari in 1991 and to secure his first win in Formula 1 at the Canadian GP, which took place at Montreal on June 11, 1995.

My illustration was inspired by this victory. His move to Ferrari was a dubious decision as the team were not producing the same results as their competitors.

Frank Williams's team in particular were among the best at the time, and prior to Alesi's move to Ferrari, Frank had offered him a place with them.

It is well-documented that Jean let his heart rule his head in this decision, because he was of Sicilian parentage he loved the idea of driving for Ferrari, regardless of the consequences of their track record at the time. Anyhow, at the eleventh hour he made the decision not to drive for the Williams team and by taking this move probably changed the course of racing history as well as his own fortune.

In his book Formula One Heroes (Virgin Books 2000, ISBN 1 85227 032 2) erstwhile motorsport commentator Murray Walker wrote: "Alesi stayed loyal to Ferrari for five seasons, but it brought him mainly disappointment. He was twice third at Monaco, the street circuit perfectly suited his attacking style.

In all he finished on the podium 16 times in those five seasons, with second places at Monza, Buenos Aires, Imola, Silverstone and the Nurburgring. But there was only one victory, in Canada in 1995."

Canada was Alesi's 91st F1 start and, famously, he had difficulty seeing where he was going on his final lap because he was so overcome with emotion.

Walker adds: "There were many flashes of brilliance, like his sensational wheel-to-wheel battle with Senna in Phoenix in 1990 and some inspired drives in the wet, but there were wild spins and silly accidents too. Nevertheless, when Alesi finally forsook Ferrari and signed for Benetton in 1997 along with his former Ferrari team-mate, Gerhard Berger - and great things were expected.

Walker said: "Some great things did happen - eight podium finishes, and fourth in the championship in 1996, five podiums, one pole position and third equal in the championship in 1997. But there were more crashes, collisions and mistakes - like the time in Australia when, with his radio not working, he forgot to look at the pit signals which were telling him to come in, and ran out of fuel."

In 1998, Benetton decided opt for the younger, upcoming, generation of drivers, and old-stagers Alesi and Berger were forced out to make room for Fisichella and Wurz.

Berger called it a day as a driver, but Jean moved on, full of optimism, to Sauber. While the relationship started well it eventually disintegrated in acrimony.

Alesi again moved on to Alain Prost's team, and once again he looked forward to a new start with his former Ferrari team mate, but he was coming to realise that his F1 career was nearing its end.

In 2001, Jean made a mid-season switch to Jordan as a last-gasp opportunity to regain his form and his career, but he was dropped at the end of the season. It was the beginning of the end of an era - an era in motorsport F1 fans will never forget.

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