Racing
© Jonathan Borba
Jean Alesi did not start Sunday’s Series D race at the Historic Monaco Grand Prix after a separate technical problem struck his repaired 1969 Ferrari 312, two days on from his Friday crash at the Nouvelle Chicane.
The former Ferrari Formula 1 driver had already seen his weekend thrown off course in practice when he lost control of the car under braking after the tunnel and hit the inside barrier nose-first on the approach to the left-right turn. The impact badly damaged the front of the Ferrari and scattered debris across the track, though Alesi was unhurt.
Because Friday was reserved for practice, the accident did not directly affect any result, but it immediately put his participation in doubt. The car is a historically significant Ferrari 312 from 1969, a model driven in period by Chris Amon and Pedro Rodríguez, and the scale of the front-end damage made the recovery effort a major task for Methusalem Racing.
The team completed the repairs in time for Alesi to return to the Monaco street circuit on Saturday. After getting back out, he posted a message on social media that suggested the worst had been overcome. “Thank you to my fantastic team. See you tomorrow,” Alesi wrote.
That return ultimately did not lead to a race start. Before Sunday’s Series D contest, the Ferrari developed a different technical issue that prevented the 61-year-old from taking his place on the grid. After the work required to recover from the Friday crash, Alesi’s weekend ended not with another on-track incident but with a fresh mechanical setback.
Series D at the Historic Monaco Grand Prix is reserved for three-litre Formula 1 machinery from 1966 to 1972. Alesi was one of several drivers who did not start, while Michael Lyons led the field away from pole position in a Surtees TS9.
The episode added another frustrating chapter to Alesi’s record in Monaco historic racing, which the source material describes as marked by repeated bad luck at Monte Carlo. It cites another problem in 2021, when he was leading in a Ferrari 312B-74, and points to a longer pattern of retirements and technical trouble in earlier appearances.
For Alesi, that is what made this weekend especially bitter. The car had been repaired, he had made it back on track, and he had every reason to expect Sunday to be a reset. Instead, the Monaco Historic Grand Prix ended with another lost start, extending a run of Monte Carlo frustration that continues to follow him even in the paddock where Ferrari’s past is being celebrated.