Jean Alesi's 1992 Ferrari F92A Formula 1 car, driven and owned by the former driver, has been put up for auction with no reserve and an estimate of €3million-€5million.
Alesi was given the car by Ferrari at the end of the 1992 season and he has kept it on display in his villa ever since. “The car had been serviced, I did two laps of the track at Fiorano and then came back into the pits, the tyres were changed and I loaded the car into the truck, with the engine still warm," Alesi recounted to the auction house, Artcurial. “Once I got home, I unloaded it and put it on display. Since then, it hasn’t moved.”
The Frenchman drove the F92A in five grands prix in 1992, and secured fourth and fifth-place finishes in the Australian Grand Prix and the German Grand Prix, respectively.
According to Alesi, the car has not been touched in 30 years and is set up just as he left it.
"Memories from my youth, of a magical period in my life. You have to understand that when you're a Ferrari driver, the cars are unveiled on the Fiorano track in front of the entire Italian and international press. The veil is lifted and there it is, revealed," the former Ferrari driver explained in a video posted by Artcurial.
"Nicola Larini, Ivan Capelli and I looked at all the little details we saw here and there in the workshops before assembly. It's a car that made history with its aerodynamic innovation. It had features that no one else had, namely a double floor; it had two flat floors.
"In terms of performance, we had much more downforce than the others. Unfortunately, during the season, we realised that we were being penalised by a phenomenon known as blow-by. This means that the pistons pump the oil that is at the bottom of the sump. This causes you to lose a little performance, but at the same time, you quickly run out of oil and break the engine.
"So a second oil tank was installed in the car. This was refilled during the grand prix. Incidentally, this was a mystery to the other teams. I have a P-ON sign, so I had my button inside, P-ON. I pressed it and transferred the oil into the engine."
Asked how it ended up in his home, he explained: "That's what's unique about this car and me. At the end of the year, Ivan Capelli was no longer part of the Scuderia. Gerhard Berger was signed as my team-mate for the rest of the years.
"And from the way it was presented to the press, I had the impression that they were starting from scratch, because Gerhard Berger was coming in. And at the time, there was Niki Lauda. Niki said to me, 'But do you have a problem?' I said, 'Yes, Niki, frankly, Gerhard is coming, you're Austrian, he's your mate, it's not right.'
"So he said to me, 'What do you want? Do you want a bit more money?' I said 'Niki, frankly, that's not what I want to talk about, it's respect.'
"He said, 'No, but there's no problem with that. Tonight, you call the president.' So the president called me and said, 'Jean, I spoke with Niki, but don't worry, we love you, there's no problem. In fact, we're giving you a gift, this is your car.'
"I said, 'what do you mean?' 'When you get back from Estoril, talk to the team, I'll give them instructions, you'll do your collaudo at Fiorano and you can keep the car.' And here it is!"
He added: "What I would like most of all is for it to be loved as I have loved it, as I still love it."
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