The 1995 F1 season was dominated by Benetton and Michael Schumacher for the most part, but there were other competitive teams as well. Namely, Williams and Ferrari were the ones that used to battle for wins and podiums with Bentton for the most part.
And, Ferrari had Jean Alesi, who was seen amongst everyone as a highly talented driver who was just a bit unlucky to not have a race win under his belt, but his fate would change when he would win his maiden GP, the Canadian GP.
Ferrari’s years during the early 1990s in F1 were some of the most uncompetititive in the Prancing horse’s history, but their 1995 car was “the best Ferrari car” that Jean Alesi had gotten to drive.
The Qualifying
the qualifying session was pretty much dominated by Schumacher, who was on pole, and just behind him was the Williams of Damon Hill. Ferrari had qualified 4th and 5th, with Jean Alesi in 5th position. Because Schumacher had pretty much dominated the 1995 season, the predictions were that the win’s gonna be Schumacher’s, or if not him, then Damon Hill’s. But, Jean Alesi had been driving quite aggressively in the past few races, so everyone had to keep an eye on him as well.
The Race
With the race day being on the same day as Jean Alesi’s birthday, the fate had turned into Alesi’s favour. At the start, Alesi passed the two cars that were in front of him, and within the first lap, he was running in third, just behind Hill and Schumacher. And then, after some time, Hill’s Renault engine blew up and he was forced to retire from the race. Now, Alesi was running in second place, just behind Schumacher, who was at quite a distace from Alesi.
but then, disaster struck Schumacher, as his car was stuck in third gear and he was forced into the pits to change his steering wheel. This was the best opportunity for Alesi to get ahead of Schumacher, and he made sure to use this opportunity to the fullest.
With Schumacher behind in the race now, Alesi was running quite comfortably in first place, and took the chequered flag to register his first and only win in Formula 1. The podium was completed by the two Jordans
A win for Alesi on his birthday, what a day for him! The 1995 Canadian GP remains one of the best Canadian GPs ever, and that’s not without any reason.
