Thank goodness for Jean Alesi and Pirelli. Thanks to that combination, the US GP in Phoenix had a modicum of interest for half its length, even if it was an interest the overall format of the event barely deserved.
F1 in America is in a parlous state, as it has been since Watkins Glen was kicked into touch, and it was a sparse crowd which watched spellbound as the Frenchman pushed his Tyrrell into the lead at the start and, incredibly, held it for the first 34 laps.
We know Alesi is good. He’s spent pretty much every race since Ricard last year showing us. But in Phoenix he was able to demonstrate just how good, and in doing so fired a warning shot across the bows of none other than Ayrton Senna, the eventual and expected victor.
