Alesi and Werner in their controversial F1 crash in Monaco

The Ferrari 312B3 of ex-F1 racing driver Alesi and the Lotus 77 of three-time Le Mans 24-hour winner Werner, battled for leadership in the historic Monaco GP race for F1 cars from 1973-76 in a collision.

Leader Alesi was sent into the barriers on the start / finish straight and outside of the race. Werner, who had pole with 1.9 seconds, continued to take over the checkered flag, but then received a penalty that dropped him to third place.

Alesi criticized his German rival. “He has no respect for the cars,” said the 1995 Canadian Grand Prix winner.

“Of course we did races, but it’s not the race of my life. I enjoyed pushing this fantastic car through the streets of Monaco, but it touched me out of the chicane twice.

“It had a lot more torque than my car. That’s a warning [to him] that I had to shift from first to second rather slowly, so exit from Loews, exit from chicane, exit from Rascasse – I had a slow shift, but nothing happened [technically-wise] to the car, that’s it.

“It was really unprofessional, especially in the spirit of this great event.”

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Jean Alesi

Photo by: ACM

But Werner, who says a clutch problem hindered his start and helped Alesi to jump forward, was also dissatisfied with the Ferrari driver.

“I tried to drive a good race and use every chance I could get. That’s why I stayed close and hoped for mistakes from Alesi,” said Werner. “I was the quicker. If the race had ended like this it would have been a great achievement for our sport and it would have been okay to finish second behind such a great ex-F1 star.

“Unfortunately everything went differently. He missed a shift and I was just too close to avoid contact. That’s it … A little moment that changed a lot. I would have liked to take a step to overtake [after] his mistake and win the race. That wasn’t possible, I couldn’t avoid contact.

“I would never have done it on purpose. Anyone who is familiar with formula car collisions knows that I actually had a very high risk of falling into a major catastrophe over their steering wheel! I could have lived with second place, I would never do a bad maneuver. “

Werner, criticized by elements of social media but supported by some in historical racing, also pointed to his own enthusiasm for such events.

“It’s a shame that such a racing event has turned into something like this,” he added. “It wasn’t good for our sport.

“I have been driving a few races in historic motorsport for a number of years. I love these old cars and their history. I myself have a Tyrrell Formula 1, my 1992 Monaco GP F3 Support Ralt and a beautiful Lotus 22 Formula Junior.

“People accuse me of having no respect for the cars without knowing that I have driven this Ferrari twice in Monaco.”