Alesi becomes Paul Ricard circuit president

In brief

Alesi becomes circuit president

Paul Ricard, the most recent venue of the French Grand Prix, has announced Jean Alesi as its new circuit president.

Victory for Ferrari in the 1995 Canadian Grand Prix marked the peak of Alesi’s 13-season Formula 1 career in which he also drove for Tyrrell, Benetton, Sauber, Prost and Jordan. Following that he was a race-winner in the DTM through the 2000s, and also raced in the 2012 Indianapolis 500. Prior to F1, Alesi had marked himself out as the next big French talent by winning the country’s Formula 3 and the International Formula 3000 championships.

“I am very happy and honoured by this nomination because this circuit is my life in motorsport,” Alesi said of his new job.

“It is running at full speed and we are working on it in a structured way. When I was younger, I saw my first French GP there and also the winter F1 tests which I attended as a spectator, listening to what was being said in the pits. The means of communication were less developed at the time and I remember the exchanges of Alain [Prost] or Ayrton [Senna] with their teams, that marked me for life.

“Above all, Paul Ricard is the venue for my very first grand prix in F1 in 1989. I had signed for a single race and I did 200 more. I can’t wait to start my mission.”

Paul Ricard has hosted the French GP 18 times but the event was not included on the 2023 F1 calendar.

Herta and O’Ward’s F1 plans on hold during IndyCar season

IndyCar race-winners Colton Herta and Pato O’Ward will have to wait until the IndyCar season ends to resume their F1 tests for McLaren.

O’Ward has been one of McLaren’s IndyCar drivers since 2020 and last year made his F1 practice debut with the team at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. “All the F1 stuff is more of an off-season project,” he explained. “My focus and all my attention will be in IndyCar for the next good amount of months.

“But obviously it’s been more than enjoyable [being in the F1 world]. It’s been fantastic. A big part of my off-season before going home, it was really focusing on the F1 stuff. I’m also excited to go back to IndyCar now because it always feels a little odd when you go from one car to the other. Take a few laps to get back into the sync of things, really feel it out.

“It will be an off-season kind of thing. During…