~ by Chris ‘#16’ Demaras ~
A year ago I was selling an old couch and rug. Just something I bought cheap to flip and make a buck…but people don’t want to hear that! So I wrote funny little post on social media instead.
A friend of mine, who happens to be a professional race car driver, called me up the next day. He was concerned. “Bro…don’t do it. Put your wife’s sofa back in the living room. I’ve seen it happen before. Once you start selling your stuff to pay for racing, it’ll never end.”
I tried to tell him it was a joke, a marketing angle, but he didn’t believe me. I thought he was nuts. Who would sell their stuff just so their kid could go racing?!
“We need to work on a scheme that we have a large number of kids who can try go-karting, compete in proper kit, and eventually they will make their way into F1.”
Alesi agrees, revealing he had to sell his Ferrari F40 to help fund Giuliano’s career.
“I’m an ex-Formula 1 driver, I have connections but I had to sell my Ferrari F40 to get the budget for my son to race in Formula 2. Why? Because it is almost mission impossible mission to find sponsorship. The price is too expensive and yet nobody wants to change anything.”
Planet F1
Jean Alesi was never a superstar. He raced in 202 Grand Prix over 13 years, his only win coming at with the Scuderia Ferrari at the 1995 Canadian Grand Prix. The F40 is a special car, as it is the last car Ferrari made under the watchful eye of Enzo Ferrari. Alesi’s F40 in particular was a gift from Ferrari as part of his driver’s contract.