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Ex-F1 Driver Jean Alesi Makes Headlines for All the Wrong Reasons After Getting Arrested

Nine years after ending his motorsport career, Jean Alesi makes headlines yet again. The 57-year-old Frenchman has been detained by police after pranking his brother-in-law. The story involves a getaway car, large fireworks, and concerned neighbors.
Jean Alesi during an interview 6 photos
Photo: Newspress UK archive
Jean Alesi at Fiorano testing an AF Corse Ferrari F430 GTCJean Alesi at Fiorano testing an AF Corse Ferrari F430 GTCJean Alesi at Fiorano testing an AF Corse Ferrari F430 GTCJean Alesi at Fiorano testing an AF Corse Ferrari F430 GTCJean Alesi at Fiorano testing an AF Corse Ferrari F430 GTC
It all sounds like a script from Punk'd, right? Well, real-life can sometimes be more surprising than a reality show with celebrity pranks. As AFP notes, Jean Alesi was taken into custody on Monday, around 4 pm, for property damage, after he went to the police station to clear his brother.

As L'Equipe has learned, Jean Alesi only wanted to “play a bad joke” on his brother-in-law and decided to stick a “large firework, acquired in Italy,” into the frame of a window at the unnamed brother-in-law's office.

The window frame of the architect's office was damaged, it seems, and Alesi’s brother-in-law filed a damage complaint against the former Ferrari driver but told local media representatives that he “has no problem” with Alesi. It is worth noting that the former F1 star's brother-in-law is currently separated from Alesi's sister, which means that this might not be the best time for “bad jokes.”

According to the Nîmes deputy prosecutor, Antoine Wolff, Jean Alesi borrowed his brother Jose’s vehicle and drove it to his brother-in-law's office with his son and “a friend of his son.

After placing the large firecracker in the window frame and lighting it up, Alesi fled the scene with the vehicle's lights off.

A concerned neighbor from the French town of Villeneuve-les-Avignon (Alesi's hometown) decided to take a look at what was going on after hearing an explosion and noticed the car as it sped off, which prompted a call to the police.

Early in the morning, Jose Alesi, Jean's brother, was arrested, as he was the registered owner of the vehicle. Jean Alesi did the right thing and went to the police station to clear his brother's name, admitting his actions.

The former racing driver stated that he “did not imagine causing such damage,” as the deputy prosecutor told the media.

It appears that the case's prosecutor, Antoine Wolff, does not share Alesi's sense of humor, as he stated that he is “quite skeptical about the notion of a joke that was carried out at 10 pm,” and "without the person concerned knowing about it."

While the “bad joke” is poorly timed, and we advise against any attempt to replicate it or do something inspired by it, it also represents the definition of a prank.
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About the author: Sebastian Toma
Sebastian Toma profile photo

Sebastian's love for cars began at a young age. Little did he know that a career would emerge from this passion (and that it would not, sadly, involve being a professional racecar driver). In over fourteen years, he got behind the wheel of several hundred vehicles and in the offices of the most important car publications in his homeland.
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