Race Day with Philippe Alliot

Philippe, we know each other well, but like many people, I know the Formula 1 driver better than the man. What motivates this introspection today?

To be honest, for almost twenty years, I had moved on to something other than F1. I no longer followed it, it no longer interested me, until Netflix came along and showed new generations how exceptional this sport is. These last four years have brought back the Formula 1 and I realized, through my children, that a new, very young audience discovered our sport, became passionate about it and began to follow it. No one spoke to me about my job anymore, they had forgotten what I had done, and suddenly the public remembered me again. I even caught my children admiring me for what I had done in the past. If my career had never been a topic of discussion, suddenly I felt like a hero. People now want to see what it was like before, it's very funny. Around me, in the entourage of my daughter and my two boys, I am approached by people who are very respectful of what I have been able to do, and I take pride in it. Having been a Formula 1 driver has regained its nobility. At almost 70 years old, perhaps it is time for me to tell what I experienced.

So, let's start by reestablishing the truth: can you confirm your date of birth?

I was born on July 27, 1953.

However, if an admirer conducts a search on the Internet, he will find July 27, 1954!

It's a funny story. At one point in my career, I felt compelled to make myself a year younger. It dates back to 1984, when I arrived in Formula 1 at RAM. I started racing very late, and getting into F1 at 30 was not easy. I was afraid of the reactions and comments about this “ancestor” who came to confront the young people. I then had to lie a little to remain a young pilot of 20 years and dust, and since then, I have never done anything to correct this false information.

You seem to have a difficult relationship with the passage of time since those who know you have certainly noticed that your hair suddenly turned white the day you stopped Formula 1 at the end of the 1994 season. Was it such a trauma?

So that, for once, is real bullshit on my part! I was in F3 in the early 1980s when the first white locks appeared. Jacques Laffite, who was already in F1, saw it and told me that I could never get a seat in F1 with graying hair. This made such an impact on me that the next time I went to the hairdresser, I asked him to do a little correction. Of course, I got more and more, and found myself having to dye them several times a month! It became a punishment and I was ashamed of it, but I couldn't get out of this spiral. Deliverance came at the end of 1994 from Gérard Holtz. That year, I took part in the Dakar on a motorbike with friends and I talked to Gérard about it. Live on France 2, a hairdresser fixed my hair on the bivouac on the day of departure and I was finally able to let it grow back naturally. Since then, I have had beautiful white hair and I live very well with it. (Laughs)

When did this little boy born in Voves, in Eure-et-Loir, say to himself: “I’m going to become a pilot!” ". Especially since your family environment was not interested in car racing…

No, actually. I am the seventh child of nine: Marie-Ange, Patrice, Anne-Marie, Marie-Hélène, Jean-Michel, Marie-Christine, Frédéric and Franck. As you may notice, my sisters are all called Marie. The little religious connotation coming from my paternal grandparents who were crazy priests. Trained as a chemical engineer, my father was a hard worker and a remarkable professional. In particular, 60 years ago, he wrote a book called “ The Earth is dying ". An incredibly visionary work, and if we reread this work today, we realize that he was right on many points and had anticipated the ecological and climatic challenges that we face. Due to his career as fertilizer factory manager, we moved all over France. The last company he managed before manufacturing his own fertilizer was in Mont-Notre-Dame, in Aine, near Reims. It was once we were settled in Jonchery-sur-Vesle (not far from the Reims-Gueux circuit) that he started taking me to watch a few races.

Wasn't your father a fan of motor racing?

Absolutely not, he didn't particularly follow motorsport and never competed, but to keep us busy, he took us there on weekends, taking advantage of the proximity of the Reims circuit. We were mostly going to watch the practice sessions rather than the race, and just pulling into the parking lot and hearing the sound of the engines gave me goosebumps. Something incredible was happening. There I met… well, I saw rather than met, Guy Ligier, Jo Schlesser, Jean-Pierre Beltoise, all the greatest drivers of the time.

How old were you ?

I was already 12 years old.

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