Eddie Irvine
| Eddie Irvine, Silverstone 1998 | |
| Eddie Irvine | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Northern Irish |
| Years | 1993 - 2002 |
| Team(s) | Jordan, Ferrari, Jaguar |
| Races | 148 |
| Championships | 0 |
| Wins | 4 |
| Podiums | 26 |
| Poles | 0 |
| Fastest laps | 1 |
| First race | 1993 Japanese Grand Prix |
| First win | 1999 Australian Grand Prix |
| Last win | 1999 Malaysian Grand Prix |
| Last race | 2002 Japanese Grand Prix |
Influenced by his parents who are also involved in racing, Eddie Irvine (born 10 November, 1965 in Bangor, Northern Ireland) began his racing career in 1983. He started Formula Three racing in 1988, before moving on to Formula 3000 in 1989. In 1990, he started racing for Jordan as a Japanese Formula 3000 driver before graduating with Jordan to Formula One in 1993.
In 1996 Eddie moved to Ferrari, leaving in 2000 to help establish the Jaguar team.
In the early stages of his career Eddie Irvine was known to compete very fiercely. Even when he had a weaker car with which he only qualified for the rear of the grid, he had a tendency to "try to win a race at the start", often causing himself and others to exit a race in an untimely and untidy fashion.
He was also noted for his personality, perhaps best described as anti-authoritarian. At his debut with Jordan in Suzuka 1993, Irvine, who had already been lapped, saw Ayrton Senna coming up behind him in his rear-view mirror. As a back-marker it was his duty to let Senna pass - and to let him pass without fuss, as the man behind was, after all, the great Senna. Irvine however refused to so, making Senna pass him as if they were racing for position. Incensed, Senna walked into the Jordan motorhome after the race finished and punched Irvine, (although a number of other drivers were probably queuing up to do that).
1999 saw Irvine's career reach a dramatic peak as, through a combination of circumstance and the culmination of his much improved and matured style and performance during his years at Ferrari, he found himself battling for the World Championship following Michael Schumacher's accident in the British Grand Prix and his subsequent season-disrupting broken leg. Irvine won the season's opening grand prix in Australia in a race with significant attrition, and, with consistent points finishes and good form subsequently, was relatively well placed to take up the fight as the team's lead driver alongside Mika Salo, substituting for the injured Schumacher. A controversial victory handed to him by Salo, out of sight of TV cameras, in the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim followed, with further wins in Austria and a perfect team performance and 1-2 aided by a returning and helpful Schumacher at the penultimate round in Malaysia - itself the subject of some controversy, with disqualification for both Ferraris hours after the race as a result of a minor aerodynamic irregularity concerning the cars' bargeboards seemingly handing the title to McLaren's Mika Hakkinen, and the constructors' championship to the British team. The decision was later overturned and both cars reinstated in the race results, meaning that Irvine headed into the final round leading the 1999 Formula One World Drivers' Championship by four points from Hakkinen. In the title showdown at Suzuka, only a win, however, could guarantee Irvine the title. In the event, third place behind Hakkinen and Schumacher - team orders were useless, as even if Schumacher had moved over to gift his team-mate the additional two points, Hakkinen's superior number of wins would have ensured he became champion- handed the title to the Finn.
Irvine is also remembered for his tendency to blatantly express his opinion and unabashedly irritate everyone more important than himself. (See his Wikiquote entry for a few of his best quotes.)
His affinity for dangerous accidents began to dissipate when he moved to the Ferrari team. However, as the Formula One world became more technical and the driver personalities less distinctive, his non-conformist approach was generally appreciated. In an era where the private lives of Formula One drivers became much more staid (or at least less blatant) he was also an unabashed playboy in the style of earlier drivers such as James Hunt.
Irvine is a friend of the frontman of U2, Bono, from whom he learnt to play the guitar.
Eddie Irvine is now considering setting up his own Formula One team from scratch following the collapse of talks with Minardi in 2005.
External links
- Irvine's Wikiquote page - a few of his most famous quotes
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