Eddie Irvine

Eddie Irvine

File:Eddie Irvine.jpg
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality	British
Active years	1993 - 2002
Teams	Jordan, Ferrari, Jaguar
Entries	148
Championships	0
Wins	4
Podiums	26
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	1
First entry	1993 Japanese Grand Prix
First win	1999 Australian Grand Prix
Last win	1999 Malaysian Grand Prix
Last entry	2002 Japanese Grand Prix

Eddie Irvine is a British former Formula One racing driver from Northern Ireland. He was born Edmund Irvine on 10 November, 1965, in Newtownards, and grew up in nearby Conlig, County Down, Northern Ireland. His father is also named Edmund, and his sister Sonia is a physiotherapist who worked with him in his career. He was a millionaire through investment before reaching Formula One.

His professional racing career began in 1983 and he progressed to Formula Three racing in 1988, before moving on to Formula 3000 in 1989. He got his break in the top of the Formula racing series after he started racing for Jordan in the Formula 3000 series in 1990, and was subsequently picked up by the Jordan Formula One team in 1993.

Irvine was influenced by his parents, who are also involved in motor racing. His reputation increased steadily in Formula One, eventually leading to Ferrari signing him to partner Michael Schumacher in 1996.

1999 saw his most successful season when he took the drivers' championship right to the last race, finishing a close second. He left Ferrari the following year for the new Jaguar Racing team and was the only driver to get Jaguar to the podium in their short F1 history, which he achieved twice.

F1 career

Jordan (1993-1995)

In the early stages of his F1 career, Irvine was known as a fierce competitor. 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. He finished 6th and secured a point on his debut Formula One race with Jordan in 1993 at Suzuka. This race set the theme of controversy for Irvine that would follow him for the next couple of years. Seeing Ayrton Senna coming up behind him in his rear-view mirror, Irvine allowed him to pass. However, when Senna seemingly did not bother to lap Damon Hill who Irvine was racing against at the time, he felt he was being held up and, amazingly for a rookie against an all-time great, unlapped himself and immediately overtook Hill. Incensed, Senna walked into the Jordan motorhome after the race finished and punched Irvine.

Irvine continued with Jordan through 1994 until 1995, where he was generally quicker than his younger, though more experienced team-mate, Rubens Barrichello. His lack of reliability as well as a tendency to get involved in accidents in 1994 meant that the final championship standings did not mirror his speed.

Irvine's affinity for apparently reckless driving, began to dissipate when he moved to the Ferrari team. F1 sports commentators even changed his nickname from "Irv the swerve" to "Steady Eddie" and "Fast Eddie".

As the Formula One world became more technical and the driver personalities less distinctive, his non-conformist approach was generally appreciated.

Ferrari (1996 - 1999)

The Ferrari team picked him as number 2 to Michael Schumacher for 1996 but despite out-qualifying and beating the German in the first race of the season, Irvine was forced to play second fiddle and on many occasions, sacrificed potential good results to help his team-mate.

In 1998, Eddie Irvine's fitness level was in question as he had suffered from back pain. His seat was adjusted to help combat this problem. Possibly stemming from this, a journalist suggested he was unfit. His playboy image might also have contributed to the journalist's allegation. In stark contrast with the journalist's allegation however, three days prior to the publication of the article, Eddie Irvine had recorded one of the highest levels of fitness of an F1 driver.[1]

1999 saw Irvine's career reach a 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.

Irvine won the season's opening grand prix in Australia in a race with significant attrition and, with consistent points finishes and subsequent good form, was relatively well placed to take up the fight as the team's lead driver alongside Schumacher's replacement, Mika Salo. A controversial victory handed to him by Salo, out of sight of TV cameras in the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim followed, although Irvine looked set to pass Salo with or without his help. Following the race, Irvine handed his victory trophy over to Salo as a gesture to show his gratitude.

Further wins in Austria and Malaysia heightened Irvine's title hopes. The normally flawless Ferrari pitcrew had messed up on Eddie's pitstops in two races, causing him a loss of some valuable points that left Irvine's championship lead smaller than it could have been. It did not seem to be part of the Ferrari script that Irvine, and not Schumacher, should become World Champion. The returning Schumacher aided him in Malaysia, letting his team-mate past and then holding up title challenger Mika Häkkinen. Both Ferraris were disqualified hours after the race as a result of a minor aerodynamic irregularity concerning the cars' bargeboards, seemingly handing the title to McLaren's Häkkinen, and the constructors' championship to the British team. However, 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.

In the title showdown at Suzuka, only a win could guarantee Irvine the title. In the event, his third place finish behind Hakkinen and Schumacher handed the championship to the Finn.

It is interesting to note, however, that under the current points system in Formula One, Irvine would have won the 1999 championship.

Jaguar (2000 - 2002)

Eddie Irvine, US Grand Prix, 2002

Notwithstanding his success in 1999, Irvine had become increasingly frustrated with a Ferrari team that had a team orders policy, meaning that he had to consistently take a backseat. He moved to Jaguar in 2000 to help establish the Jaguar Racing team where he finally became the lead driver.

The team learned much from Irvine's experience with Ferrari, but ultimately the Jaguar package was unreliable and uncompetitive. Driving a car much slower than most others, and dogged by the reliability problems, he still managed to get podium results in Monaco and Monza.

Friction in the Jaguar camp and his vocal frustration at the lack of positive development of the car resulted in his contract not being renewed. He was considered for a return to Jordan for the 2003 season but, due to that team's financial problems, he was left without a drive. He announced his retirement from Formula One racing that year. His car is currently on show in the Grampian Transport Museum in Alford, Aberdeenshire, Scotland.

Career after F1

Irvine is seen by many as a playboy in the mould of James Hunt, in contrast to the sport's modern stars, who are seen as staid and less flamboyant. Irvine is also remembered for his tendency to speak his mind, often to the irritation of some.

Following the collapse of talks with Minardi in 2005, Irvine is now considering setting up his own Formula One team from scratch. Outside of F1 Irvine is said to have built up a multi-million pound property portfolio, owning around 40 properties throughout the world. He is also the owner of Eddie Irvine Sports, a snooker, pool, kart racing, paintballing and football facility in Bangor, close to his native Conlig.

He is now executive producer of a film being produced about Paddy Mayne.

In May 2006, it was announced that Irvine would be one of the celebrities taking part in ITV's Soccer Aid. In aid of UNICEF, this show featured an England vs. the rest of the world football match, with teams made up of a mix of celebrities and ex-professionals. Unfortunately, he had to pull out, because of a leg injury. He is just about to launch a new programme on Sky One with two celebrity teams competing against each other. David Coulthard is the captain of the girls team and Irvine is the captain of the boys team.

Trivia

• He is a friend of the U2 frontman Bono, who taught him how to play the guitar.

• Irvine had a brief fling with actress and model Pamela Anderson, who broke of the romance claiming that "Eddie was just too sweet for me." (June, 2006) [2]

• According to the Sunday Times Rich List, published in April 2006, Irvine is now the fifth richest person of Northern Ireland, having increased his personal fortune to approximately £160 million.

• Irvine is known for his extravagent helmet designs including an Irish shamrock and a jaguar.

• He has been linked to a future role at the Spyker MF1 Racing Formula One team.

Formula One career results

Season	Team	Wins	Points	Result
1993	Jordan-Hart	0	1	20th=
1994	Jordan-Hart	0	6	14th=
1995	Jordan-Peugeot	0	10	12th
1996	Ferrari	0	11	10th
1997	Ferrari	0	24	7th
1998	Ferrari	0	47	4th
1999	Ferrari	4	74	2nd
2000	Jaguar-Cosworth	0	4	13th
2001	Jaguar-Cosworth	0	6	12th
2002	Jaguar-Cosworth	0	8	9th

Complete Formula One Grand Prix results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Team	WDC	Points
1993	Jordan	RSA	BRA	EUR	SMR	ESP	MON	CAN	FRA	GBR	DEU	HUN	BEL	ITA	POR	JPN 6	AUS Ret		Jordan	20th	1
1994	Jordan	BRA Ret	PAC	SMR	MON	ESP Ret	CAN Ret	FRA Ret	GBR Ret	DEU Ret	HUN Ret	BEL 13	ITA Ret	POR 7	EUR 4	JPN 5	AUS Ret		Jordan	16th	6
1995	Jordan	BRA Ret	ARG Ret	SMR 8	ESP 5	MON Ret	CAN 3	FRA 9	GBR Ret	GER 9	HUN Ret	BEL Ret	ITA Ret	POR 10	EUR 6	PFC 11	JPN 4	AUS Ret	Jordan	12th	10
1996	Ferrari	AUS 3	BRA 7	ARG 5	EUR Ret	SMR 4	MON 7	ESP Ret	CAN Ret	FRA Ret	GBR Ret	GER Ret	HUN Ret	BEL Ret	ITA Ret	POR 5	JPN Ret		Ferrari	10th	11
1997	Ferrari	AUS Ret	BRA 16	ARG 2	SMR 3	MON 3	ESP 12	CAN Ret	FRA 3	GBR Ret	GER Ret	HUN 9	BEL 10	ITA 14	AUT Ret	LUX Ret	JPN 3	EUR 5	Ferrari	7th	24
1998	Ferrari	AUS 4	BRA 8	ARG 3	SMR 3	ESP Ret	MON 3	CAN 3	FRA 2	GBR 3	AUT 4	GER 8	HUN Ret	BEL Ret	ITA 2	LUX 4	JPN 2		Ferrari	4th	47
1999	Ferrari	AUS 1	BRA 5	SMR Ret	MON 2	ESP 4	CAN 3	FRA 6	GBR 2	AUT 1	GER 1	HUN 3	BEL 4	ITA 6	EUR 7	MYS 1	JPN 3		Ferrari	2nd	74
2000	Jaguar	AUS Ret	BRA Ret	SMR 7	GBR 13	ESP 11	EUR Ret	MON 4	CAN 13	FRA 13	AUT Inj	GER 8	HUN 8	BEL 10	ITA Ret	USA 7	JPN 8	MYS 6	Jaguar	13th	4
2001	Jaguar	AUS 11	MYS Ret	BRA Ret	SMR Ret	ESP Ret	AUT 7	MON 3	CAN Ret	EUR 7	FRA Ret	GBR 9	GER Ret	HUN Ret	BEL Ret	ITA Ret	USA 5	JPN Ret	Jaguar	12th	6
2002	Jaguar	AUS 4	MYS Ret	BRA 7	SMR Ret	ESP Ret	AUT Ret	MON 9	CAN Ret	EUR Ret	GBR Ret	FRA Ret	GER Ret	HUN Ret	BEL 6	ITA 3	USA 10	JPN 9	Jaguar	9th	8