Eddie Irvine

Eddie Irvine's early career had promised a great deal, right from his
beginnings in the British and Irish FF1600 series.

He funded his racing by buying and selling road cars until his big
breakthrough and a works Van Diemen drive in Formula Ford for 1987. He won
both the RAC British and Esso FF1600 championships, amassing 14 victories,
and to crown his year Eddie also took the Brands Hatch Formula Ford Festival
in convincing style.

Moving up to Formula Three in 1988 with Dick Bennetts' West Surrey Racing
team, Irvine found winning a tougher proposition - he managed five seconds
and three thirds but just could not break the dominance of JJ Lehto and Gary
Brabham.

Lehto and his Pacific Team, graduated to F3000 the following season, as
Eddie climbed on board. It was a somewhat humbling experience for the team
as Eddie Jordan's outfit ruled the roost with Jean Alesi and Martin
Donnelly. While the Finn looked a little bewildered by his predicament,
however, Irvine got stuck in and never gave up. His reward was a move to
Jordan's camp in 1990, when he proved to be a frontrunner, winning at
Hockenheim and finishing third in the championship.

Despite interest in Europe, Irvine subsequently concentrated on the Japanese
F3000 series. In 1991 and 1992, he finished sixth in the final table and he
was very unfortunate to lose the 1993 championship to Kazuyoshi Hoshino,
after scoring more points than the veteran. Highly thought of by Toyota,
Irvine has driven in Japan in 1992 and also at Le Mans, both in 1993, when
he was fourth and set fastest lap, and 1994, when he came second.

Rarely can a Grand Prix debut have brought so much controversy. As Irvine
shone in the wet in the Jordan-Hart, battling with Damon Hill for fourth
place, he first balked and then had the temerity to re-pass race leader
Ayrton Senna, who was attempting to lap him. Late on in the race, the
Irishman punted Derek Warwick off to claim sixth place and a championship
point, but then suffered a physical and verbal assault from the irate Senna
after the race. It certainly moved the self-assured Ulsterman to centre
stage, if only for a weekend.

Eddie was set for a full season of Grand Prix racing with Jordan in 1994,
and pretty soon he was again embroiled in controversy. Blamed for a four car
pile-up in Brazil, he harshly received a one-race ban. Quite reasonably,
Irvine appealed - and was sent away with his punishment increased
three-fold! A less resilient character than the Ulsterman may have suffered
a loss of confidence, but Irvine bounced back all the stronger, a
late-season fourth place at Jerez being the best of a number of fine
displays.


In 1995, Irvine matured even further to outshine team-mate Barrichello more
often than not. His performances in qualifying were particularly impressive
but it came as a mild shock when it was announced that Eddie would be
joining Michael Schumacher at Ferrari in 1996.

This was to prove the chance of a lifetime for Eddie, who was astute enough
to accept his subordinate role to the German in the team on the sound basis
that a spell at Maranello could only improve his own standing as a driver.
His first season brought little in terms of concrete finishes, nor was he
given sufficient testing to enable him to back his team leader as
effectively as he would have wished, but he carved comfortable and
profitable niche for himself wearing an air of casual indifference or open
defiance depending upon his mood.

Certainly the 1998 season saw an even more confident Eddie up his game and
he became not only a reliably consistent points scorer, but also had the
look of a genuine Grand Prix winner should the opportunity arise. Little was
he to know that the opening race of the 1999 season at Melbourne would bring
that first Grand Prix win and the rest of the year would suck him into the
vortex of a thrilling championship battle with the McLarens of Häkkinen and
Coulthard. Picking up Ferrari's challenge after Schumacher's unfortunate
Silverstone accident, he realistically assessed his situation and took the
fight to the McLaren pair with great tenacity, and was predictably
consummate in waging a war of mind-games.

In the end, of course, Eddie just came up short and had to give best to
Hakkinen in Japan. There was, by way of consolation, a multi-million pound
move to Jaguar for 2000 and the chance to not only emerge from Schumacher's
shadow, but to prove he has what it took as a team leader in his own right.

Partnered by fellow Brit Johnny Herbert, and backed by one of the richest
companies in the world in Ford, Eddie hoped to turn the tables on both his
former team and team-mate in 2000, but was thwarted by a spectacularly poor
debut season for the Leaping Cat.

Two points finishes - the first at an attrition-filled Monaco GP - were the
sum total of the Irishman's efforts, leaving him 13th in the title race with
just a meagre four points to his - and the team's - name.

Staying with Jaguar for 2001, Irvine looked for much improved reliability
from the new R2, but it failed to materialise.

Initially teamed with Brazilian rookie Luciano Burti, who stepped up from a
testing role to replace the departed Herbert, Irvine had to contend with
unpredictable handling, poor aerodynamics and slow engine development as
Jaguar opted to build on its first season with a 'more robust' machine. The
highlight of the year was third place in Monaco, but there were too many
disappointments en route to twelfth spot in the title race, despite the
arrival of the more experienced Pedro de la Rosa after just four races.

The 2002 season promised better and, with Niki Lauda at the helm of the
Jaguar ship, much was expected of a new slimmer, sleeker car - the R3. It
was again poor from the start, as testing with the R3 was something of a
disaster and even led to talk of reverting to the R2, for the start of the
season.

Against the odds, Irvine started the year well, with fourth place in
Australia, although the good result was not really down to the car, as more
than half the field was knocked out following a pile-up at the start. Eddie
then had to wait until Belgium in September to score another point, before
an inspired drive at the Italian GP, when he qualified fifth and finished
third to end the year on a high.

Irvine finished the season with eight points and ninth in the drivers'
championship, but it wasn't enough to keep him in employment. His desire to
be outspoken had not endeared the Irishman to the powers-that-be at Ford,
and the decision not to renew his contract in November was not a surprise.

Always one to insist that he would not step backwards from F1 to drive
anything else, Irvine has retired into the life of luxury that his years at
Ferrari and Jaguar afforded him. Despite having a yacht and numerous
properties around the world, however, he still springs up at several races
during the year - notably Monaco, Imola and Monza - where he can be relied
upon to provide a barbed quote or two.

If rumours are to be believed, the Ulsterman is a front man for a consortium
of businessmen seriously looking at acquiring a Formula 1 team.