1. Eddie Irvine began his career at the age of seventeen when he entered Formula Ford, achieving early success, before progressing to the Formula Three and Formula 3000 Championships.
110 Facts About Eddie Irvine
1. 2.
Eddie Irvine made his Formula One debut in 1993 with Jordan Grand Prix, where he achieved early notoriety for his involvement in incidents on and off the track.
3.
Eddie Irvine scored his first podium in 1995 with Jordan, before moving to Ferrari in 1996.
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Eddie Irvine moved to Jaguar Racing in 2000, scoring the team's first podium in 2001 and his final podium in 2002.
5.
Eddie Irvine retired from competitive motorsport at the end of the 2002 season.
6.
Since retiring, Eddie Irvine became a media personality in Great Britain.
7.
Eddie Irvine was linked with the takeover of the Jordan and Minardi Formula One teams in 2005, but talks came to nothing.
8.
Eddie Irvine expanded his interests in the property market, having built up an investment portfolio during his racing career.
9.
Eddie Irvine was born on 10 November 1965 in Newtownards, County Down in Northern Ireland, to Edmund Sr.
10.
Eddie Irvine has one older sister, Sonia, who acted as Irvine's physiotherapist until 1999.
11.
Eddie Irvine was initially interested in motorcycle racing, but his parents thought the sport too dangerous and was encouraged by his father to race in Formula Ford.
12.
Eddie Irvine worked unpaid in his father's scrapyard, in return for which, his father funded his racing hobby.
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Eddie Irvine won his first race at Brands Hatch in 1984, and an award for best driver.
14.
Eddie Irvine was that driver and joined West Surrey Racing for 1988.
15.
Eddie Irvine raced at the Macau Grand Prix for the first time and started the race from pole position, but failed to finish.
16.
In 1989 Eddie Irvine competed in the International Formula 3000 Championship with Pacific Racing.
17.
Eddie Irvine finished the season in ninth place, ahead of teammate JJ Lehto in thirteenth, who was then considered to be a promising young driver.
18.
Eddie Irvine won in Germany and ended the season in third place, beating his teammates Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Emanuele Naspetti.
19.
Eddie Irvine finished on the podium at both the Macau Grand Prix and the Fuji F3 Cup.
20.
Eddie Irvine made his Formula One debut in the penultimate race of the season, the Japanese Grand Prix, partnering Rubens Barrichello at the Jordan Grand Prix team.
21.
Eddie Irvine made an immediate impact, not only by scoring a point with sixth place, but by unlapping himself against race leader, and subsequent winner, Ayrton Senna.
22.
Eddie Irvine retired from the final race in Australia with accident damage.
23.
Eddie Irvine raced at the 24 Hours of Le Mans for the second time, driving a Toyota Group C car alongside Toshio Suzuki and Masanori Sekiya.
24.
Eddie Irvine remained at Jordan for 1994 and was again partnered by Barrichello.
25.
At the opening round in Brazil, Eddie Irvine was involved in a four car crash.
26.
Eddie Irvine later received a one-race ban and a $10,000 fine by the race stewards.
27.
Eddie Irvine's seat was filled by Aguri Suzuki for the following Pacific Grand Prix, and Andrea de Cesaris for the races in San Marino and Monaco.
28.
Eddie Irvine returned for the Spanish Grand Prix where he scored his first points of the season with sixth place.
29.
Eddie Irvine retired from the Italian Grand Prix due to an engine failure and was later given a one-race ban, suspended for three races, for an incident with Team Lotus driver Johnny Herbert on the opening lap.
30.
Eddie Irvine garnered further controversy during the first qualifying session of the Portuguese Grand Prix when he clipped Williams driver Damon Hill.
31.
Eddie Irvine was warned a similar incident would see his Super Licence revoked.
32.
Eddie Irvine retired from the season closing race in Australia when he spun off.
33.
Eddie Irvine finished the year 16th in the Drivers' Championship, with 6 points.
34.
Outside of Formula One, Eddie Irvine participated in his third consecutive 24 Hours of Le Mans as a substitute for the late Roland Ratzenberger, who died after crashing in qualifying for the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, driving for SARD alongside Mauro Martini and Jeff Krosnoff.
35.
Eddie Irvine remained at Jordan for 1995 and was again partnered by Barrichello.
36.
Eddie Irvine finished eighth at the San Marino Grand Prix, and scored points with a fifth-place finish in Spain.
37.
Eddie Irvine secured the first podium of his Formula One career with third place in Canada.
38.
Eddie Irvine fared well in the race by finishing sixth, although he finished outside the points in the Pacific Grand Prix.
39.
Eddie Irvine scored his final points of the season with a fifth in Japan, and finished the season with a retirement in Australia, due to pneumatic pressure.
40.
Eddie Irvine finished the year 12th in the Drivers' Championship with 10 points.
41.
At the season opener in Australia, Eddie Irvine finished in third place, where he started, after out-qualifying new teammate, and then double World Champion, Michael Schumacher.
42.
Eddie Irvine finished the Portuguese Grand Prix in fifth, but retired again from the final race of the season at Suzuka.
43.
Eddie Irvine finished tenth in the Drivers' Championship with 11 points.
44.
The first race of the season in Australia saw Eddie Irvine involved in a race ending first lap crash with Williams driver Jacques Villeneuve.
45.
Two races later, he finished a career high second place in Argentina, where Eddie Irvine challenged Villeneuve for the lead, who was suffering with a stomach ailment, and his car with brake problems.
46.
The result ended demands in the Italian press for Eddie Irvine to be sacked.
47.
At the Spanish Grand Prix Eddie Irvine finished only twelfth and was given a 10-second stop-go penalty, after he held up Olivier Panis and Jean Alesi when running a lap down.
48.
At the Canadian Grand Prix Eddie Irvine was involved in another first lap incident, this time with McLaren driver Mika Hakkinen.
49.
Eddie Irvine was back on the podium with third place at the French Grand Prix, before a run of seven races where he was either out of the points or out of the race.
50.
Eddie Irvine's run of poor results ended with a third-place finish at the Japanese Grand Prix, and he concluded the season with a fifth place at the European Grand Prix.
51.
Eddie Irvine finished seventh in the Drivers' Championship with 24 points.
52.
Eddie Irvine remained at Ferrari for 1998 and was again partnered with Schumacher.
53.
Eddie Irvine had very little running in the new Ferrari F300 during pre-season testing, and was concerned with the tyre war between Goodyear, Ferrari's tyre supplier, and Bridgestone, but was nevertheless confident about his chances over the coming season.
54.
At the first race of the season in Australia Eddie Irvine finished in fourth, and in the following race in Brazil, outside the points in eighth place.
55.
Eddie Irvine finished on the podium six times in the next seven races, including a second-place finish in France, behind teammate Schumacher.
56.
The contract stipulated that Eddie Irvine was permitted to choose his own strategy and setup, although he would remain in a supporting role to Schumacher.
57.
Eddie Irvine finished the season fourth in the Drivers' Championship with 47 points.
58.
For 1999, Eddie Irvine was confident heading into the season, saying: "After last year's results where I got my best ever championship finish with fourth place overall, now, for this year, I want to do even better".
59.
Eddie Irvine's season got off to a good start: after 81 Grand Prix, Irvine scored his maiden Formula One victory at the season opening round in Australia, giving him the lead of the World Drivers' Championship for the first time.
60.
Eddie Irvine finished second at Monaco and set the fastest lap and survived a collision with McLaren driver David Coulthard on the way to a third-place finish in Canada.
61.
Eddie Irvine assumed the role of team leader and was partnered by Finnish driver Mika Salo for the next six races.
62.
Eddie Irvine won the next race in Austria and was gifted the win by Mika Salo a week later in Germany, helping him to regain the lead of the Drivers' Championship.
63.
Eddie Irvine finished out of the points in seventh place at the European Grand Prix after enduring an embarrassing 48-second pitstop while his mechanics searched for a missing tyre as they only had three ready for him when he came in.
64.
At the final race of the season in Japan, Eddie Irvine struggled in qualifying and crashed heavily, managing only fifth place; in the race he finished third, over a minute and a half behind Schumacher in second, and race winner Hakkinen.
65.
Eddie Irvine lost the Drivers' Championship to Hakkinen by just 2 points, but Eddie Irvine's efforts during the season helped Ferrari to clinch their first World Constructors' Championship in 16 years.
66.
Eddie Irvine was awarded the Hawthorn Memorial Trophy, an annual award given to the most successful British or Commonwealth driver in Formula One over the course of one season.
67.
Eddie Irvine was named Autosport British Competition Driver of the Year for 1999.
68.
Eddie Irvine retired from the European Grand Prix from a collision with Williams driver Ralf Schumacher after spinning from being overtaken by Arrows driver Jos Verstappen.
69.
At the next race in Monaco, Eddie Irvine scored Jaguar's first points with fourth place.
70.
Eddie Irvine was forced to withdraw from the Austrian Grand Prix due to abdominal pains caused by a bout of appendicitis although he participated in the event's first free practice session.
71.
Eddie Irvine was replaced by the team's test driver Luciano Burti.
72.
Eddie Irvine was passed fit for the German Grand Prix, where he secured tenth position despite a spin.
73.
Eddie Irvine was unable to score further points in the next five races, which included a retirement in Italy when he collided with Salo on the first lap.
74.
Eddie Irvine finished off the season by finishing the final three races which included a sixth-place points scoring finish at the season closing Malaysian Grand Prix.
75.
Eddie Irvine finished the season 13th in the Drivers' Championship and scored four points.
76.
Outside of Formula One, Eddie Irvine took part in the Belfast City Open and Direct Millennium Motorsport Festival driving a Jaguar sportscar to celebrate the marque's participation in the Tourist Trophy.
77.
Eddie Irvine remained at Jaguar for 2001 and was partnered by Luciano Burti.
78.
Eddie Irvine supported the view of being sacked at the end of the season if his performances did not satisfy the team.
79.
Eddie Irvine clinched 11th place in the first round in Australia and failed to finish in the next four consecutive races.
80.
Eddie Irvine took Jaguar's first podium finish with third place in the following round in Monaco.
81.
Eddie Irvine suffered from a neck strain at a test session at Silverstone and took time resting during the summer break.
82.
Eddie Irvine rejected the contract as he wanted to help Jaguar become more competitive.
83.
At the Belgian Grand Prix, Eddie Irvine was involved in a collision with Burti who was trying to overtake him.
84.
Eddie Irvine managed to clinch his final points of the season with fifth in the United States and ended the season by retiring from the Japanese Grand Prix from a failure of his car's power generators on the fuel rig.
85.
Eddie Irvine finished the season 12th in the Drivers' Championship having scored six points.
86.
Eddie Irvine remained at Jaguar for 2002 and was again partnered by de la Rosa.
87.
In preparation for the upcoming season, Eddie Irvine undertook a fitness examination and recorded a high score.
88.
At the opening round in Australia, Eddie Irvine finished fourth; and in the following race in Malaysia, he was forced to retire with an hydraulics problem.
89.
Eddie Irvine later managed to clinch seventh place in the Brazilian Grand Prix, before he suffered consecutive retirements in the next three races.
90.
Eddie Irvine later finished the Monaco Grand Prix in ninth position, which was followed up with further consecutive retirements in the seven races.
91.
However, this marked a turning point as Eddie Irvine managed to finish in all of the remaining races.
92.
Eddie Irvine finished the season ninth in the Drivers' Championship, with eight points.
93.
Eddie Irvine considered a return to his former team Jordan for the 2003 season, with no agreement reached due to the team's financial problems.
94.
Eddie Irvine denied rumours that he would move into either the CART World Series or the IndyCar Series.
95.
In 2002, Eddie Irvine successfully sued TalkSport Radio for passing off his image in a print advertisement, as if he had personally endorsed the station.
96.
Eight years later, Eddie Irvine fronted a half-hour programme on the station, the LG Grand Prix Show, alongside regular Sunday evening presenter Andy Goldstein.
97.
Eddie Irvine was to be sentenced at Bow Street Magistrates but did not attend.
98.
In May 2005, Eddie Irvine was rumoured to be heading a consortium to buy the Jordan Grand Prix team, and stated his interest in running the team.
99.
Eddie Irvine was later linked to a possible sale of the Minardi team and held talks with team principal Paul Stoddart.
100.
Eddie Irvine was a millionaire through property investment before reaching Formula One.
101.
Eddie Irvine has a multi-million pound property portfolio, owning around forty properties throughout the world.
102.
Eddie Irvine is the owner of Eddie Irvine Sports, a snooker, pool, kart racing, paintballing, and football facility in Bangor, close to his native Conlig.
103.
On 9 January 2014, Eddie Irvine was sentenced to six months in prison in Italy after being found guilty of "mutual injury" following a brawl in a night club in Milan, Italy with Gabriele Moratti, son of former mayor of Milan Letizia Moratti.
104.
Eddie Irvine held a racing licence issued by the National Sporting Authority of the Republic of Ireland.
105.
Eddie Irvine then requested that at subsequent races, a politically neutral shamrock flag be flown, and the non-sectarian "Londonderry Air" be played to mark a victory.
106.
Eddie Irvine named his biggest influence as his former girlfriend Maria Drummond, whom he met at the Macau Grand Prix in 1988.
107.
Eddie Irvine said that the birth of his daughter was the best moment of his life, despite not being a natural lover of babies.
108.
Eddie Irvine is seen by many as a playboy in the mould of James Hunt, in contrast to the sport's modern stars, most of whom are seen as staid and less flamboyant.
109.
Eddie Irvine is remembered for his tendency to speak his mind, often to the irritation of some.
110.
Eddie Irvine was nicknamed "Irv the Swerve" and later "Fast Eddie".