Eddie Irvine
Updated: Wikipedia source
Edmund "Eddie" Irvine Jr. (; born 10 November 1965) is a former racing driver from Northern Ireland, who competed under the British flag in Formula One from 1993 to 2002. Irvine was runner-up in the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in 1999 with Ferrari, and won four Grands Prix across ten seasons. 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. He 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. He scored his first podium in 1995 with Jordan, before moving to Ferrari in 1996. His most successful season was in 1999 when he took four victories and finished second in the World Championship, two points behind McLaren driver Mika Häkkinen. In his four years with Ferrari, he also finished fourth overall in 1998 and scored 22 podiums. He moved to Jaguar Racing in 2000, scoring the team's first podium in 2001 and his final podium in 2002. Irvine retired from competitive motorsport at the end of the 2002 season. As of 2024, Irvine jointly holds the record with four drivers (Lando Norris, Mika Häkkinen, Jean Alesi and Patrick Depailler) for scoring the most podiums before winning a Grand Prix (15). Since retiring, Irvine became a media personality in Great Britain. He was linked with the takeover of the Jordan and Minardi Formula One teams in 2005 but talks came to nothing. Irvine also expanded his interests in the property market, having built up an investment portfolio during his racing career.