Irvine
was influenced by his parents, who are also involved in motor
racing. 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. His
reputation steadily increased in Formula One, eventually leading
Ferrari to sign him to partner Michael Schumacher in 1996.
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 in the face!
Irvine continued with Jordan until 1995, where he was generally quicker
than his younger, though more experienced team-mate, Rubens Barrichello
The Ferrari team picked him as number 2 to Michael Schumacher
for 1996. 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.
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. He won four races, taking the Drivers'
Championship to the last race, finishing a close second to McLaren
driver Mika Häkkinen. 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; he achieved this feat twice.
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.
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