Irvine laziest driver of all time: "He would sit on his butt all day"
F1 News
- GPblog.com
Eddie Jordan has had to deal with a lot of drivers in his time as team boss. From great champions like Senna and Schumacher to several one-day races. One of the drivers with whom he had a special bond was Eddie Irvine, a driver who turned out to be almost impossible to steer.
Before Irvine became second driver alongside Michael Schumacher at Ferrari for many years, he drove at Jordan from the end of 1993 until 1995. That he managed to make it this far is actually miraculous if you can believe the stories of Eddie Jordan. For example, in the 'Off The Ball' podcast he talks about the fact that he was often jogged by journalists early in the morning.
"That was just to get Eddie Irvine up and do something. He sat on his butt all day in his apartment. He's the laziest driver of all time. That's a shame, because he could've easily become world champion."
Gym teacher had to get Irvine to work
"That was his style. He was a guy from the nightclubs and usually didn't wake up until noon or sometimes even later. I even hired a gym teacher to shame him into running around the streets of Oxford in the morning."
Whether it helped a lot was the question and Jordan himself was not so sure. "I often wondered then whether he had just gotten up or actually just came back from the nightclub. He was hilarious to work with, but at the same time enormously frustrating."
Irvine had absolutely no need of hard work or fitness, but Jordan agrees that the Northern Ireland had other qualities. He calls Irvine one of the smartest and sharpest drivers he has worked with. Someone who always seemed to make the right decisions at the right time. Something that wouldn't hurt him financially later on.