Eddie Rocket

EDDIE IRVINE is a busy man. And a rich one. An initial attempt by Hot Press to arrange an interview ended in failure when the Formula One driver departed in his private aeroplane at short notice.
One week and one Grand Prix later we finally meet in a small country pub just outside Oxford. Irvine arrives late, having been testing all day for his new team, Jaguar, at Silverstone. It has, he complains, been a complete waste of time , with changeable weather conditions robbing driver and technicians alike of the chance to put the car properly through its paces.
For all those who warm to Irvine s devil-may-care attitude, there are many others who find his apparent arrogance difficult to stomach. Jane Nottage, his co-author of Life In The Fast Lane, wrote that he is a bit of an enigma. His personality is reflected from those he s close to and out it comes, good and bad, sensitive and insensitive, instinctive and reflective.
In Hot Press company, he is far from the nightmare of journalistic legend. He is, however, hard to warm to, partly because of his tendency to moan (about the weather, the venue, the time) and partly because his demeanour is one of unremitting superciliousness.
Perhaps such personality traits are not that surprising considering Irvine s rollercoaster existence. Born near Bangor, Co Down, 34 years ago, he made his way through the ranks of Formula Ford and Formula Three, before getting his break on the Grand Prix circuit with the Jordan team. His star rose further when he joined Ferrari in 1996, though during his tenure there his ambitions had to take second place to providing support for the team s No 1 driver, Michael Schumacher. However, when Schumacher broke his leg at the British Grand Prix last season, Irvine came into his own, narrowly failing to win the World Drivers Championship.
The man they call Fast Eddie , is, of course, known as much for his partying and womanising image as for his driving abilities. He has been linked to a string of women, and is currently going out with a Dutch model, Anouk. He also recently got into hot water when the tabloids zeroed in on his revelation that he had a fling with Yvonne Connolly prior to her becoming Mrs Ronan Keating. Yvonne is very photogenic but it was never destined to be a big love job, Irvine stated in Life In The Fast Lane. To the surprise of all of us, a few months later Yvonne went off and married Ronan . . .
Reflecting on his upbringing, Irvine claims that the Troubles didn t make a huge impact on his childhood. Bangor didn t really get a lot of it, he says. It was there and you watched it. My Dad used to have a shop and he would be woken up if there were incendiary devices in Ards.
More recently, Irvine aroused some controversy in certain quarters when he favoured a shamrock insignia on his racing helmet.
I don t know if people really got annoyed, but it would be sad if they did, he says, adding that the fact that he no longer wears the shamrock helmet had nothing to do with any objection to it. It wasn t for any reason like that, he says. It s just that I changed the design completely because I was fed up with it.
As a Northern Protestant now making his home in southern Ireland, Irvine laughingly says that the only thing which strikes him as weird is all these cars parked outside chapel on a Sunday, blocking up the roads.
Though he may have a determinedly bachelor lifestyle, Eddie Irvine has a daughter, Zoe, from a previous relationship. He divides his time between Dalkey, Oxford, Milan and his luxury boat. He is widely regarded as the most charismatic man in motor racing.

NIALL STANAGE: Your father was a motor racing driver. What are your earliest memories of the sport?
EDDIE IRVINE: I wouldn t have said that my father was a motor racing driver, really. He was a garage proprietor who liked to race. He and his brothers bought a car together and he was the only one small enough to fit in it. So he ended up doing the driving duties and the others did the mechanics.
My earliest memories are of going to Crofton in the north of England to go racing, going to Ingleston in Scotland, breaking down in the fog in the middle of the mountains. But it was really exciting for me, it was amazing. I was only five or six.
Was there a time when being a driver in Formula One changed from a dream to a possibility?
I never dreamed of being a Formula One driver. I dreamed of being a Formula One mechanic that was what I aimed for. I remember asking the careers officer in school how do you become a Formula One mechanic? [smiles]
But there must have been some time when you realised you might be able to do it as a driver.
Whenever I signed for Marlboro. I d just won two British Championships in Formula Ford, and Marlboro signed me up to do Formula Three and I thought, if I can do the job, I ll get there .
You first got into Formula One with Jordan. How did they approach you?
I was doing Le Mans for Toyota. It was the same weekend that James Hunt died. I was leading the race and I just got speaking to EJ. He wanted rid of Boutsen, and he asked if I would be interested in doing the last four races. I couldn t because of my contract, but I said I could do the last two. And the rest is well-known.
What s Eddie like?
EJ s one of the great characters in Formula One. I think Formula One is going away from his type of character to the more boring, corporate type of person. We could do with more people like him. He knows how to enjoy himself.
Is it true that you tried to pull his daughter?
[Pause] I don t think so, no.
When he was interviewed for the book about you, he said that he virtually had to drag her away from you. . .
I had her on my boat in St Tropez this year. But it was more my cousin who was trying to pull her. I can t blame him! [laughs]
You ve spoken of how your celebrity status took off after you joined Ferrari and you didn t find that very pleasant. How did all that happen?
During the first year at Ferrari no-one knew me. I didn t finish any races, I broke down all the time and I was never in Italy cos I didn t do any testing. I was probably the highest paid driver that year per lap, but it was a really good summer in Ireland, so I spent most of my time on the beach in Dalkey, driving a jetski.
Then as more and more success came, I started to lose my privacy. Now it s a big pain. Like at the circuit today: I m eating and people are coming asking for autographs constantly. So I say, Scuse me, I m eating my dinner . These weren t young guys, they were forty-five or fifty. And they don t even listen, they still come at me.
At that point I say Leave me alone, will ye? And then they get upset because I told them to leave me alone. I mean, where were they brought up? Whenever I was going around collecting autographs as a kid, I d stand there waiting for hours for them to be free to sign. These people now, they re just pig ignorant, and the more you experience it, the less patience you ve got for it.
For almost all the time at Ferrari you were No 2 to Michael Schumacher. Did you take any pleasure from his being injured last season?
I had to take pleasure from a professional point of view. It was a fantastic opportunity for me. It got me the chance to be able to win more races, it got me the chance to be able to go for the championship. It was a godsend in a way.
But that has happened in the careers of many drivers. Damon Hill only got the Williams drive because Mansell asked for a stupid amount of money and got kicked out. Hakkinen only got the drive at McLaren because Andretti was useless and got kicked out halfway through the season. You take the chance and it makes you or breaks you.
Will you ever get as good a chance as you had last year to win the drivers championship?
You just dunno. The situation is that this year and next year I won t have a chance. The year after that, hopefully, I will.
Why?
Because you can t beat Michael Schumacher in the same car. No-one has. You gotta beat him in a better car, and that s why I had to get out of Ferrari.
Which begs the question: how do you defend motor racing to those who say it s more about who can build the best car than the ability of the driver?
Well, that s the great thing about motor racing: it is about everything. So even if you re not as talented as someone like Michael Schumacher, you can still beat them because you can be more clever, and make your car better.
If you were a hundred metre sprinter and, ten years ago, you were trying to beat Carl Lewis, the only way to do it would have been to take drugs. So is it more fair that someone naturally better than you can always beat you, or that you can be more clever and beat them? I think the second way s much more fair.
Describe the thrill of driving a Formula
One car.
I don t know about just driving the car, you get used to that. But racing s different. The last race I was in, I had so much fun. I made an awful start, then I got past Frentzen, then I got up on Trulli but I couldn t get past him, then I got a misfire so I dropped back a bit and it all started again. There was so much going on.
Is it better than sex?
Em . . .It s a lot more difficult than sex [laughs]. Sex is too easy. It s an easy way to have fun, isn t it? It s not massively challenging.
What s this about you being more scared of earwigs than doing 180mph?
I hate earwigs. I cannot stand them. I am scared of earwigs.
Have you had any really scary moments when driving?
I ve had a few shunts, yeah, but I ve never hurt myself.
What about the fact that death or serious injury is a genuine risk?
You ve just got to ignore it. Hope it doesn t happen.
What effect did the deaths of friends in the sport like Jeff Krosnoff have?
I don t think they had any effect. With Jeff, it was very sad. He was a really, really nice guy. He had just got his big break to get into Indycars and then that goes and happpens. Same with Ratzy [Roland Ratzenberger -NS] in Formula One. Always wanted to be in Formula One, first race he ends up being killed.
How did you hear about Jeff s accident?
I was at the British Grand Prix. Adam Cooper, a journalist, came over to me and said, Jeff s had a big one in the States . I went in to the Mercedes motor home and watched the action. . . and he had no chance.
What did you do then?
I went round the back of the motor home to try to get away from everyone and a fan followed me round. I said excuse me mate, leave me alone . No, no, I just want an autograph . And I lost the head with him. It was really sad. Jeff was so pleased to be in Indycars and . . . anyway. Next question.
All that must have had some effect on the way you approached the sport, surely?
Not really. I looked at the accident. I had a lot of experience and learnt situations to avoid. Jeff went in to a situation that, I think, I would have avoided.
Ratzy went off the road, damaged the front wing and kept going. Something fell off and then he had his big accident. I had the exact same thing happen to me in Japan. The front wing just fell off the car and the front went into the air. Lucky enough, it was two hundred yards from the corner. He was unlucky, it happened a hundred yards from the coner and he went straight into the wall.
So is it just random twists of fate?
It is, yeah. Even when you re driving on the road. There are times when I ve come flying around the corner and just missed a lorry, while another guy would have caught the lorry and wouldn t be here today. And I wouldn t say it was my skill, it was just that maybe the lorry was fifty yards futher up.
Do you have some kind of good luck charm, then?
No. I don t believe in luck. There s no such thing as luck. It s preparation.
What about the lorry?
It s not luck, is it?
Isn t it?
It s not luck. The lorry was parked fifty yards up. It s . . . It is whatever it is. But in motor racing I don t believe in luck. You break down because you weren t prepared properly, you spin off because you were going too fast.

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Tell us about your most bizarre sexual experience. Wasn t there a story about you nearly getting injured by a toilet seat . . .?
It s funny you should mention that. That girl turned up the other day. Married with two kids now.
So what happened?
The seat broke. It exploded. The plastic just broke into daggers. Honestly! And they were pointing straight up. I was very, very lucky.
Where in the world has the most beautiful women?
Argentina. Buenos Aires has the most beautiful women. Definitely.
What is the most blatant way a woman has come onto you?
I had one the other night in Milan who came up to me and said Are you coming home with me or are you going home with big tits over there?
And?
And I said neither .
How many women have you slept with?
I have no idea.
Don t you keep count?
It s not that much. My friends get much more quantity and more quality.
Really?
Yeah.
You re quite sure?
Yep. [chortles]
You were once described by a friend of yours as being able to talk for hours about nothing to girls who understand nothing. Anything to say?
See, that s Enrico [Irvine s manager NS]. He does that. Honestly, if he fancies a girl he can talk forever. He said that about me when really he was talking about himself. I can t.
You re a bit shy and retiring then . . .
If I can t have a giggle with some girl, I won t bother. Unless she s exceptionally good-looking, of course. [laughs]
Who s the most famous woman you have slept with?
I don t know . . . which one would be the most famous? [laughs]
Didn t Christy Turlington once describe you as cute ?
Maybe. I met her in the PoD in Dublin one night. She s lovely.
Did you try it on?
No. I was far too shy for that.
What happened with Yvonne Connolly?
What I said in the book.
Did what you said create ill-feeling?
I ve no idea. She s a friend of mine. I haven t spoken to either of them in ages, so I dunno. I know the News Of The World made a big deal of it but if you read it, they actually made most of it up.
The more famous you get, the more you realise how much bullshit is in these newspapers. Like, there was one where I was supposed to have rolled up at a Mercedes dealer with a bag of five pound notes to buy a quarter of a million pound Mercedes. Then the taxman sees this and wants to know where I got a bag of five pound notes from. That whole story was total bullshit. That was in The News Of The World. Then there was another one where I left a qualifying session to fly down to Greece to have nookie with . . . Noukie [laughs]. Make believe, absolute make believe.
Didn t you have a bit of a problem with one of your girlfriends when she caught you on your boat in the company of three women?
Yeah, that was true . . . except it was six, actually.
Did you bother trying to plead innocence?
No. I was innocent. Well, reasonably innocent. She had a laugh about it because the whole thing was so ridiculous.
Tell us the story.
Well, I just wanted to go away with a few friends for the weekend. Then a girl I knew said, I m coming to Paris this weekend. Can I come and stay with you on the boat? So she was coming down to the boat with her friend and a few other girls were coming down too.
I knew then that there would be too many people on the boat, and that I had to make space. So I told my girlfriend I was going to Corsica. Anyway, I went into this nightclub that weekend and one of her best friends was in the club! Next day I m riding around on the jetski and this big boat pulls up alongside mine. I m thinking I wonder who that is? I rode the jetski over to have a look and it was Monica! And she says, Hey! How s Corsica? [laughs]
And what did you say?
I said, Oh, I, er, came back last night . She said, No you didn t. You were in that nightclub over there last night. And I said OK . We gonna talk about this? Yep . When are you back in Milan? Wednesday . But when I arrived back in Milan I walked into her house and the two of us just burst out laughing.
Did that end the romance?
No, that wasn t the reason. I still see her now and we have a great laugh.
Your present girlfriend says that when you first started going out with her you wouldn t put your arm around her in public.
I still don t. I hate public displays of affection. That s a Northern Ireland trait, I think.
Does all this mean that you re just hopelessly immature?
I don t want to be mature. I m quite happy being immature and having a giggle and floating around enjoying myself. If being immature means enjoying yourself then I m quite happy to be immature.
In a recent TV documentary, you said that one of the reasons you don t play a more active role in your daughter s upbringing is because, I am only a child myself. Is that not just a cop out?
I don t know. I do what I can and she lives on the other side of the world, so it s not easy to do more.
But if you say you re just a child yourself . . .
[interrupts] I am. And all the guys I know are when they can be, but life hasn t turned out in a way that allows them to be so . . . not childish, but just fun-loving. People put childish with having fun, and I don t think that should be the case.
But what I m getting at is the contradiction in you saying you are only a child when you clearly have adult responsibilities, i.e. Zoe?
She doesn t want for anything financially or anything like that. I go and see her as often as I can. I do a lot more than a lot of fathers do.
Does Zoe ever come to see you race?
No. Her mother doesn t want her to see the life that I m involved in. Her mother doesn t want her spoiled. She wants her to have a totally normal upbringing, which I agree with.

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OK. Drinking. Is red bull and vodka still your poison?
Mmm. On Sunday night after a Grand Prix there s nothing like it. You re really tired and stressed after a whole weekend; it s the only thing that gets you going.
When was the last time you were drunk?
Sunday night, after San Marino, I s pose.
What s the most drunk you ve ever been?
One night in Milan. I don t know what happened. I was totally out of my tiny little mind.
And where did you end up?
My friend s house. I ve no idea how I got there. Apparently I was carried. I dunno what happened.
What are you like when you re drunk?
Calm and collected.
I don t believe that for a second.
OK, I enjoy myself.
Are any particular character traits exaggerated when you re drunk?
Yes.
Which ones?
All of them.
Are you a dancer when you ve been drinking?
A private dancer.
What is your greatest extravagance?
The aeroplane. It s certainly the most expensive toy I ve got. That s not fair, actually, it s not a toy. I need it. I d go bananas in airports with people coming up to me all the time.
How much money does it cost to run?
Other people would have a better idea than me. But it s a lot. It s ridiculous.
How many cars do you own?
Around ten. Off the top of my head, I don t know. I love them all. I couldn t get rid of one if I had to.
Isn t there a contradiction between that and you claiming that you know the value of a pound ?
I spend money on the things I value. I value my time, which is why I use a helicopter and I use the plane. Having so much money, it would be foolish not to use it to save time.
Do you smoke?
No.
What do you think of cigarette advertising in motor racing?
I think it s great. Smoking is a choice for everyone and if they want to do it, good luck to them. It s the same as me I get a lot of pleasure out of getting drunk some nights, and I would hate for anyone to tell me, no, you can t do that . I think there s too many people out there trying to impose their opinions on everyone else. If somone wants to smoke pot, let them smoke pot. As long as they re not harming anyone else . . .
I remember when I was eight or nine, people would come on TV saying that they should ban this or that because kids are going to see it and want to do it. And I m watching this, as a kid, thinking, how stupid do these people think I am? Telling me I m only a kid and won t know any better .
But if one of your heroes . . .
[interrupts] James Hunt did ! Smoked like a trooper, did drugs, drank like a fish. I don t believe that it has an effect.
I thought you were quite stridently anti-drugs . . .
I am for myself. If other people want to do them, no problem.

* * * * *

What do you think of current speed limits?
I think speed limits on motorways are ridiculous. I think in towns they should maybe even be lowered a bit. And I think they should get rid of those speed cameras on open roads.
What do you think of the standard of driving?
In England, very average. In Ireland, worse. Italy, very good. Italians are the best drivers cos they don t get upset. Here, if you overtake someone it s lights flashing, horns going. In England, there s a rule for everything and why you shouldn t do it.
What happened when that girl crashed your car with you in it?
She just lost control on the motorway. Typical. Driving too fast for her level of ability. Someone pulled out in front of her, she overreacted, lost the rear, then overreacted the other way and lost it. I went to grab the steering wheel this was the night after I d been really, really, really drunk, which was why she was driving next thing we hit the barrier and the car was wrecked. Big accident.
Was anybody badly injuured?
She cut her head on the side window. I had a bit of a sore neck. My friend in the back ended up with a rear view mirror stuck into his hand. Both front seats broke and went into the back seat.
I was fine, cos I m used to crashing, y know? I was sitting there watching the barrier coming, thinking, Ah well, it s not going to be that bad . Next thing BOOM! It was a much bigger bang than I expected because I m used to being strapped in so much in the racing car.
So we went across the road, off that barrier back into the middle of the road. My phone ended up on the hard shoulder and my wallet ended up in the central reservation. I was just sitting there thinking here we go backwards again . It was par for the course.
Do you think women drivers are worse than men?
Well, women have less accidents. I would say that men are better drivers, but at the same time, they think they re better than they are, so they tend to have more accidents.
If you were charged with reducing traffic congestion in Dublin what would you do?
You need much better public transport. You see, you can t really get west on public transport, can you? I think you should also put a huge tax on petrol. Double the price of it and put that money directly into public transport.

* * * * *

Name a political hero and villain.
Hero? Nelson Mandela. Villain? Tony Blair.
Why Blair?
I just think he d do anything and say anything to stay in power. Whereas Maggie, while she didn t do right all the time, at least she believed she was doing right. And the unions are getting back in control in England.
And that s not your thing?
Well, all it does is direct jobs over to other countries.
When was the last time you cried?
My granda s funeral last June.
What s your favourite film?
The Great Escape was a great movie. That had everything in it. Except for totty.
Does it take more nerve to race bikes than cars?
I can t comprehend racing bikes on the roads. A young fella who worked for me got killed racing bikes on the roads. I can understand the thrill, but I don t believe the skill level is as high.
Why?
You can t afford to be on the limit and fall off because you get killed. So I think it s more thrilling to be 100% on the limit the whole time, rather than racing below the limit. Y know, racing at 95, 96, 98 . . . 101 dead. It just doesn t make sense.
Do you ever go to any of the Irish bike races?
No. I just don t like watching it. I had another friend, Sam McClements, got killed on bikes as well, riding in Carrowdore. I went there once, thought, this is madness and left.
Who s your sporting hero?
George Best.
Your girlfriend aside, who s the most beautiful woman in the world?
Kim Smith, the new Guess model.
To those who say Eddie Irvine is a sexist, arrogant arsehole, you say . . .
I refuse to answer that question on the grounds that I might incriminate myself [laughs].

F1: The New Rock N Roll?

You can play
guitar
I would say play in the broadest sense of the word.
So you re not very good, then?
I m alright. I can play a few songs. I can play Wish You Were Here . I can play Lucky Man . I m . . . [laughs] shite, alright? I would be more rhythm department than lead, let s put it that way.
So who would win a guitar duel between you and Damon Hill?
Damon for sure. [smirks] Specially now, when he s got more time on his hands.
Is Lucky Man , as reported, your favourite song?
No. One of Van Morrison s would be my favourite: Sweet Thing or In The Garden.
Do the likes of you, Van, Mick Hucknall and Lisa Stansfield all hang out in Dalkey together?
I don t know Van. I ve spoken to him briefly a few times, but I wouldn t say I know him. Lisa and Mick I know quite well. I ve been round in Mick s place a few times, and he s been around at mine for a party He s OK.
If you could play guitar with any band or artist who would it be?
AC/DC.
OK: money, glamour and groupies is Formula One the new rock n roll? Which has more backstage mayhem?
I ve been backstage a couple of times at concerts and I don t see anything around. Mind you, you go backstage to the Forumla One pits and you don t see anything around either. I guess it s a big myth.