Former F1 driver Eddie Irvine talks about the new generation drivers and former Ferrari great and teammate Michael Schumacher
Eddie Irvine, who spent nine solid years on the racing circuit, is known for his stint at Ferrari and working alongside the Formula One legend, Michael Schumacher. The 55-year-old Northern Ireland-born driver is now a media personality in Great Britain and follows the F1 circuit very closely.
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Irvine, who had four wins in his F1 career, drove for Jordan, Ferrari and Jaguar. He recently spoke to in a free-wheeling interview and shared his experience of working alongside Schumacher at Ferrari.
With the Formula One season underway, Irvine also talks about Mark Verstappen's amazing talent and why he is the latest bull on the circuit. Irvine also explains why Lewis Hamilton continues to be a force despite getting 'old.' Excerpts from the conversation:
What do you make of the 2021 F1 season so far?
The 2021 season so far has been amazing. Verstappen is definitely the fastest driver out there at the minute, but you have to say Lewis Hamilton is probably still the top driver. It바카라™s been fantastic to watch those two guys go at it. I think it바카라™s going to be a great season.
Red Bull and Max Verstappen are more competitive than they have been in years. What changes do you think they바카라™ve made since last year to make that happen?
Regarding Verstappen바카라™s driving - finally after six seasons he바카라™s definitely getting his act together. He바카라™s always been super-fast, and you can see that he바카라™s by far the most dominant team leader on the grid. He바카라™s had many, many different second drivers in the team and none of them have got close to him. So it바카라™s a bit like the Michael Schumacher effect. While Lewis has been regularly outqualified and outperformed by his teammates, you바카라™d have to say Verstappen is probably the ultimate talent, although Lewis is a consummate professional and has very few weak spots.
You fought for the world championship in 1999. How would you describe the pressures of an F1 title race?
The pressures of Formula 1 are immense. You바카라™ve got 500 or 600 people working at the factory, and you바카라™re the guy who바카라™s responsible for getting the results at the end. So you have all that pressure on you, plus you want to do a good job because, if you바카라™re in the sport, you take it very seriously. You want to perform at your best. Sometimes a lot of it is out of your control, but you바카라™ve got to give 100 per cent all the time. It was very difficult in 바카라™99 because it was my one chance at the World Championship and we got close, but we didn바카라™t quite pull it off. The fact it was my one shot was an added pressure 바카라“ it wasn바카라™t like I was in a Williams for three years and had three years to win the championship. It was a lot of pressure, but that바카라™s what we바카라™re paid for.
How do you think those pressures have changed in the 20 years since your own title push?
It바카라™s become more professional, as every sport has. But it doesn바카라™t look as much fun as it used to be, that바카라™s for sure.
We바카라™ve already seen Hamilton and Verstappen go at each other in the press conferences. How hard is it not to get personal with your rivals?
I never had a problem with getting personal. For me it was all in one, the professional and personal situation. All바카라™s fair in love and war and I see Formula 1 as war so I really had no problem with criticising or saying anything that I felt would help me. I was there for me and my team, and I didn바카라™t care about anyone else.
You spent four years at Ferrari with Michael Schumacher. What바카라™s it like playing second fiddle to your teammate?
Being Schumacher바카라™s teammate was amazing in one way because I got to work with who I still believe is the greatest driver of all time. He dominated his team-mates massively. Of course, he started to get older and wasn바카라™t quite as quick but in the early days it was amazing to watch a guy operate at such a high level. So from that point of view it was an honour.
Obviously, you never look particularly good when you바카라™re up against someone like Michael Schumacher. But I was lucky in a way because by the time I got there, Schumacher was very much seen as special. The guys that Schumacher came against much earlier in his career got dumped because people didn바카라™t realise how good Michael was at that stage.
How much did you learn from one another when racing with Schumacher?
It was hard to learn from Michael because it was just pure talent. He just had an amazing ability to extract the most out of a racing car. That was that.
Who was your favourite team-mate during your F1 career?
I would have to say Michael because we had a very good working relationship. I never had an issue with him at all. He performed the best he could every weekend, I performed the best I could every weekend. If I had to do something for the team, I had to do something for the team, and that was it. It was very simple.
How do drivers like Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez deal with their position as de facto second drivers?
Their jobs are to do the best they can do, that바카라™s it. Bottas has beaten Hamilton before, more often than he has lately. Perez is new in there against Verstappen, but Verstappen has shown that the game is already over. They바카라™re both de facto No. 2s, but I don바카라™t think against two guys like Hamilton and Verstappen that바카라™s a great negative. I don바카라™t think anybody in Formula 1 would go up against those two guys and regularly beat them. I think Hamilton is getting older now and his pace isn바카라™t as good as it used to be, but he바카라™s still, as I said, a consummate professional. I think people know that anyone who goes against Verstappen is going to get beaten because of his pure speed.
With Channel 4바카라™s coverage and Netflix바카라™s Drive To Survive, how successfully is F1 engaging new audiences?
I think Formula 1 has done a great job with Drive to Survive. Everywhere I go, and I travel a lot in the US, the Bahamas and all over Europe, I get a lot of people telling me now that they love Formula 1 and they love Netflix. That바카라™s what happens when you bring in new owners that are really into marketing. They바카라™ve done an amazing job at making the content look as interesting as possible. It바카라™s definitely attracted fans. The owners have got other issues to deal with, but on the issue of marketing to a new audience, they바카라™ve done 10 out of 10 in my opinion.
(Courtesy: Betway)