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Formula One drivers from Ireland
List of Formula One drivers who competed as Irish From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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There have been five Formula One drivers from the Republic of Ireland.[1][2]
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Joe Kelly was Ireland's first F1 driver, racing in the first two World Championship British Grands Prix.[3] His privately entered Alta failed to be classified in either race.[3][4]
Having taken the 1977 British F3 title, Derek Daly was promoted to Hesketh Racing for what would be their final three Grands Prix, failing to qualify for any race.[5][6] He was quickly hired by Ensign for the rest of the season and took points in the final race of 1978.[6][7] The next four seasons saw sporadic stints with Ensign, Tyrrell, March, Theodore and Williams, with a best finish of 4th in the Argentine and British Grands Prix of the 1980 season.[6]
As runner-up of the 1979 British Formula One season, David Kennedy's prize was promotion to a World Championship Shadow seat for 1980.[8] However, the team was chronically underfunded and had a poorly engineered chassis and despite Theodore's intervention mid-season Kennedy only qualified for one of the eight Grands Prix he was entered in – the Spanish Grand Prix, an event subsequently stripped of its World Championship status due to the FISA–FOCA war.[9][10]
Following Jan Lammers' quitting of the Theodore team in 1982, Tommy Byrne made his debut at the Austrian Grand Prix.[11] He entered the final five races of the season, qualifying twice but failing to finish either of the races he qualified for.[11]
Eddie Jordan, keen to promote an Irish driver, settled on 2002 Formula Nippon season champion Ralph Firman for his eponymous team's 2003 championship assault.[12] He raced in all but two Grands Prix that year, having injured himself in a practice crash in Hungary.[13][14][15] He scored a single point in Spain however his efforts were not enough to keep him a place on the grid for 2004.[16][17]
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