Eddie Irvine

Eddie Irvine came within two points of being world champion without ever taking a pole position. Both things are true, and together they tell his career better than any summary: 147 Grands Prix, four wins, twenty-six podiums and zero front-row-of-one starts in ten seasons.

He entered Formula 1 with a calling card hard to beat: he scored in his first race and that same evening took a punch from Ayrton Senna for not letting him past while being lapped. He signed for Ferrari in 1996 as Michael Schumacher's declared number two and spent four years there, winning when it was his turn and stepping aside when required.

1999 changed everything. Schumacher broke his leg at Silverstone and Ferrari lost its driver midway through the season, so the second became the first. Irvine won four races, arrived at the Suzuka finale leading the championship and lost it by two points to Mika Häkkinen. He left for Jaguar the following year, never reached the podium again and retired in 2002.