 | |
| Drivers | 5 |
|---|---|
| Grands Prix | 81 |
| Entries | 93 |
| Starts | 67 |
| Best season finish | 12th (1980) |
| Wins | 0 |
| Podiums | 0 |
| Pole positions | 0 |
| Fastest laps | 0 |
| Points | 16 |
| First entry | 1950 British Grand Prix |
| Latest entry | 2003 Japanese Grand Prix |
| 2024 drivers | None |
There have been five Formula One drivers from the Republic of Ireland. [1] [2]
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 snapped up 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 1 of the 8 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]
| Drivers | Active Years | Entries | Wins | Podiums | Career Points | Poles | Fastest Laps | Championships |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joe Kelly | 1950–1951 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - |
| Derek Daly | 1978–1982 | 64 (49 starts) | 0 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 0 | - |
| David Kennedy | 1980 | 7 (0 starts) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - |
| Tommy Byrne | 1982 | 5 (2 starts) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - |
| Ralph Firman | 2003 | 15 (14 starts) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - |
| Source: [1] | ||||||||
Bengt Ronnie Peterson was a Swedish racing driver, who competed in Formula One from 1970 to 1978. Nicknamed "Superswede", Peterson twice finished runner-up in the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in 1971 and 1978, and won 10 Grands Prix across nine seasons.
The 1978 Argentine Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 15 January 1978 at Buenos Aires. It was the first race of the 1978 World Championship of F1 Drivers and the 1978 International Cup for F1 Constructors. The 52-lap race was won from pole position by American driver Mario Andretti, driving a Lotus-Ford, with Austrian Niki Lauda second in a Brabham-Alfa Romeo and Frenchman Patrick Depailler third in a Tyrrell-Ford. This was the debut of multiple-time Constructors' Champions, Williams.
The 1980 Dutch Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 31 August 1980 at the Circuit Zandvoort in the Netherlands. It was the eleventh race of the 1980 Formula One season.
The 2003 Japanese Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 12 October 2003 at the Suzuka Circuit. It was the sixteenth and final round of the 2003 Formula One World Championship, as well as the 29th Japanese Grand Prix. The 53-lap race was won by Rubens Barrichello driving for Ferrari after starting from pole position. Kimi Räikkönen, who started the race from eighth position, finished second in a McLaren car, with David Coulthard third in the other McLaren.
The 2003 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 57th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 2003 Formula One World Championship for Drivers and the 2003 Formula One World Championship for Constructors, which were contested concurrently over a sixteen-race series that commenced on 9 March and ended on 12 October.
The 1996 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 50th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. The championship commenced on 10 March and ended on 13 October after sixteen races. Two World Championship titles were awarded, one for Drivers and one for Constructors.
The 1980 Formula One season was the 34th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1980 World Championship of Drivers and the 1980 International Cup for F1 Constructors, which were contested concurrently from 13 January to 5 October over a fourteen-race series. The season also included one non-championship race, the Spanish Grand Prix.
Ralph David Firman Jr. is a British-born former racing driver who raced under Irish citizenship and an Irish-issued racing licence. Earlier in his career he raced under a British licence. His father, Ralph Firman Sr., co-founded the Van Diemen racecar constructor with Ross Ambrose, father of V8 Supercars champion Marcos, then more recently founded RFR. He is married to Aldís Kristín Árnadóttir, an Icelandic UK-educated lawyer. Ralph's sister, Natasha, is also a racing driver.
Ensign was a Formula One constructor from Britain. They participated in 133 grands prix, entering a total of 155 cars. Ensign scored 19 championship points and no podium finishes. The best result was a 4th place at the 1981 Brazilian Grand Prix by Marc Surer, who also took fastest lap of the race.
Theodore Racing was a Formula One constructor from Hong Kong founded by real estate magnate and millionaire Teddy Yip. They participated in 51 Grands Prix, entering a total of 64 cars.
David Paul Kennedy is a former racing driver from the Republic of Ireland. He was one of his country's first Grand Prix drivers, and is widely seen as having helped pioneer the Irish move into international racing.
Theodore Yip was an Indonesian-Dutch businessman and a Formula One team owner of Theodore Racing in the 1970s. He was a polyglot.
The Jordan EJ13 was the car with which the Jordan team competed in the 2003 Formula One World Championship. The car was designed by Gary Anderson and Nicolò Petrucci and driven by Giancarlo Fisichella, Ralph Firman and Zsolt Baumgartner who replaced Firman who was injured for two races.
There have been seventeen Formula One racing drivers from the Netherlands who have taken part in Grand Prix races since 1952. Max Verstappen is the most successful Dutch driver to date, as the only one to have won a Formula One World Championship, to have won a race, or to have taken a pole position.
There has been a total of 21 Formula One drivers from Japan, of whom 18 took part in a race, with varying degrees of success.
There have been five Formula One drivers from Monaco.
There have been a total of 3 Formula One drivers from Colombia.
The Ensign N179 was a Formula One racing car designed by Dave Baldwin, and used by Team Ensign during the 1979 Formula One season. It was designed by John Baldwin and Shahab Ahmed.
As of 2024, there have been 32 drivers from Switzerland who have entered Formula One World Championship Grands Prix motor races, with 23 of them having started a race.
