Eddie Jordan told the BBC to 'get stuffed' over F1 grid walk incident
The former motorsport team owner told the story of an incident from a decade ago involving a Hollywood movie star and a rollicking from a mega British TV channel
F1 pundit Eddie Jordan once aimed a savage remark at the BBC over an incident during the 2013 season.
During an appearance on the new podcast, ‘Formula for Success’, the 74-year-old recalled the incident that occurred before the 2013 Canadian Grand Prix, won by Sebastian Vettel.
On the grid walk the former motorsport team owner bumped into Hollywood star Michael Fassbender, who confirmed he was at the race due to filming work in Montreal for an X-Men project. The pair greeted one another in Irish before sharing a handshake.
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But due to the choice of language in which they communicated, Jordan felt the wrath of the broadcasting corporation. “Michael - even with such a strong German name - was actually brought up and educated in Kerry in Ireland. He's a fluent Irish speaker,” Jordan began.
“I remember going on the pit walk in Montreal, and I started to speak as Gaeilge to Michael, as I normally would have done. (A producer) from the BBC went absolutely ballistic asking what I was doing speaking a foreign language on the great BBC?! I said, 'oh, get stuffed' - or whatever I said. Fassbender tells this story to everyone, because it was kind of unique that someone would just use the Irish language.”
Ahead of the 2023 season commencing last week, Jordan admitted he expects Max Verstappen and Red Bull to dominate once again. "I think more of the same. I think Max is so on top of his game, he’s so arrogant, he’s so aggressive, he’s super confident and he’s got another Adrian Newey car under him," he said.
"Of course there’s weaknesses in every team, in every person because we’re all human, but Max seems to be less flawed than any other driver. Red Bull are very, very strong. I’m quite sure that with the advancements of the Honda engine [they will win again]. Put all that package together, it will be very difficult to knock them off their perch."
This may prove to be the case and the Dutchman comfortably claimed his first Bahrain GP victory this past Sunday. He finished 51 seconds ahead of fifth-placed Lewis Hamilton as Sergio Perez crossed the line second. Despite a tough opening outing for Hamilton in 2023, Jordan still expects him to be more of a force than he was last year.
"I just so happen to believe that Lewis will be a much bigger force this season," he added. "This time last year the problems of Abu Dhabi ’21 were playing on his mind, and he started the season poorly and I think he gave an opportunity to George Russell and we saw which way the championship finished as a result.
"Forget last year for now with Lewis. He wouldn’t be doing this unless he was determined to win his eighth world title so I think we’re going to see a titanic battle for the championship and I’m looking forward to it immensely.
"I really do think that Lewis will take the upper hand back again and that’s not a refection on George. He’s had the whole winter to reflect on this. I think Lewis will be back to himself and he will be determined but Mercedes will have to pull something out of the bag this year."
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