Once he was finished letting it all out, Senna then apparently shared a drink with friend and former team-mate Gerhard Berger in the paddock. The alcohol imbibed, combined with teasing from the famously mischievous Berger, prompted Senna to go and seek out Irvine in the Jordan motor home.
Jordan’s commercial director Ian Phillips described the ensuing scene to F1.
“All of a sudden, Ayrton Senna appears at the door,” he remembers. “Eddie was on the massage table, probably with a beer in his hand. Ayrton was fired up and angry and was setting out to do silly.
“Eddie put his hand up and said ‘Here, are you looking for me?’
“We were in a state of total shock,” said Adam Cooper. “Ayrton was obviously looking. I turned my dictaphone and quickly turned it back on, wrapped in a timesheet or something like that and vaguely pointed it in the direction of where the two of them were standing.”
The podcast then plays the fascinating footage of the famous off-track coming together of Irvine and Senna.
“I was racing,” says Irvine. “If you were going fast enough, there’s no problem.”
“You were racing?” replies Senna. “You took a very big risk to put me out of the race, is that what you want?”
Irvine scraps with Hill
Pascal Rondeau/Getty Images
“I didn’t put you in any danger. A miss is as good as a mile,” Irvine cheekily replies.
“You’re not a racing driver – you’re a f*cking idiot,” is how Senna responds, before continuing, “How come I overtook you on wets?”
“I don’t remember that,” says Irvine.
“Exactly, because you’re not competent enough,” the irascible Senna replies.
“Oh well, is that what you think? Oh, then I’ll watch out for you!” Irvine tells him.
Senna then informs Irvine that the FIA will be watching the young Jordan driver, to which Irvine responds. “That’s good – I’ll see you out there.”
Phillips recalled what happened next.
“Ayrton just launched himself across the room,” he says. “And started hitting Eddie!”
Once the scuffle, quickly died down, Irvine then delivered a characteristic quip: “Insurance claim!”
