EDDIE JORDAN, the former owner of Formula One team Jordan Grand Prix, has claimed a BBC producer 'went absolutely ballistic' after he spoke Irish while working as a pundit for the broadcaster.
The Dubliner made the claim while speaking to former McLaren driver David Coulthard on the pair's new podcast, Formula for Success.
Jordan, a former driver who founded Jordan Grand Prix in 1991, worked as an F1 analyst for the BBC from 2009 to 2015.
As he and Coulthard discussed their encounters with famous F1 fans, Jordan recounted a meeting in Montreal with fellow Gaeilgeoir Michael Fassbender, who was there with somer of his X-Men co-stars.
"Michael, with such a strong German name, was actually brought up and educated in Kerry in Ireland and he’s a fluent Irish speaker," Jordan told Coulthard.
"I remember going on the pit walk and I started to speak as Gaeilge — in other words I was speaking Irish — to Michael as I normally would have done.
Team boss Jordan in 2002 during first practice for the Barcelona Grand Prix (Image: Mark Thompson/Getty Images"I remember [a producer] from BBC, he went absolutely ballistic — what was I doing speaking a foreign language on the great BBC?!
"I said, 'Oh, get stuffed' or whatever I said to him, I forget.
"But anyway, I enjoyed it. Fassbender tells this story to everybody because it was kind of unique that someone should just broach an Irish language story.
"As a result, I keep in touch with him all the time, he needs to know who's doing what — you can't imagine how involved he is in Formula One."
Jordan's team regularly punched above its weight, finishing third in the 1999 F1 Constructors' Championship as driver Heinz-Harald Frentzen came third in the Drivers' Championship.
Legendary driver Michael Schumacher made his F1 debut for Jordan Grand Prix in 1991, while former World Champion Damon Hill scored the team's first Grand Prix win in 1998.
Scottish driver Coulthard's best showing was in the 2001 championship when he finished as runner-up to Ferrari's Schumacher.
