Eddie Jordan was no stranger to the realms of rock 'n' roll during his time as a Formula 1 team boss.
The Dub owned and operated the eponymous Jordan F1 team from 1991 to 2005, and saw his team win four races and become cult heroes during that time.
What he also gained a reputation for was the eccentric energy his team brought to the paddock. They ran colourful liveries, were the first to experiment with painted designs on the side of their car, and regularly had esteemed guests from the world of music join the team.
One of those was George Harrison of the Beatles, himself a massive petrolhead. Harrison famously devoted much of his post-Beatles life to following the sport, and even wrote a song in 1979 about his love for racing, called 'Faster.'
On Eddie Jordan's podcast with David Coulthard Formula for Success, the pair celebrated Jordan's 75th birthday by sharing some of their favourite memories from down through the years. They did so with the help of BT Sport football presenter Jake Humphrey, who anchored the BBC's F1 coverage in the early 2010s when Jordan and Coulthard were pundits.
They remembered an occasion at the 2011 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix when Jordan and Humphrey interviewed another Beatle, Paul McCartney, who was a guest of McLaren at the race. Together, they reminisced on their memories of George - but, evidently, the exchange got the better of Jordan, as he mistakenly called McCartney "George" live on air.
Eddie Jordan: Ex-F1 team boss remembers awkward on-air Paul McCartney mistake
Speaking on the latest episode of Formula for Success, Jake Humphrey was asked for his favourite memories of Eddie Jordan, and one of those involved an ex-Beatle:
I love the moment when we both interviewed Paul McCartney in Abu Dhabi, and Eddie finished with Paul with the famous line, 'thank you George!'
The look on Paul's face...we started walking off and Eddie looks at me - we were going to a VT - Eddie looks at me and says, 'did I say George?'
I didn't want to derail him so I kind of went, 'no, no, I'm sure you said Paul.'
Video footage of the interview can be found on YouTube, with the mistake from Jordan coming near the video's end. You can almost see the Irishman realising his error in real time, with a nervous grin to be seen in the closing seconds.
In fairness to Jordan, it's merely a slip of the tongue - though an unfortunate one at that. The interview as a whole is quite a poignant one, as McCartney - attending only his second F1 race - remembers the late Harrison and says that he understood what had made his old friend such a fan of the sport for so many years.
Jordan was thanking McCartney for signing a shirt that Jordan had bought at the Indian Grand Prix a week previously that he planned to auction off for the Children in Need charity. The shirt had been signed by all the 24 drivers on the 2011 Formula 1 grid, as well as Northern Irish golfer Rory McIlroy, who can be spotted in the below video.
Despite accepting the comedy of his mistake, Eddie Jordan would go on to explain on Formula for Success why he had slipped up in such a manner, as well as noting that the auction of the shirt was a massive success:
If you remember the Paul McCartney story...what actually happened was that you challenged me, Jake, into getting this big long Indian coat, and we got everyone's signature on it, including...I think Roger Federer was there, Rory McIlroy was there. There was a whole heap of other people.
That's why I got confused - you've got to save me here a little bit! The reason I called him "George" was that we were talking about the great memories that we all had with George, and it was in my mind and I was thinking about him, because he was such a special guy. Then Paul gave me back the jacket that he had signed.
Incidentally, it went to Children in Need and it made something like £120,000, that coat. Every single driver signed it, including a host of celebrities. There was some good times, and good causes, that we were able to help towards.
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