Ex-Ferrari F1 star sentenced to jail

An Italian court yesterday sentenced former Ferrari Formula 1 star Eddie Irvine to six months in jail for his role in a 2008 nightclub brawl in Milan.

The runner up in the 1999 F1 World Championship was involved in a scuffle with Italian Gabrielle Moratti over messages the Northern Irishman sent to Moratti’s ex-girlfriend.

While no significant injuries resulted from the fight, it turned into eight years of legal drama, partly because Moratti is from one of Italy’s elite families.

The two men, both 48 years old, blamed each other for the fight at the then-trendy Hollywood nightclub and were both found guilty of the strangely Italian crime of “mutual injury”.

Moratti claimed in court that Irvine threw a glass in his face, striking him above the eye, while Irvine told the court he’d been punched two or three times by the Italian while he was seated in the club’s VIP area.

Neither man is expected to actually face jail time, with both sentences expected to be either suspended or to fall beyond the Italian statute of limitation rules under appeal. Irvine’s legal team has already launched an appeal.

“Only one witness in the trial said that Irvine was the aggressor and he was ruled to be unreliable,” Irvine’s lawyer, Marco Baroncini, said after the decision.

“Six witnesses for Moratti are to be investigated for false testimony and are sure to be put on trial for that, so as we look forward to the appeal, we start in pole position, to use a racing metaphor.”

Irvine rose to fame and notoriety for getting into a fight with Ayrton Senna in 1993 after the late legend passed the rookie, only to be shocked to be repassed by the Jordan driver. Senna sought Irvine out after the race and punched him in the face, but Irvine refused to back down.

Irvine claimed a podium finish in his first race for Ferrari in Australia in 1996 and he claimed the first of his four grand prix wins there in 1999.

A self-made millionaire through his property-development interests before he reached Formula 1, Irvine has successfully continued in real estate since he retired after the 2002 season with Jaguar.

According to the 2015 Sunday Times rich list, the ex-racer has a net worth of around £80 million ($A140m), putting him 41st on the motoring section of the rich list, though other media outlets have credited him with double that fortune.

The Sunday Times ranks him behind other F1 luminaries Bernie Ecclestone (who heads the list with £3 billion), McLaren’s Ron Dennis with £350 million, Ross Brawn with a neat £100 million, reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton with £88 million and Eddie Jordan with £85 million, while he just pips retiring McLaren racer Jensen Button’s £71 million.

Moratti’s father is an oil magnate worth around €1.3 billion, while his mother has a resume that includes past positions as Mayor of Milan, an Italian government minister, head of RAI television (Italy's national broadcaster) and News Corp Europe.