Irvine: I can run a team.

Despite fervently denying that he would swap helmet and gloves for a role behind the desk at any level of motorsport when he retired from Formula One, Eddie Irvine reckons that he would make a decent team boss.

The Irishman has been much in the news since the Monaco weekend kicked off, having been linked to a possible buy-out of short-term Jordan owner Alex Shnaider. Although Irvine himself is not thought to be putting up the money for the purchase, he was a popular figure in the paddock on the grand prix's traditional day off, as he toured various teams with another, apparently wealthy, Russian in tow.

Asked if he had any intention of taking over the running of his former employer, Irvine remained coy, but, in his trademark fashion, reckoned that he had seen enough during his days as a driver to know what to do as team boss.

"I think I could do it," he told BBC Radio Five Live, "I have seen the best, in someone like Jean Todt, and I have seen the worst, in someone like the Ford Motor Company. I think I have learnt a lot more from seeing how badly Ford did it because Todt took such great care in everything. With Todt, it went pretty much how it should have done.

"You only learn from your mistakes - and Ford showed me how to make mistakes. The Ford experience with Jaguar was much more enlightening but you need to have both."

Irvine himself is not short of a dollar or two, having added shrewd property investments to the salaries he was awarded at both Ferrari and Jaguar, but it is his Russian guest who is expected to put up the bulk of any payment for Jordan.

Irvine introduced Roustam Tariko to a number of his acquaintances in the paddock, but is thought that Jordan remains his sole target. Although the Irishman claimed that he was only in Monaco - one of his regular F1 haunts since retirement - on a 'fact-finding mission', Tariko is heavily tipped to make Shnaider an offer for the team he only acquired on the eve of the season.

According to grandprix.com, Tariko is understood to be worth approximately $870m, and currently occupies the role of chairman at the Russian Standard Bank. However, in good F1 style, he also has a reputation as something of a 'wheeler-dealer', having profited from the import of chocolate and alcohol into Russia following the collapse of the Soviet Union. In 1998, he launched his own brand of vodka - called Russian Standard - which quickly became one of the country's best selling brands. He then deviated into finance, buying the Agroopttorgbank with his profits and renaming it Russian Standard.

Irvine and Eddie Jordan have always had something of a mutual appreciation society, and it was unsurprising to hear both speak highly of the other when asked about their roles in Formula One.

Irvine admitted that he was disappointed when Jordan sold up to Shnaider, claiming that 'Formula One needs colour and it is a shame that EJ is not around because he was one of the colourful characters'.

Jordan, meanwhile, offered similar compliments, reckoning that Irvine would re-inject a bit of 'lifestyle' to an otherwise staid paddock.

"Formula One is in a situation where it needs characters of the ilk of Eddie Irvine," Jordan told the BBC, "It is devoid of the kind of style and parties and lifestyle that F1 has been associated with. Eddie is exactly the kind of guy who can deliver that. I think F1 has lost some of the pizzazz, the excitement and the real euphoria that is often associated with it. The manufacturers have made it a spending formula, and they need to be more controlled so there is a good split between private and manufacturing teams.

"Eddie Irvine could be the catalyst for that. If he is seen to be successful by buying back into F1 as a team owner, I for one will be there at the front of the crowd saluting it."