Jordan Grand Prix

1991-2006

**Jordan Grand Prix** was a Formula One constructor that competed from 1991 to 2006. The team was named after Irish businessman and founder Eddie Jordan. The team was based at Silverstone, UK but raced with an Irish license.

At the end of 2006, the team was sold to Vijay Mallya, an Indian businessman and politician, Michiel Mol, a Dutch businessman, and their group of investors. For the 2007 season the team would be reorganized and restructured. Eventually becoming Force India.

Jordan Grand Prix is known for having won the 1993 World Constructors Championship, as well as the 1993 and 2000 World Drivers Championships. They are also known for producing several successful drivers, as well as being front runners in Formula One from 1996 to 2002.

## History

### Early History

Eddie Jordan had a brief, if unsuccessful, stint as a race driver in the late 1970s before founding Eddie Jordan Racing in the early 1980s. The team first came to prominence in the 1983 British Formula Three championship with a duel between future Jordan driver Soren Vinter and Jordan-Ralt driver Steffan van Reynders. Reynders was edged out by the Norwegian at the last round of the championship. The team graduated to International Formula 3000 for 1988, winning its first race in the category with Kevin Baldoni behind the wheel. In 1989, Jordan won the F3000 drivers' championship. The team also ran several future F1 drivers.

### Formula One

#### The beginning (1991-1992)

The success of Jordan in lower formula categories eventually materialized with the creation of Jordan Grand Prix, a team that would be ready for the 1991 season. Jordan would secure their first drivers in Norwegian driver Soren Vinter, who offered to drive for free for the 1991 season, and Australian driver Bruce Kerrigan. Eddie Jordan found success in garnering sponsorship for his inaugural season, with his dealings with 7Up and Pepsi Co. making for an iconic green and blue livery that garnered them instant fan support. Ford would supply the team with engines for the inaugural season.

Jordan would make their debut at the 1991 South African Grand Prix, their debut was the main story of that weekend alongside the first race of the unusually large rookie class entering into the sport. Along side them, another new team entering the sport was Fondmetal. During their first grand prix, Vinter was involved in an early race accident whilst Kerrigan finished in 8th. Throughout their first season the Irish outfit fought for points in every race of the season and would end the campaign with 24 points, 8th in the World Constructors Championship. Individually Vinter and Kerrigan would finish 14th and 18th in the championship respectively, with legal battles hampering Jordan from fielding both cars in all races. Kerrigan announced retirement following the British Grand Prix, which resulted in Eddie Jordan filing a breach of contract lawsuit against the Australian. Due to the legal costs and ambiguity of the situation, the team decided against fielding two cars for the second half of the season. Eventually, the courts ruled in favor of Kerrigan setting up a new legal precedent within Formula One that would more easily allow drivers to retire or leave during the middle of a season.

In 1992 Jordan signed with 1991 rookie Jimmy Russell for his second Formula One season. Once again the team would stick with Ford engines and acquire significant upgrades to both team and car thanks to Vinter's sponsorship with Red Bull midway through the 1991 season. Investments from the Austrian energy drinks company helped allow the team to skyrocket in performance throughout the next two years after Eddie Jordan had signed a contract with Red Bull until 1993 for car sponsorship. Jordan would see it's first race victory at the 1992 San Marino Grand Prix thanks to victory by Vinter, it would also be the teams first ever podium. Not long after Russell would also achieve victory in France, with 3rd places at Silverstone, Monza, and Catalunya. The result for the season would be a 4th place in the championship with both drivers inside the top 10 for the drivers championship.

#### Championship glory (1993)

With the departure of Vinter for Sauber confirmed near the end of the 1992 season, Eddie Jordan hired Ligier standout Ezequiel Zarco for his 1993 campaign. Zarco had been a rookie in 1991 coming off of an impressive 1992 season. This would mark the beginning of a trend for the rest of Jordan's history to hire young drivers with both Zarco and Russell having debuted alongside Jordan in 1991. The 1993 campaign started with the continued use of Ford engines, with Eddie Jordan commenting that he expected Jordan to more regularly fight for wins. In South Africa, Zarco would take his first victory of the season, while Russell would finish 10th. Following retirements at Brazil the Irish team would take it's first ever 1-2 finish with Russell winning. Following Monaco Zarco would finish 2nd in the French Grand Prix with Russell 3rd.

By mid-season Jordan had entered itself into a World Constructors Championship fight with McLaren and Williams. Meanwhile, Ezequiel Zarco was poised to fight for the World Drivers Championship, battling with William's Otto Makkinen, who finished runner up to the drivers championship in 1991 and 1992, and McLaren's Jack Wilson, the defending then three time World Drivers Champion. Zarco and Wilson would trade wins at Silverstone and Hockenheim, with Zarco winning the former and Wilson the latter. Zarco would win at the Belgian Grand Prix and Jimmy Russell 2nd, which would prove crucial as Wilson would retire and McLaren's Santiago Reyes would finish only 8th. As well, Otto Makkinen would finish 9th, effectively putting both championships in hard to reach territory. McLaren would fight back after Jordan had an equally nightmarish week at Monza. Despite Zarco winning the following race in Spain, both championships would be decided in Japan at Suzuka. Zarco himself would only finish in 9th, but with Wilson ending the race in 5th, he would be short of the World Drivers Championship by 5 points. Russell meanwhile would ensure the World Constructors Championship by finishing 2nd, and following a last lap pass by Ferrari's Fabiano Margheriti in his last race for 3rd place, Reyes would finish in 4th.

Jordan would win the World Constructors Championship by 7 points, and Ezequiel Zarco would win the World Drivers Championship by 5 points. Victory would however come at a heavy cost for the team. While most other teams made preparations for 1994, the Jordan outfit put all their focus into beating both McLaren and Williams. Knowing this, Jimmy Russell would sign with Benetton for the following season whilst world champion Ezequiel Zarco would sign with McLaren, Jordan's main competition in 1993. Jordan would not win another World Constructors Championship.

#### Rebuilding period (1994-1996)

Following the loss of both of Jordan's top prospects, the team would undergo massive restructuring for 1994. Having not been prepared for the loss of Zarco or Russell at any point the team struggled to find available prospects. Eventually settling on Canadian driver Silis Carmichael and David Johnson from the United Kingdom. The team would also switch from Ford engines to Hart with the loss of Red Bull as a sponsor, as well as Pepsi Co. Newly sponsored as Sasol Jordan, they would enter 1994 with low expectations. Finishing just outside of the top 10 or retiring in their first three races of 1994, Jordan quickly found itself in major financial trouble entering Monaco. Another internal reorganization would occur with only David Johnson returning at the United States Grand Prix, which would see the unfortunate passing of Alexsandro Pinho. Johnson would also suffer injury during the race, requiring that Italian driver Buonfiglio Genovesi join the team, due to his sponsorship connections it helped alleviate financial troubles that the team faced.

The 1994 British Grand Prix at Donnington Park saw the untimely passing of Jordan's first driver, Soren Vinter, who collided with the McLaren of former Jordan driver Ezequiel Zarco. The Jordan team mourned the loss of Vinter for the remainder of the season. Members of the Jordan team and especially Eddie Jordan showed support both for the family of Vinter as well as Zarco, who had been injured in the crash as well. Meanwhile, Genovesi scored a 10th place finish resulting in a chain of events that would bring both Carmichael and Johnson back to Formula One for the following race in Belgium.

After failing to set a qualifying time in Spa-Francorchamps, Carmichael would quietly retire from Formula One while Johnson would end up retiring in the next two races. At the last race of 1994, Johnson would end the season with a 7th place finish resulting in Jordan taking 10th place in the championship.

1995 saw the debut of Portuguese rookie Rodrigo Morais, a driver loaned to Jordan for a single year by Ferrari in return for a cash investment by Ferrari to Jordan. The influx of cash helped stimulate a recovery for Jordan as the team sought to make the most of Morais. The first races of the 1995 season showed that the Jordan 195 had a tremendous increase in reliability and power compared to it's predecessor in 1994. The season would see a number of uneventful races, though the car would never finish lower than 15th when it did. Often the Jordan 195 would finish in or just outside of the points. Rodrigo, in his final race for Jordan, would provide a fresh breath of air to the team at the end of the season at Suzuka. Racing hard, Morais would find himself battling with McLaren's Jack Wilson for 2nd place. In the end Morais would take 2nd for the team, resulting in 6th place for Jordan in the World Constructors Championship.

The following year in 1996 saw both the dropping of David Johnson as well as the planned reclamation of Rodrigo Morais to Ferrari. Eddie Jordan would look to Japan for his new drivers, with Japanese rookies Tatsuno Takamori and Katashi Kimura. Both drivers showed that they had pace early on, but the Jordan team struggled after a last minute engine supplier switch to Japanese company Honda. It is rumored Jordan switched to Honda after the manufacturer offered to supply their engines at a lower cost than Hart. Despite the successes of Takamori, Kimura was poached from Jordan by Benetton for the 1997 season before Austria. As the season winded down Eddie Jordan chose not to resign Takamori stating "We want to make sure that 1997 is a return to where we were in 1993, a sustained return. And we feel like we can make sure that is going to happen. Takamori will find a seat, he's a talented young lad and I expect him to win races one day." At the Japanese Grand Prix in 1996, Tatsuno Takamori would prove Eddie Jordan correct by winning the Japanese Grand Prix on his first attempt to strong support from the Japanese crowd. The team would once again finish 6th in the championship with 32 points.

#### Top contenders (1997-2001)

1995 World Drivers Champion Alexander Parker, son of Maria Parker, joined Jordan Grand Prix alongside Jean-Luc De Witt, who had just come off of a two year stint with Sauber. De Witt also came along with connections to Peugot, resulting in Jordan switching from Honda to Peugot in 1997. Though the Australian Grand Prix would be one to forget due to the death of Jasper Saetern, and resulting sabbatical of Ezequiel Zarco, Parker would win the following two races at Brazil and San Marino. In Australia De Witt had suffered an injury, and at the Brazilian Grand Prix the team would hire Irish driver Andy Horne. He would be the first and only Irish driver for Jordan Grand Prix, an Irish team.

Retirement in Portugal would break up a string of wins as afterwards Parker would win the British Grand Prix in Silverstone ahead of championship rivals Jack Wilson and Otto Makkinen. Jordan would however not fight for the constructors championship, as Wilson and Makkinen of McLaren ran away with the title by the midpoint of 1997. Following worries of serious injuries to De Witt, Jordan once more began running with only one car and investing into the following season. Parker however continued to fight picking up 2nd place podiums in Belgium, Italy, and 3rd place in Austria. Jordan would ultimately end the WCC 2nd behind McLaren, and Parker 14 points shy of Wilson in the WDC.

1998 saw the signing of Minardi's Stine Olander, the daughter of Gunnar Olander. The team returned to Honda engines following the departure of De Witt also leading to the departure of Peugot. Despite a strong 1997 Jordan once again struggled in 1998, failing to score a single win all season. The team did however manage 3rd places in Australia, Italy, and Austria in Olander's first ever podium. Both Jordan and journalists wrote the year off as a fluke while expecting the team to rebound in 1999. Jordan would finish 6th in the World Constructors Championship.

Alexander Parker began to slump heavily in 1999. In the first race while Olander managed 2nd in Australia, Parker languished in 11th just outside the points. A majority of Alexander's first half to the 1999 season saw him retiring race after race following collisions with other drivers. Olander meanwhile faced up against steep competition in a year that saw 10 of the 12 teams in Formula One that season score a podium finish. Jordan would end the year winless and 5th in the overall championship behind McLaren, who also had suffered a slump year thanks in part due to the retirement of Jack Wilson at the end of the 1998 season as well as the sheer dominance of Williams' FW21. Parker admitted to "falling out of love" with Formula One around the time of the British Grand Prix citing Olander having scored two podium finishes and points in every race, while he had failed to score a single one. Parker would exit Formula One and move on to Grand Prix Motorcycle Racing (MotoGP).

With the departure of Parker from Formula One and Olander to Jaguar Racing, team owner Eddie Jordan went against all prior philosophies in a surprise move to sign then three time race winner Collin McDougall who had come from the struggling Margheriti team (who became Dingley in 2000), and then three-time World Drivers Champion Otto Makkinen. Makkinen left McLaren after fears of a decline for the team after their 1998 World Constructors Championship victory.

Rumors began to circulate at the time that Eddie Jordan's team was bleeding itself dry to afford Makkinen's contract as well fielding a top tier car in Formula One, but the Irishman vehemently denied them at the time. The EJ10 started off well with Makkinen winning in both Australia and Brazil, then placing 2nd in the United States and the United Kingdom. Separated by only the cancelation of Monaco, Makkinen's first half of 2000 was spent on the top two steps of the podium. McDougall however, was not as fortunate. Having retired twice and finished 6th twice, McDougall began suffering severe fatigue that would see him miss the German and Austrian Grand Prix's, the latter of the which saw Otto placing 2nd once again. When Collin returned to Formula One for the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa, he would be involved in an accident that would end up fracturing his leg. Makkinen however was undeterred by the lack of a second car on the track for Jordan. Winning in Belgium Makkinen would nearly wrap up the WDC in Italy but miss out due to a retirement, the following race weekend due to his early season dominance, his 6th place finish meant that Otto Makkinen secured his 4th World Drivers Championship with Jordan. It would be the last championship, constructor or drivers, won by Jordan. Jordan would fail to capture the World Constructors Championship after battling with McLaren, Ferrari, and Benetton, who would go on to win the WCC.

2001 would play host to a fierce championship battle between Jordan, Williams, Benetton, Ferrari, and McLaren. With McDougall back to full health, Jordan started well with a 2nd place finish in Australia and a Otto Makkinen win in Malaysia. McDougall retired often during the mid-season of 2001, with critics of the team claiming that Jordan was favoring Makkinen at the detriment of neglecting McDougall, who would retire in three straight races. The year would see two more wins for the Irish outfit in consecutive races, with Otto winning at Silverstone and Collin at the Hockenheimring in his fourth and final Formula One victory. Makkinen would finish 2nd in Austria and Belgium. Ultimately their efforts would only be enough for 2nd place in the World Constructors Championship, ahead of all apart from McLaren. McDougall would retire from Formula One at the seasons end, having crashed out in Japan to end his career.

#### Funding issues and decline (2002-2006)

Makkinen entered 2002 alongside former Benetton man and championship rival Imre Futy. The Hungarian driver left Benetton after their fall in performance in 2001, leaving the door open for Eddie Jordan to sign Futy. Futy holds the distinction of being the last race winning driver hired by Jordan Grand Prix. 2002 seemed to be at the start, the same as the prior half-decade for Jordan, with Imre Futy taking a 3rd place podium in his first race for the team and Otto Makkinen at the second race of 2002. The Brazilian Grand Prix however would prove that things were not as they seemed at Jordan, with both cars barely finishing in the points. Press stayed optimistic that Makkinen was simply having an off year, possibly beginning to decline after having spent 13 years in the sport. Makkinen would finish 3rd in the United States, and Jordan would win their final race thanks to Otto Makkinen at Monaco for the 2002 British Grand Prix. Eddie Jordan would later comment that he believed it was likely one of the last seasons the team would win a race "for the next year or two".

Makkinen would give the team one final podium during his tenure with the team, 2nd place in Austria, before leaving the sport on sabbatical after the Belgian Grand Prix after realizing that his championship hopes had been dashed thanks to former Jordan driver Tatsuno Takamori's efforts. Jordan once again fielded only one car for the remainder of the season, in which Futy would place 8th and retire. Makkinen would finish the 2002 campaign a distant 3rd place while Jordan would finish 4th in the World Constructors Championship. Swirling rumors from 1999 of Jordan's rapidly decreasing budget only intensified after it was announced Jordan would be signing James Baker, a "pay driver" who had little experience compared to other available drivers.

Warning signs that Jordan was floundering really began to show during the 2003 season when the EJ13, now powered by Ford engines, failed to score points until the 4th round in Indianapolis. The year would be uneventful for Jordan, who sat just outside the cusp of the points paying positions most of the year. 2003's highlight for the Silverstone based team was the Austrian Grand Prix, at which Imre Futy delivered the last ever podium, 2nd place, for the team after starting from 16th and cutting his way through the field amidst a rainstorm. Jordan Grand Prix would end 2003 in 7th of the 11 teams in Formula One, their first time near the bottom of the table since 1994.

Jordan however did not take the worst of 2003, as Minardi would go on to collapse upon itself before being bought out by Margheriti, causing a scattering of drivers that saw Bedřich Turek, a Czech Republic driver who had debuted in 2001 teaming up with Formula One rookie Hussain Aal, who had been confirmed for the team prior to Turek's joining. Eddie Jordan would also sign Turek's Minardi teammate Thomas Sætern as their reserve driver. It is speculated that Sætern was brought into Jordan due to his ties, if dwindling at the time, with Red Bull. Red Bull had since begun sponsoring Sauber at the start of 1995, but had also sponsored Arrows for a small period of time whilst still being the title sponsor of Sauber. Red Bull had stated their intent to field a fully owned Red Bull Racing team in the coming years, and it is believed Jordan hoped they would chose their team for a split venture team or outright sale.

The 2004 season began disastrously for Jordan in what would be coined as "The season from Hell". Aal, their Canadian rookie, suffered a then-unknown concussion during the opening round at Melbourne. Turek would also crash out of the race, as well as the next two races. Aal would attempt and fail to pre-qualify in the next two races causing Jordan to replace him with Sætern. The Norwegian driver's return to Formula One lasted all of one lap before Sætern was involved in an accident. Jordan would finally finish a race during the 5th round with a 13th place finish by Turek, Sætern meanwhile would fail to qualify after reliability issues during practice. Once again the next race Sætern would crash in practice, and Turek during the race.

Belgium was the site of one of the worst races in Jordan's history. Sætern, who qualified 13th, languished after five separate instances of contact during just 11 laps, all of which necessitated pitting. On lap 11 while heading back towards the pits Sætern understeered off the track due to his Jordan missing its front wing, resulting in him crashing into the barrier and retiring from the race. Turek meanwhile would not fair much better, retiring as well. However the Italian Grand Prix would be a spot of hope for Jordan. Despite crashing badly during qualifying, Turek would manage an 8th place finish giving Jordan their first points of the year, and then at the following week in Malaysia he would finish 6th. Thomas meanwhile would retire due to damage in Italy mid-way through the race. Being the only car in Japan, Sætern qualified 12th where his race would last merely five corners before his unsettled Jordan skidded off the track and into a barrier, destroying the car. If Sætern retired during the 2004 Brazilian Grand Prix, he would have become one of the first drivers to ever participate in a majority of a Formula One season without ever finishing a race.

Turek would qualify 13th for the Brazilian Grand Prix while Sætern would qualify 16th. Prior to the race Eddie Jordan urged his drivers over the radio to "please just finish the fucking race". Sætern jumped a stalled Jaguar at the start of the race while Turek took the first turn calmly. Dingley's Goran Larsson hit into Turek, which forced Sætern wide. The pair of Jordan's would collide forcing both to enter the pits for repairs, an irate Eddie Jordan threw his headset down in disgust, leaving the track until the very end of the Brazilian Grand Prix. The remaining crew for Jordan, managed the cars all the way back up to 13th for Thomas Sætern, and 14th for Bedřich Turek. Marking the one and only time for the entirety of the 2004 campaign that both Jordan's would finish a race. The Irish outfit would finish last in the World Constructors Championship, with 8 points. From 2004 to the last season in 2006, Jordan would finish last in every championship season.

2005 saw the debut of Filipino driver Jasmine Estrella alongside the returning Turek. Despite a 10th place finish in Australia and an 8th place finish in Japan by Turek, the season would be mostly uneventful apart from the story surrounding Jordan itself. Rumors from 1999 that Jordan was set to go bankrupt had turned true, Eddie Jordan's team began scrambling to find buyers for the team. For a period between 2005 and 2006 the Jordan team looked as though it would be sold to the Russian based investment holding company Midland Group, however the deal soon fell through after the Midland Group reassessed their budgets, before ultimately deciding not to purchase Jordan Grand Prix.

Estrella moved to Margheriti for the 2006 season whilst Jordan picked up their outgoing driver Giorgio Ricci. The EJ16 was an improvement on the prior years offering despite only scoring points once at Monza. With a much more stable car, Jordan Grand Prix finished a lot of races within the top 15. The effort was enough to bring in more eyes to the team, as by the tail-end of July an Indian businessman named Vijay Mallya was leading discussions that seemed to assure the sale of Jordan before the start of the 2007 season. With the knowledge that the 2006 Brazilian Grand Prix would be their last on the grid, Jordan held a week long event that traveled from Silverstone, to Dublin, to the Czech Republic, then Massa Italy, before finally ending in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Celebrating their history all week long, the team faced dual retirements at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

#### Sale to Force India (December 2006)

Following mounting debts and financial issues, a consortium lead by Vijay Mallya, an Indian businessman and Michiel Mol, a Dutch businessman, as well as several other investors purchased the team from Eddie Jordan on December 10th, 2006. The team was officially rebranded on December 19th as Force India. Eddie Jordan would have no involvement with the new team, instead the Jordan Grand Prix owner would turn to broadcasting, becoming a pundit on the BBC broadcast of Formula One.