Eddie Jordan: Years at the summit

Eddie Jordan founded Jordan Grand Prix in 1991, with engineer Gary Anderson as chief designer. The first Jordan 191 was a beauty and remains to this day one of the prettiest race cars ever. The team quickly gained respect in the paddock and punched above their weight on several occasions in the team’s debut season.

After driver Bertrand Gachot was jailed for an incident with a London cab driver, Jordan gave Michael Schumacher his Formula 1 debut at Spa-Francorchamps in 1991. After one race however, Schumacher was lured away by Flavio Briatore to rivals Benetton.

In 1998, the team finally achieved it’s first victory, when Damon Hill led team mate Ralf Schumacher to a fantastic 1-2 at the Belgian Grand Prix.

In 1999, Jordan achieved their F1 zenith when Harald-Heinz Frentzen became a genuine title contender for the championship by winning two races, and ultimately finishing third in the standings.

After losing Honda engine supply to the BAR team in 2002, things started to go downwards for Eddie Jordan. Sponsors like Benson & Hedges and DHL either toned down their involvement or withdrew, and the lack of funds made his team go from bad to worse in 2003.

However, despite this, Jordan delivered an improbable race win in Brazil 2003 courtesy of Giancarlo Fisichella, the first for the nice Italian and the last Formula One victory for Jordan Grand Prix (picture below).